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RM BEST Teacher / Mentor Newsletter 3
April 2021
  • Please FORWARD this newsletter to others that might be interested. They may use this email address (RM.BEST.INFO.REQUEST@bestinc.org) to request to be added to the 2021 Distribution List.
  • Please REPLY if you do NOT want to be on our 2021 Distribution List
Immediate HELP Needed
PAID bESTology Position Opening
Part-Time and Short-Term
HELP! The person who signed up with BEST Robotics Inc. for this position had to drop out.

  • HOPE you can help us find someone to fill this position.
  • Please forward to anyone that may meet the requirements and be interested.
  • REPLY or SEND an email to Linda.King@bestinc.org to get more information.

Position Requirements:
  1. Produce 9 weekly bESTology web postings available on the Friday of the week for review prior to posting on Sunday. Standard weekly format from 2020 can be seen at https://bestology.bestrobotics.org. 
  2. Topic outline has been created. No weekly lessons currently completed.
  3. Skills: No BEST experience required. No game details disclosed...only the game theme so a 2021 coach could support. Requires someone creative and familiar with simple lesson writing and Blooms Taxonomy.
  4. Schedule: We intended to start on April 19th. But we will start whenever possible. End date depends on when we can start.
  5. Effort: Rough estimate is 4 hrs per week, assuming experience with this type of work.
bESTology Details:
  1. Include activities for both group and individuals (in case they must perform independently). The activities are fairly simple and broad, like read this or watch this and think about that. Or research this and write on that, then share with your team and discuss. 2020 example: https://bestology.bestrobotics.org
  2. Common outline: Topic Introduction, Resources, Research/Reflect/Brainstorm, Community Connection, BEST Connection
  3. Always include Bloom's Taxonomy skills and Workforce skills covered by the lesson at the end.
  4. Generate some tag words for each post (for searching), related to the discussion, and select the year as the category.
  5. Have to be careful in vetting videos and photos used; cannot use any copyrighted material. Important that videos should be embedded in the page vs. link only.
BEST Robotics Resources:
  1. Create a login and the developer can just create the post online in WordPress editor, share for review and finally publish Sunday evening. 
  2. A person is lined up that works in the game theme field who is available to review, comment, and help with industry context as needed.
Take Your Child to Work
Northrop Grumman Virtual Events
Hosting “Take Your Child To Work” Celebration
  • A sneak peek at the fun and excitement of their engineering and technology
  • Designed for students, educators, and parents. 
  • Virtual events April 19-23 at 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. MDT
  • Sessions RECORDED for those not able to attend live.
F/A-18 Hornet Pilot Talk and Virtual Tour
Take flight with 3 Northrop Grumman (NG) test pilots as they discuss their experience flying the US Navy F/A-18 Hornet and their careers in aerospace. Virtual tour of the F/A-18 manufacturing line.
Date: Monday, April 19, 2021
Audience: middle/high school students, parents and educators
 
EarthEcho International—Youth Have the Power to Change the Planet
Established by siblings Philippe and Alexandra Cousteau, grandchildren of the legendary explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau, this nonprofit's mission is to inspire young people worldwide to act now for a sustainable future. Learn about EarthEcho's signature program, the Water Challenge, and how parents and children can protect local water resources and learn more about the environment around them.
Date: Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Audience: Elementary/middle school students, parents and educators
 
Future Career Skills: Raising Happy and Successful Kids
What will your child need to succeed in a future career? The basic skills of math and literacy will be crucial, but our children will also need social, emotional, and executive functioning abilities in order to be successful. Learn how to encourage and foster your child's future-ready skills. Presented by Bright Horizons, the leading provider of education and care solutions to employers and families.
Date: Wednesday, April 21, 2021
Audience: PARENTS of ages three to ten
Game Changer: The James Webb Space Telescope
For almost a quarter century, some of the brightest minds at NASA and NG have been quietly perfecting an engineering marvel that promises to change our understanding of the universe. Its mission will usher in the exploration of uncharted territories in the first epoch of galaxy formation — a part of the universe never seen before. This cosmic time machine will be the largest and most complex space telescope ever to launch into space and an engineering feat like no other. Able to peer 13.5 billion years into the past in its search for alien worlds, and 100 times more powerful that its beloved scientific predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope; the Webb Space Telescope is gearing up for its home stretch to launch. Join NG engineers to discover some of the game changing technology and engineering.
Date: Thursday, April 22, 2021
Audience: Middle/high school students, parents and educators
 
Engineering HALO: Human Factors Builds a Home for Future Astronauts
Human's return to the moon is being made possible through NASA's Artemis mission and the engineers who are working hard to make it happen. NG Human Factors engineer, Shawnette Adams will talk about the Artemis mission and dig deeper into some of the key components that her team members are working on to make this mission a success.
Date: Friday, April 23, 2021
Audience: Middle/high school students, parents and educators
Text shared by Northrop Grumman and edited for space + James Webb Space Telescope photo from their website.
PREPARE OVER SPRING & SUMMER
Free Training Program + Licenses
NEW MATLAB/Simulink ONLINE Version +
6-Week Simulink Webinars - Starts 5 May
Register your Team NOW with RM BEST
Encourage your students to request a license
to participate in summer online Simulink Training

NEW MATLAB/Simulink ONLINE - Use Simulink with NO downloads, or installations!

  • MATLAB/Simulink ONLINE – now fully supported - so any computer can access the software via the web.
  • Keyboard Control Only; No Joystick
  • Includes MATLAB Drive for File Storage
  • Ease the Student Computing Requirements
  • Runs on a dedicated remote host

STEPS to access the complimentary license

  1. Register your team in the BEST National Registry with RM BEST Hub AND any BEST participant can be licensed (Requires Individual Account)
  2. Access the 2021 Annual BEST MathWorks License by clicking Complimentary Software Request Software button at www.mathworks.com/best-robotics

REGISTER NOW for first offering of 6-weekly 90 minute sessions
Weekly Webinar Class Topics - starting 5 May
Class 1 (May 5th):
  • Introduction to programming using MATLAB
  • Programming basic robot movements
Class 2 (May12th):
  • Introduction to robot simulations using Simulink
  • Programming interactive robot controls
Class 3 (May19th):
  • Using a distance sensor for autonomy
  • Hardware basics
  • Hardware demo- proportional motor control during obstacle detection
Class 4 (May 26th):
  • Creating custom functionality
  • Hardware demo - External mode Robot Sensors & Actuators
Class 5 (June 2nd):
  • Task sequencing with flow diagrams using Stateflow
  • Hardware demo- IR sensor line follower
Class 6 (June 9th):
  • Programming of maze-solving robots
  • Hands-on programming task
Free Teacher Summer Training
Save the date: 13-15 July 2021
Free 3-day Teacher / Mentor Institute - a great way to refresh your knowledge
  • Intended for teachers, coaches, & mentors of BEST Robotics teams. Must be at least 18 to attend.
  • Participants will build and compete with a mini-BEST robot.
  • Classroom participation PLUS ~ 10 hours pre-classroom reading, testing, scoresheet judging.
  • Focused towards new(er) BEST teachers, even veterans will gain tips and valuable experience. 
  • 3 hours of Colorado Continuing Education Units.
Additional details and registration instructions in a future email.
Looking for Panel Members: Please REPLY if you or one of your students might be interested in supporting 1-hour panels.
Improved BEST Robotics Training
You asked for: Emphasis on More, Shorter, Earlier, Focused Training

Weekly Wednesday Team Webinars Starting 5 May
  • A few non-standard days as necessary
  • More details to come

NEW BESTedu - New home for all training/resources - Site Release in June
  • Training / workshop events
  • On-demand training
  • Training Calendar
  • Presentations and documents
  • More details to come
Thank you for your feedback, BEST Robotics Inc. is using it to improve our training
POTENTIAL Electronics Workshop
If Sufficient Interest
BEST Robotics Inc Electronics Workshop
TBD - potentially 16 July - AM Class
How to use the provided IR Sensor Kit part to build and use an IR sensor.

Electrical design content specific to the IR sensor includes:
  • Introduction to Soldering (including practice time)
  • Introduction to BEST IR Sensor (how it works, how it can be used)
  • BEST IR sensor assembly (by students)
  • Testing the sensor operation (no software required)

Please REPLY if you or your students might be interested.
FALL COMPETITION
Teams Build a Robot this Fall
Expanded 8-Week Season

In-Person Robot Build and Competition + ONLINE Activities

  • Game
  • Name to be announced in April
  • Game Animation and Rules to be released at Kickoff
  • Robot Physical Build - robot kit provided at Kickoff
  • Robot Competition in person - one of the following
  • Standard 4-quadrant head-to head OR
  • Classroom 1-quadrant with provided field kit
  • Engineering Notebook - required
  • ONLINE BEST Award
  • Marketing Presentation
  • Virtual Team Exhibit and Student Interviews
  • Spirit and Sportsmanship -TBD
  • ONLINE Returning activities
  • Critical Design Review
  • BESTMania Skill Challenge
  • Minecraft Challenge
  • ONLINE Optional skills challenges - TBD offering
  • Robot modeling
  • Engineering drawings
  • Video design
  • Website design
  • Hub 8-week schedule and venues to be announced in June
2019 Championship Cheer
We're Optimistically
planning a
2021 DENVER BEST Regional Championship

6-10 December Online Activities TBD
+
11-12 December @ Arapahoe County Fairgrounds - head-to-head competition
Register NOW to Reserve a Spot

Please Complete Steps 1-2 ASAP

  • Step 1 - Login or Create Account - Lead Teacher and other teachers and mentors use the link above to Login or Create a new account.
  • Step 2 - Register Team - Lead Teacher is expected to complete this step by selecting the blue Register a School button on the Schools page. Select Rocky Mountain BEST as your hub. Find your prior School Profile by selecting your school from the popup list of prior schools. OR If you are registering a new school, CREATE NEW School with button at bottom of the list.

Email will be sent when your team's registration is approved.