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. Nonmetallic minerals may have a glassy, shiny
luster.
Mineral Sample
Cleaved
Fractured
Scratches
Glass
Softer than
Glass
M
M
MN
MN
Scratches
Glass
M
MN
Softer than
Glass
M
MN
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 = 0.75
E=0
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 = 0.3773584
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 0.377
is more elliptical
than the orbit of
mercury.”