SECME NATIONAL STUDENT COMPETITIONS GUIDELINES

Transcription

1 SECME NATIONAL STUDENT COMPETITIONS GUIDELINES 5 NATIONAL COMPETITIONS Engineering Design Competitions (3) o Mousetrap Car o Water Rocket o Vex Robotics Internet Science and Technology Fair Essay Competition IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER: April 21, 2014 (midnight) Certification of first place Regional/State Winners First place winning essays due at the SECME National Office May 5, 2014 (midnight) ALL National winners will be notified Engineering Design (Mousetrap Car) Technical Reports are due at the SECME National Office VEX Robotics Engineering Notebooks are due at the SECME National Office May 16, 2014 (midnight) ALL Teams must be Registered for the 2014 SECME National Competition Finals

2 Dear SECME Educators and Competition Hosts: Welcome to another exciting year of SECME Competitions. Our National Office Staff and Competition Task Force have strengthened and enhanced this year s competition opportunities for you and your students. This packet contains Guidelines for the 2014 SECME National Competitions. These Guidelines serve as the framework for local, regional or state competitions. Technical assistance is provided by many SECME Member Universities or districts, which may coordinate and host SECME workshops for teachers to learn basic SECME competitions (Mousetrap car, Water Rocket, Vex Robotics) skills or other STEM content. Please contact your SECME Program Director or Member University partner for dates and locations in your area. If unsure about this information, please contact our national office and we will be glad to assist - secme@coe.gatech.edu; Our STEM education competitions are aligned to National Standards, which can easily be drilled down to your state standards which means, SECME competition activities are packed with math and science required skills. It has been demonstrated that over time, the academic performance of students participating in SECME is higher than those that do not. We re off get your students geared up to start their engines, launch their rockets, and program their robots! Additionally, we encourage you to join us this summer for the 38 th Annual SECME Summer Institute where you receive state-of-the art professional development and SEE THE NATIONAL COMPETITON IN ACTION! Sincerely, Michele Williams, SECME National Interim Executive Director SECME Competition Guidelines Page 2 of 19

3 GENERAL INFORMATION Competitions are a wonderful way for teachers to reinforce science and math skills with exciting, hands-on activities while challenging students to persevere and excel. SECME competitions are designed to expose students to a variety of real-world applications for science and math, while generating interest and excitement about college and careers in STEM. Following are the 2014 SECME National Student Competitions Guidelines. Activities, competitions and deadlines at the Regional/State Competition level are at the discretion of the Member University or Host Sponsor. We encourage participation at all levels or divisions (elementary and middle and high schools). Contents: Page #: WHAT'S NEW! 2014 UPDATES & CHANGES... 4 ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA... 5 FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES FOR SECME STUDENT COMPETITIONS... 6 COMPETION BEHAVIOR & COLLABORATION... 6 SPECIAL NOTE TO REGIONAL/STATE HOSTS... 7 VEX ROBOTICS COMPETITION (TOSS UP)... 8 SECME NATIONAL COMPETITION DATES AND DEADLINES FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS GRIEVANCE REQUEST FOR REVIEW BY JUDGES SECME Competition Guidelines Page 3 of 19

4 2014 SECME National Competitions Updates & Changes Updates and Changes: Page # (of complete guidelines): Collaboration... 5 Mousetrap Car Updates and Changes Elementary Mousetrap Car Written Report scoring allocation.. 13 ALTERNATE DESIGN FOR BONUS POINTS.. 20 New Mousetrap Car Drawing paper requirement.. 24 Mousetrap Car Technical Drawing score allocation How to submit mousetrap car technical reports Technical Report scoring allocation.. 26 Water Rocketry Updates and Changes Water Rocketry Technical report Max score and scoring allocation Water Rocketry Technical Drawing paper requirement 46 Water Rocketry Technical Drawing scoring allocation 46 VEX Updates & Changes VEX Robotics Game (TOSS UP).. 49 VEX Robotics required number of team members How to submit engineering notebooks.. 52 Scoring allocation for engineering notebook. 53 ISTF Updates and Changes Program Schedule. 57 ESSAY Updates and Changes 2014 Theme for Essay How to submit your essay. 63 SECME has resumed selling MTC kits (same as the ones used at Summer Institute and workshops). 67 FAQs. 67 SECME Competition Guidelines Page 4 of 19

5 ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA PLEASE READ AND FOLLOW CAREFULLY Your data must be entered electronically into the SECME National database prior to your Regional/State Competition. Only students active in a local SECME program are eligible to enter competitions. SECME Member Universities, Program Directors and School Coordinators are asked to distribute (or reference) these Guidelines to all (educators, parents, business/industry partners, graduate and undergraduate students) who will help prepare students for this year s competitions or serve as mentors and/or judges. It is important that all fully understand the judging criteria for each Competition and their division. All entries are expected to be neat, original, and completed by the students. Elementary, Middle/Junior High, and High School students each will compete with other students at their respective levels. 1 st place Regional/State winning student or student competition teams, as identified in these guidelines, will be eligible to compete in and/or attend the 2014 SECME National Competitions Finals. 1 st place Regional/State winning students and/or student teams participating in Elementary Mousetrap, Water Rocketry, ISTF and Essay DO NOT travel to compete in the SECME National Competition Finals. National winners are chosen by score elimination. Scores from 1 st place Regional/State competition winners will be submitted. The highest score from that competition will be the winning student and/or student team. In case of a tie, a tie-breaker will be in position. 1 st place Regional/State Mousetrap Car winners (Middle and High School) and all Vex Robotics teams DO travel to the National Student Competition Finals to compete. SECME school coordinators should identify a chaperone (one chaperone per team) 1 to accompany their teams to the National Student Competition Finals. Certification of Regional/State Competition Winners. SECME Member Universities (or Sponsors) that host a Regional/State competition must provide the SECME National Office information on their winning student and/or student teams. This CERTIFICATION 2 is to be submitted electronically not later than Monday, April 21, Hard copy CERTIFICATIONS and/or s will not be accepted. Regional/State winning essays must be saved as a PDF and submitted via to: secme@coe.gatech.edu) no later than this date as well. Engineering Design (Mousetrap Car) Technical Reports and VEX Robotics Engineering Notebooks are due at the SECME National Office on or before May 5, Technical Reports are to be sent via to: secme@coe.gatech.edu. 1 In the case of mixed gender teams, we encourage two chaperones (male and female) 2 Certification of winning students/student teams DOES NOT constitute REGISTRATION FOR NATIONAL COMPETITION FINALS. These are two separate and distinct processes. SECME Competition Guidelines Page 5 of 19

6 Financial responsibilities for SECME Student Competitions a. SCHOOLS/SCHOOL DISTRICTS are responsible for covering all expenses involved in conducting competitions at the school/school district level. b. MEMBER UNIVERSITIES are responsible for: Hosting regional/state competitions (including awards) Travel expenses to the National Competition Finals: round-trip travel, including transportation to/from the airport for up to three student teams (three students per team) and one chaperone per team 3 Competition Requirements: Specific competition requirements are identified separately for each competition. Competition Behavior: Unsportsmanlike Behavior Each student, teacher, chaperone, and parent works hard during the school year to prepare for competitions. To honor their hard work and dedication, as well as contributing to an exciting environment, unsportsmanlike behavior will result in disqualification of your team. Unsportsmanlike conduct will be determined by the SECME staff and/or competition judges. Collaboration: To foster collaboration and a knowledge sharing STEM community, all materials submitted to SECME for national competitions will become the property of SECME and may or may not be shared via the SECME website, marketing documents, presentations, etc. Materials include, but are not limited to, technical reports, engineering notebooks, pictures, technical drawings, etc. 3 In the case of mixed gender teams, we encourage two chaperones (male and female) SECME Competition Guidelines Page 6 of 19

7 Special Note to Regional/State Competition Hosts Thank you in advance for hosting your Regional/State SECME Competition. Please contact our office as soon as your competition date is confirmed. If you are new to hosting a SECME competition, feel free to contact our office for guidance and/or technical assistance. Remember that your CERTIFICATION of winning teams is due April 21, The certification link will be available in January After we receive all certifications, the 2014 SECME National Competitions scores for non-traveling teams will be posted on our website ( under Resources and Forms in the Student Resources section. We look forward to hosting your winning teams at the 2014 SECME National Student Competition Finals and working with you to enhance your local SECME program and competitions. SECME Competition Guidelines Page 7 of 19

8 VEX ROBOTICS COMPETITION The VEX Robotics Design System offers students an exciting platform for learning about areas rich with career opportunities spanning science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). These are just a few of the many fields students can explore by creating with VEX Robotics technology. Beyond science and engineering principles, a VEX Robotics project encourages teamwork, leadership and problem solving among groups. It also allows educators to easily customize projects to meet the level of students abilities. The affordable VEX platform is expanding rapidly and is now found in middle schools, high schools and university labs around the globe. Robotics hobbyists also appreciate the advanced capabilities of the VEX System. Since 2008, VEX Robotics has been a SECME National Student Competition. Please follow the instructions below to participate in the SECME/VEX Competition. 1. You are encouraged to register your team with VEX Robotics at Registration also gets you plugged into the system and access to resources. a. $75 for the first team, $25 for each additional team at a school. b. You DO NOT have to register to participate in SECME only events. c. Registration gets you access to the official VRC Competitions and a welcome kit that includes: i. Sample Game Pieces ii. Robot License Tags iii. Robot Flags iv. Some other promotional items 2. Robot Hardware - If you already have a robot kit - reuse it, you don't need to spend money buying another one! If you need VEX parts, we recommend getting a quote from your local reseller - costs you nothing extra, but gets you their local support. Contact: miller_roberts@roboticseducation.org (Texas support representative) if you need contact info. You can also contact Miller Roberts to direct you to the support representative for your state Game: This year's game is VEX Toss Up. Students, with guidance from their teachers and mentors will aim to build the most innovative robots possible and work together to obtain the most points possible. In addition to just having a great time and building amazing robots, through their participation in the VEX Robotics Competition and their work within their team, students will learn many academic and life skills. To download the official VEX Sack Attack Manual CLICK HERE. CLICK HERE to see VEX Toss Up video. SECME Competition Guidelines Page 8 of 19

9 4. Member Universities and Competition Host Sponsors; Vex Robotics Competition is held at the National Student Competition Finals. We encourage incorporating Vex Robotics as part of your Regional/State Competition. Your Regional VEX Robotics Support person is: Miller Roberts Contact him if you have any questions, or need any help. Other State Support: TX Miller Roberts NC, SC, GA, AL, TX Matt Conroy IA Cheryl Rausch NY Dan Larochelle Contact Miller Roberts if your state is not listed 5. Team Requirements: Each VEX Robotics team must have three (3) team members. While there is not a maximum number of students that can work on the robot, three (3) students must be present to compete. If three (3) are not present to compete, they will be allowed to participate in the National Competition but will be ineligible to place. 6. SECME will follow the VEX Robotics Toss Up Game Rules and may or may not include the following: o Autonomous Period o Robot Skills Challenge o Programming Challenge SECME Competition Guidelines Page 9 of 19

10 SECME ENGINEERING DESIGN COMPETITION GUIDELINES: VEX ROBOTICS ENGINEERING NOTEBOOK One of the main missions of the VEX Robotics Competition is to help students acquire real world life skills that will benefit them in their academic and professional future. The Engineering Notebook is a way for teams to document how the VEX Robotics Competition experience has helped them to better understand the engineering design process while also practicing a variety of critical life skills including project management, time management, brainstorming and teamwork. Each team s engineering notebook should be created through a concerted effort by a team to document their design decisions. Teams should start their notebooks early and update them often. Handwritten notes should be clearly written. Engineering is an iterative process requiring students to recognize and define a problem, brainstorm and work through various stages of the design process, test their designs, continue to improve their designs and continue the process until a solution has been produced. During this process, students will come across obstacles, encounter instances of success and failure, and learn many lessons through their experiences. It is this process that students should document in their Engineering Notebook. The Engineering Notebook is also an opportunity to document everything a team does and can serve as a historical guide of lessons learned and best practices which can benefit the team and students in future years. Students may document any number of things in their Engineering Notebook such as: team meeting notes, design concepts and sketches, pictures, notes from competitions, biographies of the members of their team (students, teachers and mentors), observations and thoughts of team members throughout the season, team organization practices and any other notes that a team finds useful. REQUIREMENTS (but not limited to): Cover page o Title of the Written Report (SECME/VEX Robotics Engineering Notebook) o Team Name o Each team member s name, grade and complete address o Each team member s address o Team's school name and complete address o School System/District name o School Coordinator's name Table of Contents list/identify the contents in your electronic notebook with page numbers Brief description of each team member describe their strengths and benefits to the team Design ideas Team meetings notes Construction of the robot Problems encountered and methods to resolve them Conclusion SECME Competition Guidelines Page 10 of 19

11 SECME ENGINEERING DESIGN COMPETITION GUIDELINES: VEX ROBOTICS ENGINEERING NOTEBOOK (Cont.) * * * HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR ENGINEERING NOTEBOOK * * * To eliminate any formatting issues when opening and printing word processed documents, sometimes caused by different software versions and/or computer settings, all engineering notebooks MUST be saved in PDF format with all pages of the document in one file. The PDF file should then be ed, as an attachment, to the SECME National Office at secme@coe.gatech.edu on or before the due date. Engineering notebooks submitted in any other format other than PDF will not be scored. NOTE: To save a MS Word document as a PDF file, click the File button, choose Save As, name the file in the File name field, change the Save as type to PDF, then click the Save button. RESUBMITTING YOUR ENGINEERING NOTEBOOK Teams are allowed to resubmit their engineering notebook one (1) time in the event they need to make updates or correct mistakes, so long as they are received: in PDF format on or before the due date In the event a team does resubmit an engineering notebook, the subject line of the MUST read: <School name, Team name> - this engineering notebook replaces the previous submission If a resubmitted engineering notebook does not include the above bolded line in the subject, the previously submitted engineering notebook will be scored. Any engineering notebook received after the one (1) resubmission will be disregarded. Example of an engineering notebook resubmission: SCENARIO: I attend Joseph A. Engineering Academy and our team name is Team Awesomeness. Our engineering notebook has already been submitted and one of our team members realizes that they forgot to include some data graphs and an important sketch of a design idea. The due date has not yet passed so the correct steps to take are as follows: 1. Correct/update the engineering notebook and resave it as a PDF file 2. Create an addressed to: secme@coe.gatech.edu 3. Attach the updated engineering notebook 4. The subject line should read as follows: Joseph A. Engineering Academy, Team Awesomeness - This engineering notebook replaces the previous submission 5. Click the send button to send the (on or before the due date) SECME Competition Guidelines Page 11 of 19

12 SECME ENGINEERING DESIGN COMPETITION GUIDELINES: VEX ROBOTICS TEAM INTERVIEW WITH JUDGES As a part of the Engineering Design (VEX Robotics) Competition, each student team will be interviewed by a panel of judges. This 5-10 minute discussion will cover details of the Robot s design and testing. TEAM INTERVIEW REQUIREMENTS AND GUIDELINES: 1. Team members are interviewed as a group. 2. Each member is expected to be able to serve as a spokesperson in response to questions from the judges. 3. The team interview will be conducted before the Robotics Competition/Exhibition 4. The team interview will be one element along with Engineering Notebook--in arriving at the overall score in competition/exhibition. AT ALL COMPETITIONS, THE VEX ROBOTICS TEAM INTERVIEW WILL BE JUDGED ON: TEAMWORK APPLICATION OF TECHNICAL PRINCIPLES KNOWLEDGE OF DESIGN ORAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS SECME Competition Guidelines Page 12 of 19

13 SECME ENGINEERING DESIGN COMPETITION GUIDELINES: VEX ROBOTICS ENGINEERING NOTEBOOK (Evaluation Sheet) Please Check: Middle School High School Team Name School Name District Student Name #1 Student Name #2 Student Name #3 State Grade Grade Grade Judge s Name Date Regional/State Sponsor (if applicable): Engineering Notebook should be clear and completely documented of the team's design and build process. Tips to improve you Engineering Notebook: Laid out such that it can be easily understood Regularly updated, documenting all team efforts Information is easily found, making the notebook a useful tool to all team members Evidence of an iterative design process, highlighting the various phases their robot development DEVELOPING AVERAGE PROFICIENT EXCEPTIONAL 0-69 points points points points TOTAL (The highest possible score is 100) /100 Judge s Notes: SECME Competition Guidelines Page 13 of 19

14 SECME ENGINEERING DESIGN COMPETITION GUIDELINES: VEX ROBOTICS TEAM INTERVIEW WITH JUDGES (Evaluation Sheet) Please Check: Middle School High School Team Name School Name District Student Name #1 Student Name #2 Student Name #3 State Grade Grade Grade Judge s Name Date Regional/State Sponsor (if applicable): Team is able to explain their design and strategy decisions throughout the season. DEVELOPING PROFICIENT EXCEPTIONAL TOTAL SCORE IN TEAM INTERVIEW CATEGORY /20 Judge s Notes: SECME Competition Guidelines Page 14 of 19

15 SECME NATIONAL COMPETITION DATES AND DEADLINES April 21, Due at the SECME National Office Certification 4 of first place Regional/State Winners First Place Winning Essays in PDF format (submit via secme@coe.gatech.edu) May 5, ALL National winners will be notified SECME/ISTF Water Rocketry (all divisions) Mousetrap Car (Elementary only) Essay (all divisions) May 16, Due at the SECME National Office via secme@coe.gatech.edu Engineering Design (Mousetrap Car) Technical Reports (PDF format) VEX Robotics Engineering Notebooks (PDF format) May 30, All teams must be REGISTERED for National Competition Finals The 2014 SECME National Student Competition Finals dates and host university will be announced in January Certification of winners is NOT the same as REGISTRATION FOR NATIONAL COMPETITION FINALS. School Coordinators will receive a separate and link to REGISTER their participating students/teams. SECME Competition Guidelines Page 15 of 19

16 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Local/Regional/State Competitions If you have any questions, or need help in these specific areas, please contact: Engineering Design (Mousetrap Car): the Engineering Faculty Consultant or Minority Engineering Program Director at the Member University which sponsors your Regional/State competition Engineering Design (Water Rocketry): the Engineering Faculty Consultant or Minority Engineering Program Director at the Member University which sponsors your Regional/State competition VEX Robotics: Miller Roberts o Miller Roberts can also refer you the VEX robotics support person for your state (see page 50) ISTF: Bruce Furino Essay: Anthony Bowser The SECME National Office is always here to help. We can be reached at 1. Can we purchase mousetrap kits from the SECME National Office? Yes; SECME recently returned to selling mousetrap kits. Inventory constantly fluctuates so call for availability. If SECM E is Out of Stock mousetrap car kits can also be purchased at the following: 1. Pitsco 2. Midwest Supply company ode=endeep Where can we purchase the engineering paper? Please find one suggested supplier below: (10 sheets for $12.81 as of 8/15/2013) 3. Our team won our Regional/State Competition but one of the team members is unable to attend National Competition Finals. Can we replace him/her? YES. A student team member can be replaced with another SECME student. The replacement student should be able to participate in the competition, in particular, the team interview as outlined in the guidelines. 4. Our team won our Regional/State Competition but one of the team members is unable to attend National Competition Finals and we are NOT able to replace them. Can we still come and compete with two team members? You will be allowed to come to the National Competition to participate and get the experience but any team without 3 team members are not eligible to place in the competition. SECME Competition Guidelines Page 16 of 19

17 5. Can parents/family members attend the National Student Competition Finals? YES. Parents and family members are always encouraged to attend SECME events. Transportation, meals and lodging will need to be secured by the individual family members. The Host University is only responsible for meals and lodging for the 3-member student teams and the authorized chaperone(s). A listing of local hotels will be provided. 6. We are the 1 st place winning team from our Regional/State Competition. Do we send in our Technical Drawing and Report prior to attending National Competition Finals? your Technical Report (PDF format) only and physically bring your drawing with you to National Competition Finals. 7. We have an active SECME program at our school but, there will be no Regional/State Competition in our area this year; can my students compete in the National Competitions? YES. ISTF: Students can participate in the Internet Science and Technology Fair (ISTF)competition Essay: SECME programs can host a local Essay Competition and submit the winning essay to the SECME National Office for entry into the National Competition Finals Engineering Design (Mousetrap Car) and Vex Robotics: Winning Regional/State teams travel to the National Student Competition Finals to compete. In the absence of such it will be your responsibility to raise the travel funds to send your 3 student team and chaperone to the National Student Competition Finals to compete. Please contact us at secme@coe.gatech.edu for additional guidance. Concerns and Complaints - Please complete and submit the Competition Grievance Form to the Local/Regional/State Competition Host. Grievances should be handled at the local level. Note: Please follow any additional instructions or procedure that maybe implemented by your local (Local/Regional/State) Competition Host. SECME Competition Guidelines Page 17 of 19

18 SECME Student Competition Grievance Request for Review by Judges Competition Host School District Team Name SECME School Coordinator/Teacher Leader Preferred Telephone Competition Rule or Procedure in Question Specific Concern (Use back or 2nd sheet if needed to document fully) Submitted by (Name) Date SECME Competition Guidelines Page 18 of 19

19 Mousetrap Car SECME Competition Guidelines Page 19 of 19