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Build a robot in six weeks; inspire a youth for a lifetime
2018 Teacher-Mentor Newsletter Number 2
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Just Over 50 Days to See this Year's Game at Kickoff Event, 15 September.
If you want your school to compete at our 2018 BEST Robotics competition, please ensure your school is on the list below and complete the Eventbrite registration.
1. Want to Compete and School Not On List Below? We still have at least one slot available for the 2018 Competition and also one alternate slot. The alternate slot is the 29th team that will become eligible to compete if one of the 28 teams is unable to compete
. We will notify you if your school fills the alternate or a wait list slot.
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2. School Already Signed Up and on List Below?
Review the school list below to confirm your school is registered with our national organization in Eventbrite
. Please use this link to register in Eventbrite if you are signed up with us. You will need contact information for an alternate school point-of-contact when registering.
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3. NOT Competing but Signed Up and on List Below? Please reply to this email and let us know so another school can take your place.
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2018 RM BEST Current Events Game Competition
Schools
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RM BEST Signed Up School (As of 7/23/18)
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District/City
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Eventbrite Registration?
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| Abraham Lincoln High School |
Denver |
YES
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| Aurora Frontier P-8 |
Aurora |
NO |
| Aurora Quest |
Aurora |
NO |
| Bishop Machebeuf High School |
Denver Private |
NO |
| Broomfield High School |
Boulder Valley |
NO |
| Columbine Middle School |
Montrose |
NO |
| Denver School of Innovation and Sustainable Design |
Denver |
NO |
| DSST Byers |
Denver |
NO |
| DSST Stapleton High School |
Denver |
NO |
| East Middle School |
Aurora |
NO |
| Gateway High School |
Aurora |
NO |
| Heath Middle School |
Greeley |
NO |
| Kennedy High School |
Denver |
NO |
| Monarch High School |
Boulder Valley |
NO |
| Montrose High School NJROTC * |
Montrose |
NO |
| Mrachek Middle School |
Aurora |
NO |
| New Vista High School |
Boulder Valley |
NO |
| North Middle School |
Aurora |
NO |
| Sacred Heart of Jesus School * |
Boulder Private |
NO |
| Skinner Middle School |
Denver |
NO |
| Skyline High School |
St. Vrain Valley |
NO |
| St Mary's Academy Middle School |
Englewood Private |
NO |
| STRIVE Prep - RISE |
Denver |
NO |
| Thomas Jefferson High School |
Denver |
NO |
| West Middle School |
Cherry Creek |
NO |
| Westgate Community School |
Adams 12 |
NO |
| Westminster High School * |
Westminster |
NO |
* Rookie Schools
ALTERNATE SCHOOL - this school (Team 29) receives a robot kit on Kickoff 15 September and should build a robot and practice on Practice Day on 20 October. IF another school drops out prior to Game Day on 27 October, the alternate school would then become eligible to compete on Game Day.
... and Schedule / Venues
Kickoff Event on 15 September
will provide more details on the 2018 competition. We are planning to have schools present their Marketing Presentation (part of the optional 2018 BEST Award) on
Practice Day - 20 October
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RM BEST 2018 Event
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Date
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Location
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| Kickoff |
15 September
Noon Teacher Registration,
1 PM Event Start,
4:30 PM Event End
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STRIVE Prep: RISE
18250 E 51st Ave, Denver, CO 80249
Near Pena Blvd & Green Valley Ranch Blvd at
51st Ave & Tower Rd
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| Practice Day |
20 October
Times to be provided
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STRIVE Prep: RISE
18250 E 51st Ave, Denver, CO 80249
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| Game Day |
27 October
Times to be provided
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Auraria Event Center
1255 10th St, Denver, CO 80204
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| Denver BEST Regional Championship |
8 and 9 December
Times to be provided
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Auraria Event Center
1255 10th St, Denver, CO 80204
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Our thanks to
Denver Public Schools STRIVE Prep: RISE and
Metropolitan State University of Denver
for the use of their facilities.
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Trinidad Teacher / Mentor Solidworks & Simulink Workshops 25 & 26 July
SHORT NOTICE! The following near term Programming Workshops are being presented by SoCo BEST @TrinidadState in Trinidad. David Dominguez has offered to have other BEST Hub teachers participate in their workshops. If interested, contact me at linda.king@bestinc.org
- Wed, July 25: Matlab and Simulink
- Thurs, July 26: Solidworks Mechanical and Solidworks Electrical
Attendees will need to bring their laptops with Matlab/Simulink and Solidworks already installed and functioning.
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Start Working with Your Students
bESTology and Teacher / Mentor Institute Resources
You do not need to wait until 15 September Kickoff to start working with your students to prepare them for the competition. Here are some suggestions:
BEST Robotics Inc. provided the 2018 bESTology web postings. The Current Events Game web releases are available at this
bESTology link
to get your students engaged with the 2018 game weekly activities.
Here are some of the 2018 bESTology topics and a link to the Week 9: Watersheds-second Game Teaser Video
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2018 Current Events Game Teaser Video |
- Week 1: Water, Water, Water: Our 2018 bESTology will shower you with information about water and recycling, and get you ready for this year's BEST robotics competition.
- Week 2: Natural resources, our ENERGY source: This week's lesson will look at our natural resources and how we are using them for energy.
- Week 3: All About Recycling: Are you ready to get dirty? Put on your work gloves as we dive deep into the world of RECYCLING.
- Week 4: Currents: This week's lesson takes us on a learning journey through currents. Let's explore how Current Events, Electrical Currents, and Ocean Currents are linked.
- Week 5: The Plastic Ocean: Most of us use plastic every day in some way or another. Some of us recycle the plastic, BUT some of us just throw it away. This week we will see just how devastating plastic in the ocean really is.
- Week 6: Robots in Motion in the Ocean: About 70 percent of the earth's surface is covered by oceans yet so much of it hasn't been explored. This lesson is going to introduce you to the robots of the ocean.
- Week 7: Turtles are friends not Foe: Sea turtles are in danger, endangered, and some species are becoming extinct. Let's take a dive into the ocean and see what's happening to our sea turtles and other sea creatures.
- Week 8 The Science about Plastics: Let's take a step back and look at the science behind plastic and why plastic is so bad for our environment.
- Week 9 Watersheds: SO where does all this trash come from? It has to come from somewhere.
DENVER BEST TEACHER / MENTOR TRAINING MATERIALS
Our 2018 Denver BEST Teacher Mentor Institute Workshop materials are available on our website for downloading.These are a treasure trove of materials that you can share with your students now. The materials include 2017 examples of BEST rules, score sheets, and returnable and consumable kits; and introductions to engineering design process and how to build a robot including how to program your robot with easyC software. Please contact us if you have ANY questions about these materials or about our competition.
Since we cannot release ANY information about the 2018 game until Kickoff, many of the materials are from 2017. These 2017 files provide you insight into the type of information you will receive on Kickoff, when you receive the password for 2018 materials.
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2018 Denver BEST Teacher / Mentor Training Topics
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| 00 Agenda |
| 01 Training Goals & Expectations |
| 02 BEST Robotics Competition in STEM Education |
| 03 Form Teams and Demographics |
| 04 TMI Game Intro & Rules |
| 05 TMI Competition Intro & Rules |
| 07 TMI Kits Intro & Rules |
| 08 TMI Mini-Engineering Notebook Rules |
| 09 Awards & Judging Intro & Rules (& Scoresheet Exercise) |
| 10 Engineering Design Process (EDP) - Introduction |
| 11 EDP - Goal & Ask Steps - HW, SW & Notebook |
| 12 EDP - Imagine Step - HW, SW & Notebook |
| 12.1 EDP - Plan Step - Cardboard prototyping |
| 13 Team Organization & Skills |
| 14.1 START OF DAY 2 - Quick review |
| 14.2 Tools Intro & Safety |
| 15 EDP - Hardware Create #1 |
| 16 EDP - Software Create #1 |
| 17 EDP - Notebook Create #1 |
| 18 EDP - Robot Test & Improve #1 |
| 20 EDP - Notebook Improve #1 |
| 21 EDP - Hardware Create #2 |
| 22 EDP - Software Create #2 |
| 23 Practice Day EDP - Robot Test & Improve #2 |
| 25 Practice Day EDP - Notebook Improve #2 |
| 26 START OF DAY 3 - Quick review + Safety Quiz |
| 27 Review Notebook Judging |
| 28 Mini Competition with Compliance, Staging & Judging |
| 29 Submit Scoresheets |
| 30 Awards Ceremony |
| 31 BEST Competition Rules |
| 32 BEST Robotics Competition |
| 33 Safety Training Examples |
| 34 Forming a Team (Panels) |
| 36 BEST Competition Awards |
| 37 The BEST Award |
| 38.1 Advanced Software |
| 38.2 Advanced Tools |
| 39 Wrap Up |
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Remembering the Fun!
July 2018 BEST Teacher / Mentor Institute Highlights
We were thrilled to host 15 Teachers/Mentors at our 17-19 July 2018 Denver BEST Teacher / Mentor Institute Workshop. Thanks to everyone that participated.
The photos below capture the Thursday teacher and mentor teams and their 4 TMI-robots (+ 1 prototype robot by volunteer Joel Graber from Dallas BEST Hub) that were designed, fabricated and tested by those attending. The 3-day training robot build culminated with a 30 minute competition between the 4 robots. All participants got a sense of their students' 6-week competition during their 20 hours of effort.
Special thanks to all the volunteers that made the training possible.
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| 2018 Teacher / Mentor Institute Participants |
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Have Fun at Elitch Gardens AND Support Rocky Mountain BEST
Tell your friends! Spread the word!! Help us obtain a donation to support our efforts to bring a robotics competition that is FREE to schools AND enjoy Elitch Gardens at a great discount!!
Discounts for Rocky Mountain BEST
One Day Admission only
$29.99
(Regular main gate price is $59.99 and $39.99 on-line)
2018 Fun Four Pack only $139.96
Save OVER 50% off main gate price!
Includes four daily admission ticket to Elitch Gardens Theme and Water Park, four meal deals and one daily parking pass.
You make your plans, click on the link below to get your ticket(s), and we have a win-win for you and Rocky Mountain BEST.
Purchase, Print, and Play:
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