Thursday, September 21, 2006
more test tips
Honors: the test tomorrow is worth 60 points. Make sure that you underline, highlight, or circle ONLY the key words in each question as you read each question twice or three times to make sure that you understand the question.
IMPORTANT: What is the difference between a DESCRIPTION and an EXPLANATION?
A question that asks for an explanation or a justification requires that you tell HOW and/or WHY something happens.
A question that asks for a description requires only that you tell WHAT happens.
For example, if a car accident occurred, you could be asked for a DESCRIPTION of WHAT happened or you could be asked to EXPLAIN why and how the accident happened.
Description: the Honda was traveling due east and the Volvo was traveling due west in the same lane as the Honda. The two cars then crashed head on as neither car swerved to avoid each other.
Explanation: the Honda driver was on his cell-phone and was thus distracted from the traffic ahead of him; the Volvo driver knew that he was in a very safe car and he wanted to test out his air-bags by colliding with another car so he drove on the wrong side of the road looking for an unsuspecting victim. Once the Volvo driver spotted the Honda driver, he headed for the Honda's grill and, since the Honda driver was checking a text message on his phone and not looking at the traffic ahead, he did not move his car to avoid the crash that ensued.
Remember that labeled drawings/illustrations are a helpful PART of any answer but, unless the question asks ONLY for a labeled drawing, the drawing must be followed by a written description/explanation of the drawing. The drawing is just a great way to organize and visualize your thoughts.
Keep studying- that means practicing your WRITING- and good luck tomorrow!
Regents- 33 multiple choice questions tomorrow for the first 100 points of the quarter; you MUST read, identify and then CIRCLE or UNDERLINE the key words in each question so that your answer matches what is specifically asked for. Failure to do so will result in a 20 point deduction from your test score. Always try to write out and predict an answer whenever you can BEFORE you consider the answer choices. This practice will keep you from choosing distracting and wrong answer choices.
There are additional practice questions with answers in your Barron's "Let's Review: Chemistry" blue soft-cover review book. Just read pages 2-4 and answer questions 1-5 on page 21; the answers are on page 461.
Study all notes, powerpoints, videos, worksheets, and text questions. Good luck tomorrow!
IMPORTANT: What is the difference between a DESCRIPTION and an EXPLANATION?
A question that asks for an explanation or a justification requires that you tell HOW and/or WHY something happens.
A question that asks for a description requires only that you tell WHAT happens.
For example, if a car accident occurred, you could be asked for a DESCRIPTION of WHAT happened or you could be asked to EXPLAIN why and how the accident happened.
Description: the Honda was traveling due east and the Volvo was traveling due west in the same lane as the Honda. The two cars then crashed head on as neither car swerved to avoid each other.
Explanation: the Honda driver was on his cell-phone and was thus distracted from the traffic ahead of him; the Volvo driver knew that he was in a very safe car and he wanted to test out his air-bags by colliding with another car so he drove on the wrong side of the road looking for an unsuspecting victim. Once the Volvo driver spotted the Honda driver, he headed for the Honda's grill and, since the Honda driver was checking a text message on his phone and not looking at the traffic ahead, he did not move his car to avoid the crash that ensued.
Remember that labeled drawings/illustrations are a helpful PART of any answer but, unless the question asks ONLY for a labeled drawing, the drawing must be followed by a written description/explanation of the drawing. The drawing is just a great way to organize and visualize your thoughts.
Keep studying- that means practicing your WRITING- and good luck tomorrow!
Regents- 33 multiple choice questions tomorrow for the first 100 points of the quarter; you MUST read, identify and then CIRCLE or UNDERLINE the key words in each question so that your answer matches what is specifically asked for. Failure to do so will result in a 20 point deduction from your test score. Always try to write out and predict an answer whenever you can BEFORE you consider the answer choices. This practice will keep you from choosing distracting and wrong answer choices.
There are additional practice questions with answers in your Barron's "Let's Review: Chemistry" blue soft-cover review book. Just read pages 2-4 and answer questions 1-5 on page 21; the answers are on page 461.
Study all notes, powerpoints, videos, worksheets, and text questions. Good luck tomorrow!
# posted by C @ 4:15 PM 
