Making Chemistry Fireworks

Making Chemistry FireworksChemistry fireworks are really fun and exciting. The process of creating fireworks is really quite simple and uses only a few common tools and materials. This article will give you some tips and help you to create your own fireworks so that you can have even more fun with your friends.You will need some ingredients for firework which can be purchased at your local hardware store. A starter fire extinguisher, matches, some different types of bottles and chemicals, a rubbing alcohol (rubbing alcohol is not as strong as water) and acetone. These are the most common ingredients for creating firework. You can also buy these ingredients at your local toy store or online. You may have to have a hobby shop near where you live in order to buy these items easily.First, you should make up a plan to start your basic chemical experiments. Keep the ingredients and supplies together as you get ready to put it all together. You will probably have a list of things that you w ill need to do to come up with a fireworks theme. These are the common ingredients that you will need for fireworks, and they will make firework a great idea for any occasion.Experiment with different colors. Choose the color that you want. When you add the rubbing alcohol, use it as often as possible in the mixture. This will create a shiny finish and your fireworks will ignite and start burning. Also, rubbing alcohol gives a slight sweet smell to the mixture. This will make it even more interesting.Experiment with various types of mixtures to find what you like the best. Make sure that you add a little bit of something acidic to the mixture, like lemon juice, which will be a pretty good option. Or you could add some sugar, maple syrup or whatever you think you would like the best.Experiment with different sizes and brands of fireworks. If you are into science fiction, then you may want to try large flames, but if you are not then you might want to choose smaller ones. Experiment w ith different gases.Finally, when you get the right fireworks for your celebration, you can now enjoy the entire party with the fireworks. You can do a little experiment on how to make the fireworks explode in your own home. It can be a lot of fun and everyone will be amazed when they see the fireworks explode. Take a trip out and get yourself a guide to fireworks.

GRE Guide Single Question Passages

GRE Guide Single Question Passages GRE/MAT Graduate School Blog Perhaps the most overwhelming thing about the GRE is the test itself, as a whole. This article from HappySchools outlines the content and general format of the exam. The terrain covered by even the most conservative subsections can feel constantly in flux â€" and when most questions are asked only a single time on the test, prepping on a smaller scale often feels futile. But further compartmentalization actually breaks the test into fully digestible pieces, and when we look at the species of questions that exist in a micro-sense, we can see better when certain skills are being evaluated more than others. Noticing these differences is key to succeeding on the test, as going without often leads us to throw all of our skills at each question, a process that is draining and overwhelming. By noting the differences and curating our approach in a more fine-tuned way, we can save energy for later in the test, and have a better sense of question-consciousness, where we as test takers are resp onding to the questions as they are being asked, and not as we fear them to be. A couple years ago, I took this approach with a client to study the differences that crop up when we cut up and separate multiple official practice exams (and official here is key, as most test prep companies write their own material based on content areas and not question style). We focused on the Reading Comprehension questions in the Verbal section, and I intend to write 3 following blog posts laying out the differences we discovered through this process, beginning with single-question passages. By “single-question,” I’m referring to all of the questions that only require you to respond to an individual question; the other three varieties, naturally, are 2-question, 3-question, and 4-question passages, the last of which can be particularly nasty. But points are equivalent across the board, and you will see more single-question passages than 4-question ones, so we’re starting at the beginning. Take the following problem: This question is about the standard length and style for single-question passages, which are, the vast majority of the time, concerned with the logic of the passage. The question asked will also almost always be similar to “Which of the following, if true, most strengthens or weakens the argument?” In this case, the question will ask us about weakening the argument, but we need first to understand what that even means. For more information about the style of GRE Reading Comprehension questions, see this article from GREEdge. On the GRE, the term argument always refers to the logic as it produces the conclusion. So for our purposes, we can focus on the part of the passage that says “therefore” or some variation. Here, that part is that “the Maya must have used stone tools.” This conclusion is fundamentally the thing we are trying to weaken as we analyze the argument, but lets look closer at the pathway there. The Maya made carvings. The carvings would need hard stone or metal tools. Alright, let’s stop here for a sec. Neither of those things is untrue â€" in fact, we can’t take anything they say as untrue. A common mistake in students is that they assume what would weaken the argument is an alternative fact (like what if they had lasers?!?). But it’s clear here that if we start at two options (stone or metal) and conclude that stone is the answer, what we need most to weaken the argument is an alternate source of metal. Iron-ore deposits existed, but the Maya never figured out how to use them. We know they used copper and gold, but these aren’t hard enough. THEREFORE, they must have used stone. This could be a totally correct argument; I mean if there really was no other source of metal, we’d have to agree. But since our project is to weaken the argument, that’s the thing we need to produce. We’re going to look at the answers in a second, but before we do, I want to offer some cautionary advice â€" the test writes questions in ways to slow you down. It is not your friend, and it wants you to spend more than a handful of minutes on each question â€" this ensures you’ll take the test again in a few months. They aren’t incentivized to make it easy for you, and one of their best tricks is providing you with answers that are convoluted and messy so that you have to read them several times. So when I show you the answers, glide on past them to my analysis of them, and use that as a frame for breaking it down. Remember, our goal is to weaken the argument that concludes that stone must have been used, and that a framework for thinking about that is that we want an extra source of metal. As we read from the bottom up, lets look at these answers. The final answer primarily discusses how archaeologists disagree about stone tools. This is of no concern to us, as our primary concern revolves around finding additional sources of metal. This answer can be marked irrelevant. The penultimate answer choice discusses the smelting technique â€" which, if it could be applied to Iron, would provide us with a new source of metal. However, they say it could NOT be so used, and thus this answer strengthens the argument. This is a difficult choice primarily because it’s an example of the test masking a wrong answer with right clothing, and these are especially tricky to watch out for. Answer C discusses the hardness of the stone, and once we recognize that fact we know immediately that whatever effect it might have on the argument, it is not for us. We care about metal, single-mindedly. Answer B provides an example of artifacts that have been found, but reiterates that these would have been too soft. No luck, once more. But Answer A refers to a meteorite that, even in the hypothetical, would provide a source of metal that the passage failed to address, and so produces the possibility of weakening the argument. The struggles that I see most students facing in problems like this is first, substituting facts they imagine about the passage for the logic the passage presents to us; second, forgetting the hole in logic they are looking to exploit as a result of the length and difficulty of the answer choices; and third, misreading the answer choices (as Answer D tries to provoke). To fight these, remember that the passage only speaks in facts until its conclusion, which is simply poorly drawn, not wrong as such. Also, maintain your focus on this hole â€" if you can say “new source of metal” don’t substitute it for something you read that’s different without double and triple checking. Third, read carefully, and always keep at the forefront of your mind that the test is messing with your attention span and actively, constantly trying to throw you off your game. To look at another question like this, check out the one below: This technically doesn’t ask to strengthen or weaken, but notice how attentive the question is to the passage’s logic. “Which of the following, if true” remains our hallmark, but the thing we’re looking to do is draw a conclusion about the facts presented to us, so we are in a slightly different capacity. But if we break down the passage into its basic sequence of facts, it looks a lot easier to think through. No job goes to an outside applicant if an internal applicant who is qualified applies. [In pure logic terms this means â€" If internal applicant applies and is qualified, they get the job.] Numerous employees have been qualified for any given positions. Some of those positions go to outside hires. At this point we almost have the answer in front of us, and we haven’t even looked at the answers, because the passage lays out its own logic for us. Many are qualified, but some jobs go to outsiders could only suggest that some who are qualified have not applied (which would be easy to imagine for entry-level positions). Answer A most exactly looks like this variation, as it discusses the lack of applications from current employees. But let’s check out the other answers. Answer B suggests a lack of notification to current employees. This is wrong in the first place because the opening sentence refers to advertisement and this answer would depend on the statement in the passage being false. But it fails, also, to address the problem of “application” and so can be discarded before even realizing all that. Answer C is little more than a possible fact, which might be true (given that employees + outside hires = more employees), and its truth can easily distract us from the focus on the passage’s logic. But it might also not be true; if the turnover is consistent the employee count might stay pretty low. Answer D references the non-qualification of certain hires â€" this is a great example of the kind of alternative-fact that students often fall for. These kinds of answers distract us by their power to transform the conclusion without being within the logical realm of the question. The problem, remember, is the non-application of certain current employees, not the qualifications of those who are hired, which the passage implies strongly actually possess those qualifications. Answer E might also be true, but bears no relevance to our logical conundrum and should similarly be discarded. These single-question passages will appear 3-4 times on your Verbal section, and as a result will come in a variety of logical flavors, even though they hew closely to the same format. It’s worth familiarizing yourself with them and their question styles and answer choices the same way you would prep your knowledge of triangles for the math section. Your job in reading comprehension is not just the flimsy concept of “comprehension” â€" it can be compartmentalized in similar ways to the math section and gradually, studiously conquered. Stay tuned for future installments! And enjoy these similar questions below. About the Author Ben is one of MyGuru's most experienced and qualified GRE/test prep tutors. For more information on him and others like him, click here.

GMAT Quant 101 Basic Facts Concepts to Remember

GMAT Quant 101 Basic Facts Concepts to Remember GMAT MBA Admissions Blog In our GMAT tutoring sessions, we constantly remind students that the GMAT is not a math test. Although there are some rules you need to know, doing well requires that you think in a structured yet flexible way and approach each question as a problem that needs to be solved strategically and creatively. Rote memorization of facts and formulas is not the answer. Building critical thinking skills is the path to a 700+ GMAT score. All that said, you will need to memorize some mathematics information before test day. This primer introduces some of those important facts. Set the right mental context for what you’ll need to memorize. It’s important to remember that you will not have a calculator on the GMAT; it will be necessary to memorize a few mathematical equations and rules. Many people feel most overwhelmed with the Quantitative material on the GMAT, but you won’t encounter anything beyond topics you learned in high school. All it takes to master this section is enough dedication to recall and then retain information that you’ve most likely already learned in the past, combined with enough practice in applying these concepts to seemingly very tricky problems using lots of critical thinking, problem solving, and process of elimination. Draw your shapes. There is a fair amount of geometry on the GMAT. You should be prepared to remember facts about various shapes. Draw the shapes when you can â€" visual cuesare easier for your brain to process and remember. Take triangles as an example. You have to remember many equations and rules for different types of triangles (Pythagorean theorem, interior and exterior angles, area, etc.). It can be helpful to list these and draw them as well. Actually draw a right triangle, label the sides (a, b, c) and fill in the fixed angle amounts. Go through the same process for angles, quadrilaterals, circles, angles, and uniform solids. Recall your high school algebra equations. You’ll need to know various math rules and formulas to perform well on the GMAT. Again, these should look familiar from the math classes you took in high school. For example, how many of the bullets below are familiar to you? Order of operations FOIL (first, outside, inside, last) when multiple two binomials (i.e., (a +b ) (c + d) exponent rules radical rules Slope of a line, or y = mx + b MBA Crystal Ball has a great article covering most of the algebra formulas you’ll need to master in the GMATquant section. Here are some other helpful GMAT quant issues to remember. Memorize the answer order for data sufficiency questions. The answers are the same for every question, so the GMAT doesn’t write them out for you. You’ll save lots of time if you’re able to memorize and quickly recall what A, B, C, D, and E represent: (A) statement 1 alone is sufficient, but statement 2 alone is not sufficient to answer the question (B) statement 2 alone is sufficient, but statement 1 alone is not sufficient to answer the question (C) both statements taken together are sufficient to answer the question, but neither statement alone is sufficient (D) each statement alone is sufficient (E) statements 1 and 2 together are not sufficient, and additional data is needed to answer the question In situations where all answer choices are numerical, it can be helpful to backsolve(plugging the answers into the question). Start with C, usually the median number, and use it in the equation. This is an easy way to eliminate answers quickly. QS Top MBA wrote a nice article summarizing most of what you need to understand to master GMAT data sufficiencyquestions. Use mental math as often as you can. If a question uses decimals, (3.2, 4.8, round up to whole numbers to make quick calculations in your head). If you are asked to multiply something by 20% or 30% or 40%, first multiply it by 10% (something most of us can do quickly), and then multiply the result by 2 or 3 or 4. Mental math is all about breaking something that seems complicated on its own into easier steps in your head. Time management is critical on the GMAT. Taking even an extra 30 seconds to manually work out a problem that can be completed using mental math wastes precious time. It also increases the possibility that you might make a calculation error. Mental math also has a way of improving your more general math skills. As explained in this article on mental mathby Shelley Gray, a math teacher, it forces you to understand instead of memorize as well as follow a logical thought process. Both of these factors will help you build your GMAT math skills more generally. Final Thoughts The GMAT tests your ability to think strategically. As in business more generally, you are asked to take what you know and apply it to a given situation to choose the best alternative.This article was intended to provide a high level overview of the math and quantitative reasoning related GMAT topics you’ll need to know to do that, but it’s critical to keep in mind that practicing actual GMAT problem under timed conditions and learning from your mistakes is what will lead to GMAT success. For more information on GMAT tutoring and our GMAT tutors, click here. For an introduction to available online options, visit our online GMAT page. Also, if you think you may be interested in one of our free GMAT skills webinars, where you'll be introduced to the online tutoring process, major GMAT concepts, and our Director of Online Tutoring will answer specific questions from attendees, click here for more information on how to sign up.

How to Succeed If You Have To Cram For A Test

How to Succeed If You Have To Cram For A Test You should always do everything within your power to avoid cramming for a test: schedule study time every week, partner with someone who will keep you accountable, visit the teacher during office hours to ask questions about the material - whatever it takes. However, there are some times where you simply run out of time, and if you're reading this post, you're probably in that situation. Here are your best bets for success when studying the day before an exam. Keep your energy up The body needs fuel, but caffeine and junk food won't improve your learning curve. In fact, you'll study better if you don't eat much sugar at all. You don't want to crash, so consume high protein snacks and plenty of water if you're hungry while hitting the books. If you are craving something sweet, eat a piece of fruit or dark chocolate. Change the scene With the multitude of distractions available in your apartment or dorm, a new environment may actually improve your retention. Take your essentials somewhere with fewer temptations to slack off. Coffee shops, bookstores, the library, or a quiet lounge on campus might work. Set up somewhere with a minimum of distractions where you can concentrate without interruptions or being asked to move. Find safety in numbers If you have already established a study group, you'll have an easy time finding someone to study with the night before a test. If your class has set up an informal directory, reach out and find someone to work with. You learn how much you know - or don't - best when you have to describe concepts to another person aloud. A duo, or team, can better determine what you need to cover. Plus, you can quiz one another as you review the material. Put it in writing Rewriting your notes can be a great study method. However, writing does not mean copying notes verbatim, but rephrasing, condensing, and changing the order of the material. Halving the length of your notes forces you to find out what the highlights are and increases the efficiency of your studying. Also, writing items out may cement the concepts in your memory more effectively than re-reading them. As you review your notes, arrange them in digestible groups instead of attacking all the material at once. Take a break If you have all day to study, take 20- to 30-minute breaks. If you only have the evening before the exam, take a ten-minute break every hour. During the break, stretch, take a walk, or get a snack. Once you get in this habit, you may find that you are concentrating 80 percent of the time, instead of being distracted and studying during only half of your scheduled time - a 30 percent increase in efficiency. Prioritise It's past the point when you can stuff every detail of the term into your head, so make sure that you are clear on the major concepts. Move on to the details only once you are certain that you know the most important material. If you are reviewing a text, read the first chapter, the final chapter, and the first and last paragraphs of the intervening chapters. Sleep on it You will likely perform better if you are reasonably well-rested. Try to get up two hours before the test so you aren't trying to recall the data-jam of the night before while you're still in snooze mode. Keep in mind that over-caffeinating as you study can decrease your performance by limiting your ability to sleep. Snacking too late in the evening can also be harmful.

Using the Internet for Study an Optimization or a Waste of Time

Using the Internet for Study an Optimization or a Waste of Time Time is one of the main values in our days. World around us changes so rapidly and in order to catch up with all new trends we need to be quick-minded, communicative and well-informed. Only full assimilation of the newest technologies in our everyday activity can help us to be on top in the pursuit for success in study, career and even in personal life. Informational technologies and especially the Internet offer endless opportunities for acceleration and perfection of a child’s learning and development. The Internet allows to find study materials very quickly, to be well up on recent scientific and educational events and researches. School and college tutors guide children on the first stages of their lives and they must teach juniors to use the Internet in a right way not just for games and entertainment. Of course the Internet is not a solution of all educational problems. It is only a useful tool that can be used by teachers to make learning more efficient and interesting for students. Here are some ideas for tutors how to use the Internet in study process: electronic educational supplies are a good alternative and addition to paper textbooks; on-line tests, quizzes in chats and blogs are an efficient and time-saving ways to check digestion of a curricular material; the Internet is a source of various visual study aids, such as images of pieces of art, portraits, models, simulator programs, etc.; educational entertaining web-sites allow to learn and have fun simultaneously, besides these web-sites are cultivating childs interest in subject; information available on web can be used for student’s research and survey works; participating in educational subject’s connected groups and circles on social networking services, as such Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, can stimulate interest in study and can provide for additional information on learning disciplines. Excellent tutor must not just pass knowledge to students, it is also necessary to arouse curiosity and sincere thirst for knowledge in heart of each child. New study methods and tools available in the Internet are indispensable for achievement of these high goal and it is inadmissible neglect web opportunities. If you need a tutoring assistance for you of your child visit TutorZ.com and we will help you find a perfect personal tutor in any subject: English, Spanish, French, algebra, calculus, physics, chemistry, pharmacology, computer, programming, economics, finance, accounting and many others. Our service is free for students! Using the Internet for Study an Optimization or a Waste of Time Time is one of the main values in our days. World around us changes so rapidly and in order to catch up with all new trends we need to be quick-minded, communicative and well-informed. Only full assimilation of the newest technologies in our everyday activity can help us to be on top in the pursuit for success in study, career and even in personal life. Informational technologies and especially the Internet offer endless opportunities for acceleration and perfection of a child’s learning and development. The Internet allows to find study materials very quickly, to be well up on recent scientific and educational events and researches. School and college tutors guide children on the first stages of their lives and they must teach juniors to use the Internet in a right way not just for games and entertainment. Of course the Internet is not a solution of all educational problems. It is only a useful tool that can be used by teachers to make learning more efficient and interesting for students. Here are some ideas for tutors how to use the Internet in study process: electronic educational supplies are a good alternative and addition to paper textbooks; on-line tests, quizzes in chats and blogs are an efficient and time-saving ways to check digestion of a curricular material; the Internet is a source of various visual study aids, such as images of pieces of art, portraits, models, simulator programs, etc.; educational entertaining web-sites allow to learn and have fun simultaneously, besides these web-sites are cultivating childs interest in subject; information available on web can be used for student’s research and survey works; participating in educational subject’s connected groups and circles on social networking services, as such Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, can stimulate interest in study and can provide for additional information on learning disciplines. Excellent tutor must not just pass knowledge to students, it is also necessary to arouse curiosity and sincere thirst for knowledge in heart of each child. New study methods and tools available in the Internet are indispensable for achievement of these high goal and it is inadmissible neglect web opportunities. If you need a tutoring assistance for you of your child visit TutorZ.com and we will help you find a perfect personal tutor in any subject: English, Spanish, French, algebra, calculus, physics, chemistry, pharmacology, computer, programming, economics, finance, accounting and many others. Our service is free for students!

A Literary Narrative On My Physics Journey

A Literary Narrative On My Physics Journey On my trip to Hong Kong, I vividly remember my aunt asking me, as I sat across from her on a bus, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I recall trying to come up with some sort of smart response, but the truth is that I had yet to realize my life goals. After all, I was still an eight year old child. My aunt’s simple question stuck with me for the next several years.Soon however, when I was in eighth grade, my academic interests in the fields of science began to call to me.It all began when I picked up the book “A Brief History of Time”, written by none other than the great Stephen Hawking. When I first opened the book, I expected to breeze through the chapters as I did with every other book I used to read. However this time was different. The way the text appeared to me seemed different, and it took me almost twice as long to process the words that Stephen Hawking had written down. Slowly, but surely, I flipped through the pages and the magnitude of the universe asto unded me. I barely understood what I was reading, but it felt great memorizing random physics theories with cool names like the Uncertainty Principle or the Law of Thermodynamics. I knew more than other kids at my age knew, and I felt invincible. Soon, I decided that I wanted to be an astronomer, so I could explore the grand space we occupied in order to discover what was really behind the workings of our universe.Inevitably, I eventually bought two more books: “The Universe in a Nutshell” and “The Grand Design”, both by Stephen Hawking. From morning to night, I was buried deep in the genius that was Hawking’s mind. My mind was often blown away by the theories that controlled our universe and which made me see the universe in ways that I had never seen it before. The next day, I stepped out the door, and nothing seemed the same. The simplest things, from the leaves rustling to the cold air that blew against my face, could be described by the purpose of a law. I’d look at one event and think entropy or hold a paper clip and think “Wow, that’s a lot of energy right there”. The way I saw my life changed abruptly and my love for physics soared to heights I never thought possible. That was, until I took high school physics.My first year in physics was a nightmare. I went in expecting to learn conceptual theories detailed in “The Grand Design”; instead, we learned about boring principles regarding vectors, motion, etc. I was terrible at these principles and I yearned to be in Hawking’s Universe. The experience scarred me and made me reconsider if I actually wanted to pursue astronomy. However, after struggling through three years of physics, I learned to love it again and decided that I would be a mechanical engineer. To do what, I wasn’t sure, but I had an idea. Because I grew up with Asian traditions, I was always taught to prepare for the future. Whether that meant studying hard to get a good job or something as simple as recycling, thos e were the beliefs that I was drilled to believe in.As a result, I’ve constantly envisioned the numerous possibilities of the future. In one of these visions, I stood on top of the Empire State Building. Looking over the edge, I was able to catch a glimpse of New York City...or at least what was left of it. What used to be “the city that never sleeps” was now a dead-quiet wasteland. The tall buildings that used to scrape the sky in elegance were broken shells of their former selves. Cars were sprawled across the streets and debris was everywhere. The city was in ruins and what was one the capital of the world was gone as if it had never existed. What really struck me though was the intense heat, which brought me to a sweat within seconds. Everything felt too real and I knew that global warming was too real of a threat to humanity’s existence, but I didn’t know what to do.That was until I stumbled upon the book “Elon Musk : Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Adv enture” by Ashlee Vance. With the book in the palm of my hands, I dug in like one would feast at a Thanksgiving dinner. The moment I read the first sentence, I knew that I was in for a ride: “Do you think I am insane?” asked Musk. After the brief introduction, the book began to describe Musk’s difficult childhood and the struggles he had to endure living with his father. This became food for thought because it made me realize that my childhood was rather simple and I had never worked my ass off despite what I thought during state assessments and such. As I flipped through the chapters, my heart began to race and I realized that I couldn’t put the book down. His extraordinary inhuman drive to “save humankind” by utilizing sustainable energy and space exploration spoke to me and inspired me to pursue the same goal. There was nothing that Elon Musk wouldn’t do and nothing he wouldn’t sacrifice to complete his vision, and I figured that I must pursue my aspirations wit h the same drive that he displayed.All in all, I still remember when all I did in middle and high school was hang out and shoot hoops as the sun fell through the sky. I regret not doing much more and realizing my dream earlier. But, the book unearthed my life goal and I feel a sense of drive within me that I had never felt before. Now, I want to do as much as I possibly can so I too can “save mankind”.

5 Ways to make the Best out of Online Study Materials

5 Ways to make the Best out of Online Study Materials Tips from a Private Orange County Tutor: 5 Ways to make the Best out of Online Study Materials Tips from a Private Orange County Tutor: 5 Ways to make the Best out of Online Study Materials Whether you’re studying for the SAT or for a classroom course, online study materials are a major part of a student’s life. There are many advantages to online study, including the convenience and accessibility factor but there are also some disadvantages. There are pop up ads left and right and some online sources simply aren’t reputable. Look at these tips for a great online study experience. 1. Avoid distractions Distractions are ever present when studying online. Pop up ads inviting students to check out a blog about their favorite celebrity and ad boxes that cover up part of the paragraph they are trying to read are a constant distraction. Also, don’t forget about the temptation to tab over to a social media site for ‘just a minute’. During crucial study periods, use an app such as Self Control to force away temptation and practice visually blocking out ads (easier said than done). 2. Ask your tutor for help determining which sites are reputable Some online study tools are legitimate, up to date, and highly useful for students of all grade levels. Others, however, were written by a student from 2010 using a now out of date text edition. Additionally, do today’s students know if that 2010 student received all As or if they flunked out? No, they don’t. Avoid all student posts and focus on sites that are pre-approved by a tutor. Chances are the tutor transitioned to the Internet and learned over time how to search for legitimacy; newer tutors will have learned how to appropriately use online research methods in high school or college (READ: Tips From an Irvine SAT Tutor: The Free SAT Study Guide). 3. Determine your overall study needs Before logging in, it’s important to determine your overall study needs. Are you doing in depth research for a 10 page paper? Are you using a website that helps you study for the SAT step by step? Are you using an online organizational tool to help you study for a quiz? Research is generally the most difficult situation but rest assured that once the skill is mastered, it will make future study much easier and faster. Student researchers are encouraged to sit down with their tutor and ask for help getting organized. A few hours with a tutor can save dozens of hours each term. Students using a site such as Study Blue or Quizlet are encouraged to keep a paper copy of important notes. Based on Murphy’s Law, if there was ever a time for the Internet to crash it would be the night before the exam. 4. Use online tools in collaboration with in-person study Online study is fantastic and convenient but best conducted in conjunction with in-person study. Students who work with study groups get the advantage of multiple ideas and thoughts in this collaborative environment. Additionally, students who work within a group or with a tutor can make sure that everyone is on track and help each other avoid distractions. Don’t worry, if students can’t actually meet face to face, they can still get the benefits of collaboration through Skype or Google Hangouts study sessions (READ: 5 Signs You Need a Math Tutor). 5. Organize Wandering around the Internet without any particular goal or direction will usually take students way off their study path and lead to countless hours of wasted time. Students are encouraged to sit down for a few minutes and get organized before logging in. First, create an outline for study. Which topics need to be covered? Which ones are priorities? Which subjects require the most amount of time and which are most challenging? Next, students should think about their goals. For example, if studying for the SAT will today’s study cover the reading section or does math need to be completed first? Hit the ground running when school starts back up with the help of a private Irvine academic tutor. Call us today for details. All blog entries, with the exception of guest bloggers, are written by Tutor Nerds. Are you an education professional? If so, email us at pr@tutornerds.com for guest blogging and collaborations. We want to make this the best free education resource in SoCal, so feel free to suggest what you would like to see us write