Contest+Day

=2011 RUBE GOLDBERG MACHINE CONTEST =

Here are some reminders for the competition day.

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1) Be sure to to re-read the rules so that your team is not disadvantaged by a point loss that could have been ======

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avoided (be certain, for example, that you are meeting the "minimum number of steps" standard and that you ======

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can present and run your machine in 15 minutes. These resulted in a disqualification and BIG point losses in ======

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2) Though not required by the rules, you are encouraged to bring all of your materials to Fay (whether you plan to use them all, or not). We were sorry to see, in past years, several teams that decided they needed something… but realized that they had not //planned// on needing it, and left it home. ======

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3) If the competition needs to be cancelled for any reason (act of God, power outage, etc.), please reserve the next day, 4/15 as a probable reschedule date. ======

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1) Please double-check directions to Fay at [|www.fayschool.org], and note the attached map for purpose of parking, registration, planning your drop off, and getting to lunch. Kindly DO NOT PARK in areas other than those designated on this map. ======

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[|RubeParkMap.doc]======

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2) Competitors are not permitted to leave the building once registered. Leaving the building may result in that competitor's disqualification. ======

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3) At the Registration Desk, you will be given several forms, some of which MUST be filled out and submitted before your team goes to its spot. These include the Forms Notification letter certifying that you have received all the forms we say you have received, such as the final team Registration/Coach Certification Form, and the Photo Release for each of your students. You will also receive forms to take with you, some to keep, some to complete and return, including a PDP Certificate, Student Participation Certificates, Contact Information for all Teams, a full Competitor's Packet describing the Competition, Materials, and Rules, information about the Judges and the Judging process, and a Contest Evaluation. While your students are building, you will have time to go through this packet in detail, BUT YOU MUST COMPLETE THE CONTEST EVALUATION IF YOU WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CONTEST IN THE FUTURE, AND MAIL IT TO TIM MCCAULEY WITHIN TEN DAYS FOLLOWING THE CONTEST (please do not try to hand it to Tim during the competition, because he __will__ lose it). Please also have your team don nametags (you too!), which will be included at the Registration desk (Judges prefer to talk to students and coaches using their names, and this helps them do just that). ======

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4) Following Registration, which you should move through as quickly as possible to avoid any log jam here, follow the Ambassador to your spot and have your Team Captain quickly inventory your tools. Any missing tools MUST BE REPORTED TO TIM MCCAULEY PRIOR TO THE START OF BUILDING. ======

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5) Coffee and Tea are adult beverages and are provided for Team Coaches ONLY. Danish and fruit are also available, but only for the adults present. These items will be behind the Registration area on the gym floor. ======

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6) For your information, people who can help you during the Contest: ======

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1) As a part of your team’s presentation to the judges, you __ MUST __ provide a //Rube Goldberg style// drawing, including ======

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letters identifying each step, and corresponding text beneath the drawing indicating the sequence of steps towards ======

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completing the task. For samples, visit [|www.rubegoldberg.com], and click on the Rube Goldberg Gallery. To keep ======

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the playing field level, this will be done on poster board or tabletop display foam board from which your team ======

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2) Be sure NOT TO DISMANTLE YOUR WORKING MACHINE prior to the completion of judging. In the past, when a tie has needed breaking (and that has happened EVERY YEAR), teams that dismantled their machine effectively forfeited a chance to take a prize because the judges (who need to re-judge the machines of tied teams) had nothing to look at except a pile of discarded materials and a bunch of sad kids. ======

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3) As an additional resource on the day of competition, Fay students will be acting as your ambassadors (each Fay student will host several Rube teams in this capacity). The Fay ambassador is your “go to” person for anything you need during the competition, and will greet you in the morning, introduce themselves, deliver your team to its spot, and be available throughout the day. They will be wearing a bright red Contest t-shirt. ======

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4) Eye protection is required, and all members of the team, including the team Coach, will be provided with goggles. When you are in the team’s building area, you ARE REQUIRED TO WEAR EYE PROTECTION (your own or that provided). TEAM MEMBERS NOT WEARING EYE PROTECTION MAY BE DISQUALIFIED FROM COMPETING AND WILL BE ASKED TO LEAVE THE GYM FLOOR. ======

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5) No team may "hoard" the glue guns. A maximum of one glue gun is to be in the possession of a team or its members at any one time. Hoarding glue guns may result in your team's forfeiting the use of this tool. Glue guns should be used at the stations around the perimeter of the gym, though in rare cases you may need to disconnect a glue gun to bring it to your area. Please return the glue gun to the same station, and plug it back in, following its use in your area. ======

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6) It is the responsibility of the team Coach and the team Captain to monitor the behavior of his/her team members. Students acting in ways that endanger themselves or others, adversely impact the quality of the experience for any competitors, act in an unsportsmanlike manner, or break any school rules (their own or Fay’s) run the risk of being disqualified from the competition. ======

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7) There will be plenty of water and snacks, but please feel free to bring your own, which we will ask you to store in the break area. Also, coats, sweatshirts, etc. must also be stored in the break area as they pose a hazard in the building areas. Lunch is provided for participants only, and though spectators are free to join teams for lunch in the Reinke building, there is limited space. There will not be enough chairs for everyone, so please allow adults to sit on the chairs, and students to sit on the floor. Vegetarians will have a veggie option. Weather permitting, taking lunch outside is advisable, though you are asked to pick up after your team. ======

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1) In all matters of judging, the Chief Judge has the final say. Please have team Captains respectfully redress any grievance with the Chief Judge. In all matters of rules interpretation, the Chairman of the Steering Committee has the final word. All disputes will be followed up in writing, to the team Coach, by the Steering Committee following the competition. In any matters involving a tie, the Chief Judge will break the tie. ======

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2) The order in which teams will be judged, team spots on the gym floor, and the judging group assigned to particular teams, are assigned at random, and you will receive information regarding these assignments in your Registration Packets. ======

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1) This year, we want to INSIST that you to take your machines back to your schools. Aside from a great deal of __stuff__ for us to clean up last year, there was the missed educational opportunity for you and your School beyond the students ======

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directly involved in the competition. Please remove all machine parts and discard/recycle associated refuse prior to ======

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As a part of the job description of each faculty coach, for which you are receiving a stipend (albeit a modest one!), __ YOU __ are responsible for tools being returned to the designated spot (there will be a conspicuously marked table on the floor), and for certifying the status of the kit, noting any malfunctioning, broken, or missing tools. Failure to do so will result in Fay's withholding the coach stipend. We understand that tools get lost and broken, but need to know what is in each kit prior to locking it all up until next year, so your help in this part of the program is greatly appreciated. There is a great flurry of activity towards the end of the Contest, so I encourage you to return the tools as soon as possible after you are judged. If your working machine includes any tool as a part of the machine, please note that when returning the tools, and bring the tool back over to the return table once your machine is dismantled. ======

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The competition costs Fay about $1,000. a team/year, a portion of which goes towards replacing lost/broken tools which, to some degree, is to be expected. That said, I'd prefer to put as much money as possible directly into improving the program vs. replacing tools that are inadvertently tossed in the garbage during cleanup, and returning tools early in this way is the best method we've come up with to meet this goal. Moreover, this is a good lesson to your students about taking care of their tools and keeping a neat and orderly worksite, a good lesson for any engineer to learn; your help with this will be greatly appreciated. ======

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