Remote Sensing C

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Re: Remote Sensing C

Post by TheGenius »

Seracon wrote:On preparing, see if you can get your hands on previous Nationals tests. They cost some money to get, but are definitely the best way to prepare, especially if the supervisor is the same. Also, do as many practice tests you can find, see what you know and don't know.
Where can one find these tests?
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Re: Remote Sensing C

Post by Seracon »

TheGenius wrote:
Seracon wrote:On preparing, see if you can get your hands on previous Nationals tests. They cost some money to get, but are definitely the best way to prepare, especially if the supervisor is the same. Also, do as many practice tests you can find, see what you know and don't know.
Where can one find these tests?
http://store.soinc.org/p-121-test-packe ... ion-c.aspx
There are a bunch of last year's National Tests here; it's a bit pricey, but if you can split with other people on your team, it's definitely worth it.
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Re: Remote Sensing C

Post by zyzzyva980 »

Any comments on the Remote Sensing test at nationals, guys? It was certainly... unique, to say the least.
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Re: Remote Sensing C

Post by gneissisnice »

Yeah, I definitely wanna hear about the test.

I know the kids at Ward Melville who did it are very good at it (1st at States), but they ended up with 50th. I'm sure there's a hilarious story behind that, but I haven't heard it yet.
2009 events:
Fossils: 1st @ reg. 3rd @ states (stupid dinosaurs...) 5th @ nats.
Dynamic: 1st @ reg. 19thish @ states, 18th @ nats
Herpetology (NOT the study of herpes): NA
Enviro Chem: 39th @ states =(
Cell Bio: 9th @ reg. 18th @ nats
Remote: 6th @ states 3rd @ Nats
Ecology: 5th @ Nats
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Re: Remote Sensing C

Post by fozendog »

Well it was the first Remote test I had ever taken and it seemed like there were a lot of glaciers... :P
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Re: Remote Sensing C

Post by TheGenius »

gneissisnice wrote:Yeah, I definitely wanna hear about the test.

I know the kids at Ward Melville who did it are very good at it (1st at States), but they ended up with 50th. I'm sure there's a hilarious story behind that, but I haven't heard it yet.
Well, I'm not sure what you've heard, but there were six stations, with 10 minutes to complete each. Each stations consisted of multiple choice and short answer
questions, some based on images taped on the desks, while others were general without context. If I recall correctly, there were stations on the properties of different materials (i.e. sand and ice), refraction of light through different mediums, image interpretation and matching (What the heck is El Nada?), wakes of ships travelling through water, GRACE (Station 3 I think), and something else that I don't remember.
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Re: Remote Sensing C

Post by The Eviscerator »

I think this was the weirdest Remote Sensing test that I have ever taken. This is my BEST event and I got 35th. The test consisted of what Genius posted above with (I believe) 1 point per multiple choice and 5 points per short answer/math question. IMO, the test was not well written in terms of following the rules sheet. There were few questions on general remote sensing or satellite imagery other than identifying what certain images showed. The bulk of the points were in either really specific things (in depth knowledge of the ABL and GRACE programs--I don't think any other satellites were even mentioned, and GRACE isn't even an imaging satellite) or things that seemed rather irrelevant (there were two questions that were on index of refraction worth a total of 10 points and because neither my partner nor I knew Snell's law (something not required on the rules) we bombed it). I realize this sounds like complaining but in a sense, the math on an RS test should be something you can figure out based on satellite knowledge, not physics B (my partner and I both have only taken physC) formulas. Furthermore, with some stations (like the one about ship wakes) it seemed really hit or miss and not anything about Remote Sensing knowledge (we were labeling waves and calculating ship velocities).
Looking at the placings for the event, I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only that felt shafted by this test (I have studied very hard for this event for 3 years and got 8th last time I was at nationals (2011)), seeing as many of the teams that usually do well (e.g., Harriton has won this event many times) did subpar as well. Compounding on what gneissisnice said, the bulk of the points on this test were not based around RS knowledge, but some somewhat irrelevant pieces of knowledge that some teams may just get lucky and have.

Unfortunately this could be the last year for Remote Sensing (replaced by Geologic Mapping) as well as for me (graduating), so these complaints may not really be worth anything.
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Re: Remote Sensing C

Post by gneissisnice »

The Eviscerator wrote:I think this was the weirdest Remote Sensing test that I have ever taken. This is my BEST event and I got 35th. The test consisted of what Genius posted above with (I believe) 1 point per multiple choice and 5 points per short answer/math question. IMO, the test was not well written in terms of following the rules sheet. There were few questions on general remote sensing or satellite imagery other than identifying what certain images showed. The bulk of the points were in either really specific things (in depth knowledge of the ABL and GRACE programs--I don't think any other satellites were even mentioned, and GRACE isn't even an imaging satellite) or things that seemed rather irrelevant (there were two questions that were on index of refraction worth a total of 10 points and because neither my partner nor I knew Snell's law (something not required on the rules) we bombed it). I realize this sounds like complaining but in a sense, the math on an RS test should be something you can figure out based on satellite knowledge, not physics B (my partner and I both have only taken physC) formulas. Furthermore, with some stations (like the one about ship wakes) it seemed really hit or miss and not anything about Remote Sensing knowledge (we were labeling waves and calculating ship velocities).
Looking at the placings for the event, I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only that felt shafted by this test (I have studied very hard for this event for 3 years and got 8th last time I was at nationals (2011)), seeing as many of the teams that usually do well (e.g., Harriton has won this event many times) did subpar as well. Compounding on what gneissisnice said, the bulk of the points on this test were not based around RS knowledge, but some somewhat irrelevant pieces of knowledge that some teams may just get lucky and have.

Unfortunately this could be the last year for Remote Sensing (replaced by Geologic Mapping) as well as for me (graduating), so these complaints may not really be worth anything.
That sounds way more difficult than when I took it back in 2006. The Nationals event then was only like 35 questions, and ENTIRELY about satellites. My partner and I had split the topics; he covered satellites and I covered the environment impact. He did most of the event by himself because it was all his area and none of mine, I helped with a couple of questions and did the tiebreaker. We still got 3rd somehow, even though we guessed on a lot. We just happened to have some awesome notesheets that had most of the satellite questions.

Remote's always been a hit or miss event, in my opinion. And I'm surprised to see Snell's Law on the event, that doesn't sound like it belongs there.
2009 events:
Fossils: 1st @ reg. 3rd @ states (stupid dinosaurs...) 5th @ nats.
Dynamic: 1st @ reg. 19thish @ states, 18th @ nats
Herpetology (NOT the study of herpes): NA
Enviro Chem: 39th @ states =(
Cell Bio: 9th @ reg. 18th @ nats
Remote: 6th @ states 3rd @ Nats
Ecology: 5th @ Nats
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Re: Remote Sensing C

Post by bwilby »

I agree with everything that has been said. It was a different supervisor than usual, and quite a disappointing test.
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Re: Remote Sensing C

Post by reesabp »

If you prepared for a RS test like everyone in the past, that test was sooooo off-base. It did not accurately reflect the rules. Fozendog and I were talking about how it was basically a Dynamic Planet Test + Water Quality + a hint of Satellites (the GRACE questions).
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