Part D: The Performance Test The lab practical part of the Regents Exam

The Exam – Parts A, B, & C are worth about 85% of the overall score. Part A: 35 Multiple choice questions Part B1: 15 Multiple choice questions Part B2: ~ 15 Constructed response questions Part C: ~ 15 Constructed response questions

3 stations – 9 minutes for each station 1.Rocks & Minerals 2.Locating an Epicenter 3.Drawing an Elliptical Orbit

Station One Classify two rock hand samples as either igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic and give an observable characteristic as a reason for the classification. Identify one mineral sample by testing its physical properties of hardness, streak, cleavage, and luster.

How to recognize an Igneous Rock Glassy Texture Vesicular texture Randomly Arranged Intergrown Crystals

How to recognize a Sedimentary Rock Contains Fossils Clastic Texture Layered Sediment

How to recognize a Metamorphic Rock Mineral Alignment or Foliation Banding Wavy bands or Distorted Structure

Mineral Identification Based on the physical properties of the mineral sample The physical properties are a result of the internal atomic arrangement

Cleave vs. Fracture To recognize cleavage, look for stair steps

Streak – The color of the mineral in powdered form; tested by rubbing the sample against an unglazed porcelain tile.

Hardness – Moh’s Scale Resistance to being scratched Harder than glass (scratches glass) Not as hard as glass (doesn’t scratch glass)

Luster – How it reflects light Metallic Non-Metallic Don’t confuse shiny with metallic. Non- metallic minerals may have a glassy, shiny luster.

Mineral Sample CleavedFractured Scratches Glass Softer than Glass MMMMMN

Station 2: Locating an Earthquakes Epicenter Information from 3 seismic stations is needed. Use the S-P lapse time & p.11 of the ESRT to determine the distance each station is from the epicenter. Use a compass to draw circles that distance from each station Where the 3 circles meet is the EPICENTER!

Some distance from New Orleans

Some distance from NYC. Now the Epicenter is in one of two possible locations

Now with Pittsburgh, the epicenter is located!

X marks the spot!

Station 3: Orbits Orbits are ellipses! A perfect circle has an eccentricity of zero! E = 0 E = 0.75

Eccentricity E = distance between the foci (center points) ÷ length of the major axis (long-ways) Eccentricity has to be between zero and one. Never more than one!

Measure the distance between the foci (to the nearest tenth of a cm) 2.0 cm

Measure the length of the major axis (to the nearest tenth of a cm) 5.3 cm

Use the eccentricity equation: 2.0 cm ÷ 5.3 cm = Round to the nearest thousandth  0.377

Compare the eccentricity of your shape to the shape of a known orbit. If given Mercury (0.206), then  “My shape, with an eccentricity of is more elliptical than the orbit of mercury.”