2015 -16 secme national student competitions...

2015-16 SECME NATIONAL STUDENT COMPETITIONS GUIDELINES

2015-16 updates and

changes on page 5…!

SECME 2015-16 Competition Guidelines of 24

Important Dates/Deadlines to Remember:

January 5, 2016

Certification of Regional/District/State 1st place winners OPENS (for Host Universities only)

April 17, 2016 (on or before 11:59pm EST)

Certification of Regional/District/State 1st place winners (deadline)

April 17, 2016

Certification of Regional/District/State 1st place winners CLOSES (Host Universities only)

Registration for the 2015-16 SECME National Competition OPENS (School Coordinators only)

April 18, 2016 (on or before 11:59pm EST)

Elementary Mousetrap Car Written Report due

First place winning essays due at the SECME National Office

May 3, 2016 (on or before 11:59pm EST)

ALL National winners will be notified

Mousetrap Car Technical Reports are due at the SECME National Office (Middle & High school)

VEX Robotics Engineering Notebooks are due at the SECME National Office (All divisions)

June 17, 2016 (on or before 11:59pm EST)

ALL Teams must be Registered for the 2015-16 SECME National Competition Finals

Mousetrap car PowerPoint presentations are due at the SECME National Office

o (only for Middle and High school teams advancing to the national competition)

NOTE: All announcements, changes and/or updates will be published in the monthly SECME Spotlight

Newsletter


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 2015-16 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 - [email protected];

1-888-262-8307.

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 40th

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


ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

PLEASE READ AND FOLLOW CAREFULLY

Your 2015-16 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.

1st place Regional/State winning student or student competition teams, as identified in these guidelines,

will be eligible to compete in and/or attend the 2015-16 SECME National Competitions Finals.

1st 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 1st 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.

1st 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 CERTIFICATION2 is to be submitted electronically not

later than Monday, April 17, 2016. Hard copy CERTIFICATIONS and/or emails will not be accepted.

Regional/State winning essays must be saved as a PDF and submitted via email to:

[email protected] 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 3, 2016. Technical Reports are to be sent via

email to: [email protected].

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.

mailto:[email protected]



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 team3

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)


Special Note to Regional/District/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 17, 2016. The certification link will be available in

January 2016. After we receive all certifications, the 2015-16 SECME National Competitions scores for non-traveling

teams will be posted on our website (www.secme.org) under “Resources and Forms” in the “Student Resources” section.

We look forward to hosting your winning teams at the 2015-16 SECME National Student Competition Finals and working

with you to enhance your local SECME program and competitions.

http://www.secme.org/


2015-16 SECME ENGINEERING DESIGN

COMPETITION

MOUSETRAP CAR CONSTRUCTION AND

OPERATION

Middle & High School Divisions


CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS (Any team not adhering to the construction guidelines will not be able to place)

The Mousetrap Car Engineering Design Competition requires participation in these four areas:

1. Technical Report of Mousetrap Car

2. Team Interview with Judges

3. Design Drawing of Mousetrap Car

4. Mousetrap Car Performance Run

This is a team competition and should reflect the coordinated efforts of all members. Three (3) students must

be on each team. TIP: Consider alternate students that have worked with the team throughout the process to

have replacements in the event an initial team member is not available to compete at local/regional competitions

and/or travel to the national competition. Also, each team member is expected to be able to serve as a

spokesperson and be fully involved with all aspects of the entry.

CAR CONSTRUCTION AND DESIGN

1. A standard mousetrap, usually about 4.5 X 10 centimeters and weighing about 25 grams MUST be used

to build the car.

2. The standard mousetrap MUST have one single spring (not two small springs). Standard mousetraps with

more than one spring are not allowed.

3. Components of the mousetrap are: wooden base (on which other components are mounted), spring, bail,

locking lever, and bait hook (see component sketch on next page).

4. The mousetrap’s “single” spring must be the sole source of power. You may NOT use rubber bands, CO2

boosters, or any other agent or element for extra power.

5. In the design and construction of the car, the original mousetrap spring and wood base MUST remain intact.

These two components may NOT be cut or altered in any way— physically, chemically, or thermally. Only

the locking lever and bait holder (with the staples that hold them on) may be removed from the base, if

desired. The bail may be straightened from its original bent configuration but NOT cut (shortened), added to

(lengthened), or reinforced. It must remain as a component of the completed car.

6. The spring must be visible and/or accessible to the judges for inspection.

7. The car must have a minimum of three wheels and can be made as long or short as desired as long as

requirement #5 above is met.

8. Cars will be tested on a smooth flat surface. Distance will be measured from the front of the front wheel(s)

at the starting point to the front of the front wheel(s) at the stopping point of travel, utilizing a straight line to

connect the two points (total displacement and not the path traveled).

9. There will be two (2) runs for each car and the run with the highest performance score will be used for final

scoring of the mousetrap car’s performance.


Standard Mousetrap Diagram


CALCULATING THE ENGINEERING DESIGN (MOUSETRAP CAR) SCORE

Performance Score

Two formulas are used to calculate the Performance score for the car run:

and

N = the performance run score.

w = average weight of a standard mousetrap measured in grams (always a constant 25g).

W = the total weight of the completed mousetrap car measured in grams.

D = Distance the car travels (measured in centimeters). The mousetrap car will be measured from the

front of the front wheel(s) at the starting point to the front of the front wheel(s) at the stopping point of

travel, utilizing a straight line to connect the two points. There are NO MINIMUM OR MAXIMUM

distances. If the mousetrap car stops due to hitting an object or wall, the distance will be measured from

the starting point to the point of impact. So that all teams have the same advantages/disadvantages,

OBJECTS WILL NOT BE MOVED (chairs, cones, tables, signs, etc.) during the competition to

allow a mousetrap car to gain more distance.

L = the car’s length measured in centimeters. The mousetrap car will be measured from the furthest

point of the front of the car to the furthest point of the rear of the car while the car is at resting state and

the spring unwound. Please refer to MOUSETRAP CAR DRAWING EXAMPLE (on next page) for

more information on how to measure L.

T = the total time the mousetrap car travels from the starting point to the stopping point measured in

seconds.

NL = the highest Performance score at the competition.

F = the final Performance score. NOTE: The final performance score will be combined with scores for

the Technical Report, Design Drawing, and Team Interview.

*Judges will measure “L” (see illustration on following page) and “W” prior to

the mousetrap car Performance runs. These measurements, together with “D” and “T”

(determined by the car’s performance), are used to calculate “N” in the formula above.

Overall Team Score for the whole competition is sum of the following 4 categories (Max Total of 300 pts)

1) Technical Report (max. 100 points)

2) Team Interview (max. 50 points)

3) Design Drawing (max. 50 points)

4) Performance (max. 100 points)


Measurement of “L,” the Mousetrap Car’s Longest Dimension (From the farthest point at the front of the car to farthest point at the rear of the car)

“L” is the car’s length (measured in centimeters) from the farthest point at the front of the car to the farthest

point at the rear of the car while the car is at a resting state and the spring unwound. If the bail has been

straightened and protrudes past the front or rear of the car, the measurement will be taken from the end of the

bail to the other end of the car.

L (for this example) = 16.4 cm


ALTERNATE DESIGN FOR BONUS POINTS

Because many teachers and students have strongly suggested changing the SECME Mousetrap Car challenge so that there

are different problems to solve when building the mousetrap cars, the 2015-16 SECME Engineering Design-Mousetrap

Car competition offers BONUS POINTS to student teams if they choose the ALTERNATE DESIGN.

Guidelines for the SECME Alternate Design: 1. ALL construction requirements as on page 18 of these guidelines.

2. The mousetrap’s bottom flat surface MUST face the rear of the car with an orientation of exactly 90o to the floor

(where the spring and bail face the front of the car).

3. The mousetrap’s spring must not be visible from the rear view.

4. The mousetrap must remain at a 90o degree angle for the duration of the car’s performance run.

5. Teams MUST decide to build a traditional style car OR one with the alternate design.

6. If a team chooses to compete with the alternate design, their Technical Report must reflect all aspects of the alternate

design as it would with a traditional style car.

Alternate design’s orientation & direction of travel (spring & bail facing front of car)

Traditional design’s orientation(s) & direction of travel (spring and bail on top)

BONUS POINTS:

Technical Report three (3) additional points added to total technical report

Technical Drawing one (1) additional point added to total technical drawing

Team Interview two (2) additional point added team interview

Performance Run ½ point per 100cm traveled added to the performance run score (N score)

Alternate Design Questions:

1. Does my team have to design our car according to the “alternate design?” No; you are not required to design and build your mousetrap car according to the “alternate design guidelines.

Teams with traditional mousetrap cars will not be eligible for the BONUS POINTS.

2. Can our team build two (2) cars (one traditional style and one alternate style) and use the

traditional car for one performance run and then use the alternate design car for the second

performance run? No; Each team will need to decide to design a traditional style car or an “alternate design” style car and bring

only one car to the competition.

3. Is there a way to qualify for the Bonus Points without the alternate design? No. Only teams that compete with the alternate design style car are eligible for the bonus points.

Front Rear


Main Body: These 4 Sections

Should Be a Maximum of 7 Pages

SECME ENGINEERING DESIGN MOUSETRAP CAR

WRITTEN TECHNICAL REPORT

The technical report is a very important part of being a professional engineer. In addition to designing and

building new technologies, engineers have to be able to communicate their ideas, efforts, processes, progress,

and results in a professional written format. As a part of the SECME Engineering Design-Mousetrap Car

Competition and to help sharpen technical written communication skills, each team is required to write a

Technical Report describing the design, construction, and operation of their Mousetrap Car.

STRUCTURE: (Maximum points for Structure is 25 points)

1. Cover Page: The technical report must include a cover page that is formatted as specified on page 24.

2. The technical report must be double-spaced.

3. The technical report must be on 8½" x 11” white paper with 1” margins on all sides.

4. The technical report must be typed with a 12pt standard legible text font (see acceptable fonts on page 23).

5. The technical report must be neat with all pages numbered and in order.

CONTENT: (Maximum points for Content is 60 points)

1. COVER PAGE (1 page)

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS (1 page)

3. ABSTRACT (½ -1 page)

4. INTRODUCTION

5. DESIGN

6. CONSTRUCTION PROCEDURE

7. OPERATION OF MOUSETRAP CAR

8. CONCLUSION/RECOMMENDATIONS (1-2 pages)

9. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (Optional)

10. APPENDIX

MECHANICS: (Maximum points for Mechanics is 15 points)

1. Correct punctuation, capitalization, and spelling

2. Use of past tense and passive voice

3. Report flows logically from one idea to the next with minimal fragmentation

AT ALL COMPETITIONS, THE MOUSETRAP CAR TECHNICAL REPORT WILL BE

JUDGED ACCORDING TO THE TECHNICAL REPORT BREAKDOWN. (See page 25 for

breakdown)


SECME ENGINEERING DESIGN MOUSETRAP CAR WRITTEN TECHNICAL REPORT

(Continued)

ACCEPTABLE FONTS:

Ariel This is an example of 12 point Ariel font Calibri This is an example of 12 point Calibri font Courier New This is an example of 12 point Courier New font

Times New Roman This is an example of 12 point Times New Roman font

* * * HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR TECHNICAL REPORT * * *

To eliminate any formatting issues when opening and printing word processed documents, sometimes caused by

different software versions and/or computer settings, all technical reports MUST be saved in PDF format with

all pages of the document in one file. The file name should follow this naming convention: <Division> MTC

Technical Report for <Team name, School name>. Example 1: “MS - MTC Technical report for Team

Spring Loaded, Joseph A. Engineering Academy”. Example 2: “HS - MTC Technical report for Team

Mouse-mobile, South Rogers Engineering Charter School”. The PDF file should then be emailed, as an

attachment, to the SECME National Office at [email protected] on or before the due date. Technical

reports submitted in any other format other than PDF and/or after the specified due date will not be scored and

receive a score of zero (NO EXCEPTIONS).

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.

TIPS:

1. Keep the report saved in several locations or on multiple computers so that all team members and the school

coordinator have access to it at any given time.

2. Make sure that all copies stay updated with the latest changes and edits.

3. Plan time to work on the technical report from the beginning of the project. Do not wait until the last

minute.

RESUBMITTING YOUR TECHNICAL REPORT

Teams are not allowed to resubmit their technical report. The first technical report submitted will be the one

that is scored. Because resubmissions are not allowed, before submitting teams should:

Make sure all required sections are included

Run spell-check/grammar-check

Carefully re-read the entire completed document

Upon finding mistakes:

o make changes/edits

o resave the updated document

o repeat these suggestions until satisfaction is achieved

Submit the technical report on or before the due date

NOTE: Technical reports received after May 3, 2016 (11:59pm EST) will not be scored and result in a score of zero.



MOUSETRAP CAR ENGINEERING DESIGN TECHNICAL REPORT BREAKDOWN

Structure (0 – 25 points)

1) Cover Page:

a) Title (SECME: Mousetrap Car Technical

Report)

b) Name, grade, and complete home address of

team members

c) Team's school name & address

d) School system/district name

e) School coordinator’s name

f) Date (date of competition)

2) Double-Spaced

3) 8½"x11” white paper w/ 1” margins (all sides)

4) 12pt standard acceptable text font

5) Pages are numbered and in order; Report is neat

Content (0 – 60 pts)

Table of Contents:

a) Professionally indicates which page each

parts of the report can be located

b) Maximum one page

Abstract:

a) Includes the essential points of the purpose,

methods, scope, results, conclusions, and

recommendations

b) This is your chance to convince the readers

that they should continue reading in a clear

and concise way

c) One-half to one page of technical report

d) Should be 10% or less of the total report

Introduction:

a) Introduce the problem to be solved, your

hypothesis, and your planned methods and

design process to resolve the problem while

dealing with any restrictions.

Design:

a) Discuss the thoughts, design ideas, and

experimental process by which you designed

your car.

b) Reference the data tables from the appendix

to defend the conclusions which cause you

to change your design.

Construction Procedure:

a) List materials and tools utilized

b) Clearly describe the procedures taken to

build your car so that someone with little

knowledge of your car would be able to

understand your efforts.

Operation:

a) Explain the actions necessary to prepare the

car to operate as well as what actually

happens when the car is in motion. Be

explicit about the steps taken.

Conclusion:

a) Discuss the results of your final design and

why it is superior to prior designs.

b) Explain how future cars can further be

improved and possibly a future hypothesis.

Acknowledgements: Optional

Appendix:

a) MUST include three sketches of the car.

Choose the views that best captures the

pertinent details of the car. (i.e. top, right,

front, bottom, left, and/or rear)

b) MUST include all data tables and/or charts

from experimentation comparing the various

trials

Mechanics (0 – 15 pts)

1. Correct punctuation, capitalization, &

spelling

2. Use of past tense and passive voice

3. Report flows logically from one idea to the

next with minimal fragmentation


SECME ENGINEERING DESIGN COMPETITION:

MOUSETRAP CAR DRAWING

As a part of the Engineering Design Competition, each team is required to prepare a scaled drawing depicting the car that

they have designed and built. The drawing evaluation, which is normally completed during the competition

registration, must take place before the performance runs of the mousetrap cars begin. If the drawing is not

evaluated before the performance runs begin the technical drawing points will be forfeited.

ENGINEERING PAPER REQUIREMENTS (2.5 points each): 1. The engineering paper is required to be the standard ANSI C 17" X 22" paper (see pg. 75 for online paper vendor)

2. The paper must be a plain, non-grid, 16-pound vellum sheet

3. There must be a 1" border on all sides

4. A legend is to be drawn in the bottom left corner of the drawing inside the 1” border

GUIDELINES: 1. NO MOUNTING OR FRAMES ALLOWED BUT DRAWING MAY BE LAMINATED FOR

PROTECTION IF DESIRED.

2. Allowing for the required 1" border on all sides, the actual drawing is to cover the exposed area of 15" X 20.”

3. The Mousetrap Car Drawing entry is required to illustrate the actual mousetrap car built by the team (photographs

and computer generated drawings will NOT be allowed).

4. All dimensions are required to be illustrated on the drawing.

5. The scale and the units are required to be indicated on the drawing.

6. The team's Mousetrap Car Drawing is required to show front, side, and top views.

7. All parts of the car are required to be labeled.

8. Ink pens, pencils or markers may be used.

9. A legend is to be drawn in the bottom left corner of the drawing inside the 1” border with the following

information:

Team name

School Name

School District

Team Members' Names and Grade Levels

School Coordinator’s Name

Date of Competition

AT ALL COMPETITIONS, THE MOUSETRAP CAR DRAWING WILL BE JUDGED ON:

ENGINEERING PAPER REQUIREMENTS

RESEMBLANCE (between the final version of the mousetrap car and the drawing)

SCALE

NAMING/LABELING (of all of the parts)

APPEARANCE/NEATNESS

Example:


SECME ENGINEERING DESIGN MOUSETRAP CAR TEAM INTERVIEW WITH JUDGES

As a part of the Engineering Design-Mousetrap Car Competition, each student team will be interviewed by a

panel of judges. The team interview will last for 5-10 minute and the discussion(s) will cover details of the

car’s design, build, and testing as well as the Design Drawing and Technical Report.

TEAM INTERVIEW REQUIREMENTS AND GUIDELINES:

1. Team members are interviewed as a group.

2. Each team member is expected to be able to serve as a spokesperson in response to questions from the

judges.

3. Some questions may allow the whole team to respond while other questions may require only the team

member asked to respond.

4. School coordinators, chaperones, and/or parents (or any other adults) are not allowed to accompany their

team during the interview. Only the 3-member student team and the judges will attend the team interview

(with exception of other competition staff/facilitators, photographers, etc.)

5. The team interview will be conducted apart from but prior to the car’s performance run.

6. The team interviews may or may not take place simultaneously to the scoring of the Technical Drawing.

7. The team interviews may take place before or after the inspection and measuring (length and weight) of the

mousetrap car.

8. The team interview has a maximum point value of 50 points and is a single element in determining each

team’s overall competition score. The other 250 potential points are earned from the Technical Report,

Technical Drawing, and Performance (car’s best run).

AT ALL COMPETITIONS, THE MOUSETRAP CAR TEAM INTERVIEW WILL BE JUDGED ON:

Teamwork

Application of Technical Principles

Knowledge of Design

Oral Communication Skills


SECME ENGINEERING DESIGN MOUSETRAP CAR TEAM PRESENTATION/INTERVIEW WITH JUDGES

NATIONAL COMPETITION ONLY

All mousetrap car teams that advance to the 2015-16 SECME National Competition will be required to deliver a

PowerPoint presentation. To foster and encourage our SECME students to not only practice and sharpen their

interview skills, each team will be required to prepare and deliver a 5-7 minute PowerPoint presentation to the

panel of interview judges. After the presentation the judges will have 2-3 minutes to ask questions.

TEAM PRESENTATION/INTERVIEW REQUIREMENTS AND GUIDELINES:

1. The presentation will be delivered as a group.

2. Each team member is expected to have a speaking part.

3. Each team member is expected to be able to serve as a spokesperson in response to the judges’ questions.

4. School coordinators, chaperones, and/or parents (or any other adults) are not allowed to accompany their

team during the presentation/interview. Only the 3-member student team and the judges will attend the team

interview (with exception of other competition staff/facilitators, photographers, etc.)

5. The team presentation/interview will be conducted apart from but prior to the car’s performance run.

6. The team presentation/interviews may take place before or after the inspection and measuring (length and

weight) of the mousetrap car.

7. The team presentation/interview has a maximum point value of 75 points and is a single element in

determining each team’s overall competition score. The other 250 potential points are earned from the

Technical Report, Technical Drawing, and Performance (car’s best run).

8. If your team wins their Regional/District/State competition, their PowerPoint presentation is due at the

SECME national office on or by June 17th

, 2016 (11:59pm EST). Failure to send the PowerPoint

presentation on or before the due date will result in a deduction of 20 pts (twenty points) from their

presentation/interview score at the national competition.

9. Resubmissions are not allowed. Please review, edit, correct and save the version you want to use before

submitting it on or before the due date.

10. The PowerPoint presentation submitted to the SECME National office will be the one used during the

interview. No updated versions.

Minimal sections to include in PowerPoint presentation: Introduction, traditional or alternate design, materials,

construction methods, operation, conclusion.

HINT: Practice, Practice, Practice so that your presentation is 5-7 min long.

NOTE: Student presentations are not required at Regional/District/State Competitions; however, it will be

required at the national competition.


MOUSETRAP CAR WRITTEN TECHNICAL REPORT

(Evaluation Sheet)

Please Check: Middle School High School

Team Name

School Name

District

State

Student Name #1

Grade

Student Name #2

Grade

Student Name #3

Grade

Judge’s Name

Date

Regional/District/State Sponsor (if applicable):

POINTS

STRUCTURE: (0 – 25 points)

Cover Page (0 – 5 pts) /5

8 ½” x 11” white paper w/ 1" margins (0 – 5 pts) /5

12 pt./Standard Font/Computer Typed (0 – 5 pts) /5

Double-spaced Text (0 – 5 pts) /5

Report is neat and thorough; pages are numbered and in order (0 – 5 pts) /5

CONTENT: (0 – 60 points)

Table of Contents (0 – 4 pts) /4

Abstract (0 – 7 pts) /7

Introduction (0 – 6 pts) /6

Design (0 – 12 pts) /12

Construction Procedures (0 – 12 pts) /12

Operation (0 – 8 pts) /8

Conclusion (0 – 6 pts) /6

Appendix (0 – 5 pts) /5

MECHANICS: (0 – 15 points)

Correct punctuation, capitalization, and spelling (0 – 5 pts) ______/5

Correct use of past tense and passive voice (0 – 5 pts) ______/5

Report flows logically from one idea to the next with minimal fragmentation (0-5 pts) ______/5

TOTAL (The highest possible score is 100) /100

Judge’s Notes:


SECME ENGINEERING DESIGN COMPETITION GUIDELINES:

MOUSETRAP CAR DRAWING

(Evaluation Sheet)


Team Name

School Name

District

State

Student Name #1

Grade

Student Name #2

Grade

Student Name #3

Grade

Judge’s Name

Date

Regional/District/State

Sponsor (if applicable):

ENGINEERING PAPER REQUIREMENTS: POINTS:

ANSI C Size Engineering Paper (17” x 22”) ______/2.5

1" Border (All Sides) ______/2.5

16 pound Vellum Paper ______/2.5

Title and legend (on drawing) ______/2.5

EVALUATION CATEGORIES POINTS:

I. RESEMBLANCE: (0-10 points) ______/10

The accuracy to which the Mousetrap Car Drawing illustrates the actual Mousetrap

Car designed and built by the team.

II. SCALE : (0-10 points) ______/10

The proportions in the Drawing correctly relate to and represent the team's actual

Mousetrap Car.

III. NAMING/LABELING: (0-10 points) ______/10

The correctness of the names/labels of all of the parts in the Drawing of the

Mousetrap Car.

IV. APPEARANCE/NEATNESS: (0-10 points) ______/10

The quality of the visual presentation of the Mousetrap Car Drawing.

TOTAL (The highest possible score is 50) /50

Judge’s Notes:



MOUSETRAP CAR TEAM INTERVIEW WITH JUDGES

(Evaluation Sheet)


Team Name

School Name

District

State

Student Name #1

Grade

Student Name #2

Grade

Student Name #3

Grade

Judge’s Name

Date


EVALUATION CATEGORIES: POINTS

TEAMWORK (0-10 points) ______/10

All three members contributed with identifiable individual roles

in final products and preparing their car to run in competition.

APPLICATION OF TECHNICAL PRINCIPLES (0-10 points) ______/10

Team members analyzed requirements for car to perform and

efficient means to transfer energy from spring to propel their car

KNOWLEDGE OF DESIGN (0-20 points) ______/20

The design reflects knowledge of the formula used to judge

performance and systematic efforts to maximize score

ORAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS (0-10 points) ______/10

Team members each can speak clearly to the basis for their car’s

design and how that was applied in construction and testing.

TOTAL SCORE: (The highest possible score is 50) ______ /50

TOTAL TEAM INTERVIEW SCORE (Average of all interviewers) /50

Judge’s Notes:



MOUSETRAP CAR TEAM PRESENTATION/INTERVIEW WITH JUDGES

(NATIONAL COMPETITION ONLY)

(Evaluation Sheet)


Team Name

School Name

District

State

Student Name #1

Grade

Student Name #2

Grade

Student Name #3

Grade

Judge’s Name

Date


EVALUATION CATEGORIES: POINTS

TEAMWORK (0-10 points) ______/10 Each member contributed with identifiable roles in final design and preparing their car

to run in competition.

APPLICATION OF TECHNICAL PRINCIPLES (0-10 points) ______/10 Team analyzed requirements for car to perform and efficiently transfer energy from spring

to propel their car

KNOWLEDGE OF DESIGN (0-20 points) ______/20 The design reflects understanding of the formula used to judge performance

The design demonstrates systematic efforts to maximize score

ORAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS (0-10 points) ______/10 Each team member speaks clearly to the basis for their car’s design and what was applied in

construction and testing.

DELIVERY (0-15 points) ______/15 Appropriate volume and rate of speech

Speech is varied to show emphasis and interest

Appropriate posture, eye contact, and gestures

VISUAL AIDS (0-10 points) ______/10 Visual aids reflect thought and creativity

Clear connection between visual aids and message

Visual aids add value to the presentation

TOTAL SCORE: (The highest possible score is 75) ______ /75

TOTAL TEAM INTERVIEW SCORE (Average of all interviewers) /75

Judge’s Notes:


SECME ENGINEERING DESIGN COMPETITION:

MOUSETRAP CAR CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION (Evaluation Sheet)


Team Name

School Name

District

State

Student Name #1

Grade

Student Name #2

Grade

Student Name #3

Grade

Judge’s Name

Date


Distance: First Run Second Run

Time: First Run Second Run

&

w = [weight of standard mousetrap (always 25g)]

W = [Weight of completed car measured in grams]

L = [Length of car measured in centimeters]

T = [Time measured in seconds]

D = [Distance measured in centimeters]

N = [Performance score for that run]

NL = [Highest Performance score at competition site]

(Note: The performance, F, is combined with the scores of Technical Report, Design Drawing, and Team

Interview to arrive at Overall Team Score in competition.

Technical Report:

Design Drawing:

Interview:

Best Performance Run (F):

TOTAL:


Mousetrap Car

2015 -16 secme national student competitions...

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