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RM BEST Teacher / Mentor Newsletter 6
Outbreak Game Online Competition
Kickoff Event
September 2020
*** Reminder your student's parents need to register
their children on your team in the Registry***
IMPORTANT Kickoff Event DETAILS
Hello Teachers and Mentors!

We are excited to introduce you to Rocky Mountain BEST 2020 Outbreak Online season on this Saturday, 19 September.
We are working through the details to bring you this event ONLINE and have a plan that we describe in this email and in the below referenced 2020 RM BEST Team Handbook.
You will be getting followup emails with the EVENT YouTube streaming LINK and the Breakout Session Google Meet links.
Checkout the BEST Minecraft video teaser at the bottom of this email and share with your students.

Please reach out if you have any questions or suggestions.

Kickoff Main EVENT Presentation - TO BE RECORDED

  • PRESENTATION BEGINS: 9:30 AM - LIVE STREAM: 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
  • The YouTube link for Main presentation LIVE STREAM will be emailed WEDNESDAY - plan to add it to the Breakout Session emails.
  • Here is a Google Form link for you and your students to use to enter questions for the Q&A period at the end of the Presentation. Ask a Question using this link:  https://forms.gle/E9BwtT4Vrr56cycL7

Kickoff Breakout Sessions - WILL BE RECORDED

  • GOOGLE MEET FRONT RANGE BEST SESSIONS BEGIN: 10:30AM MST
  • GOOGLE MEET ROCKY MOUNTAIN BEST SESSIONS BEGIN: 11:00AM MST

LOOK FOR GOOGLE CALENDAR BREAKOUT SESSION EMAILS WEDNESDAY
ONLINE Google Meet meetings work well with a Chrome browser and with Google Account participants, but there may be issues when the Participant does not have a Google Account .
To avoid these issues:
  • Teachers will be sent a Google Calendar email with each Breakout session's meeting link and phone option.
  • We recommend teachers forward this email to students to help with their access to the sessions.
  • If there are issues accessing the sessions, there is an option for participants to use the phone for audio. Also the sessions will be recorded, and we will make the video files available on the National Registry by the following Monday.
IMPORTANT:
  • To help determine who should attend each of the following sessions, a Breakout Session Overview document describes each session and gives participant recommendations.
  • Kickoff Presentations will be available on team National Registry at 9AM on day of Kickoff.
  • 2020 Game Files will be available on team National Registry at Noon on day of Kickoff.
FRONT RANGE BEST BREAKOUT SESSIONS BEING SHARED WITH RM BEST
  • 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM Intro to BEST Control Systems
  • 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM Intro to Simulink Programming
ROCKY MTN BEST BREAKOUT SESSIONS
  • 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM BEST Award 
  • 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Robot Design Introduction and Tips 
  • 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Intro to Engineering Notebooks
  • 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Robot Rules & Kits
  • 11:00 AM - 12:30 AM Teacher & Mentor Tips

QUESTIONS/FEEDBACK?
Please reply if you have any questions or need additional information or you HAVE SUGGESTIONS.
DRAFT RM BEST Season Handbook
One place to go to for all things RM BEST
We have created a RM BEST 2020 Team Handbook to consolidate much of the RM BEST Season information in one pdf document. The table of contents is listed below.
We are making available a first draft of the Handbook - VERSION V1 in this email.
We will be posting to your National Registry version V2 prior to Kickoff. We will post updated versions as we have updates.
Highlights in DRAFT
  1. ***BEST Robotics Inc - Just in time training - pg 10 including Parent training: [T,M,S,P] BEST National Registry for Parents (Student Mgmt) Wednesday, September 16⋅ 4:30 – 5:30pm. Reminder to get your student's parents to register their children in the Registry. Parents can optionally create a student registry account Avatar and Password for their students so they can login to BESTmania. A teacher is able to give a student access to the Team's National Registry workflow information. SEE the National Registry webinars links for more information and the Registry HELP pages.
  2. Outbreak overview links: 1. 2020 BEST Activities Overview Link 2. So, what does it mean to have BEST Online?
  3. Kickoff event summary - pg 4
Handbook Table of Contents
  • 1.      Important Contacts 1
  • 2.      BEST Outbreak Online Overview 2
  • 3.      Rocky Mountain BEST Season Overview        3
  • 4.      Kickoff Schedule – 19 September        4
  • 5.      Practice Day Time Trials – 7 November - More to come     5
  • 6.      Game Day Time Trials – 21 November - More to come      5
  • 7.      Award Ceremony – 22 November – More to come   5
  • 8.      Competition Activity Deadlines & Logistics     6
  • 9.      National Registry   8
  • 10.    Training Videos and Documents 10
  • 11.    BEST Robotics Tools        12
  • 12.    BEST Robotics BESTMania and Minecraft Links        12
  • 13.    Prerequisites – current DRAFT   13
2020 Rocky Mountain BEST Hub
Registered Teams
1302 Abraham Lincoln HS
1304 Aurora Frontier P-8
1306 Bishop Machebeuf HS  
1307 Broomfield HS
1312 Good Shepherd School
1318 Our Lady of Fatima School
1319 Pinnacle Charter HS
1324 St Therese School
1326 STRIVE Prep - RISE
1328 Valley HS
1330 Flagstaff Academy Charter School
1331 Blessed Miguel Pro Catholic Academy
1332 Liberty HS
Outbreak Online Competition
Here are a few highlights of the 2020 BEST ONLINE Outbreak competition as summarized from the 3+ page BEST Robotics Outbreak ONLINE Competition Information
What is changing from the normal BEST competition?
  • Designing/Building the Robot There are no kits, no physical field and no robot construction. Your team WILL STILL design a robot to solve the game "problem". We have a NEW required Critical Design Review Presentation. You can still locally do prototyping, as permitted by your situation, and any modeling that you desire to help in explaining your robot design.
  • Robots on the Game Field Your team will still do programming of your virtual robot and run it in time-trials on a 3D virtual game field. The same Outbreak game field is simulated in a virtual environment, with only a few changes.
Familiar BEST Activities - The same BEST Robotics activities you are familiar with will continue in our Outbreak Online competition.
  • Engineering Notebook
  • Marketing Presentation
  • Virtual Team Exhibit and Interviews - Learn how to turn your exhibit into an online showcase of your publicity and community relations activities. We even have a way for your team to video chat with the public at the times you choose. Student Interviews - we will still do student interviews, but they will be done through an online meeting with judges.
New Online Challenges -There will be several NEW online challenges offered that will test your students' skills and knowledge. Each is an exciting new opportunity to expand your students' education.
  1. BESTMania Skills Quiz - Join the online skills Quiz games during the week at https://www.mathzing.com/bestmania.php the week following Kickoff - use your National Registry login to access the Quiz.
  2. Outbreak Minecraft Challenge - A Minecraft game modeled after our 2020 game, Outbreak! Get online, compete as a team, beat the clock to score as many points as you can. Solve puzzles and learn more about the game theme and real-world implications as you try to achieve milestones and create new materials. Anyone can play, but your game time is limited so play wisely! TEASER VIDEO BELOW
  3. Robot Modeling Challenge - Model it in a 3D environment where you can simulate its movements. Maybe your students are skilled enough to demonstrate it in action on the Outbreak virtual game field! Import from CAD tools or model it from scratch in MathWorks Simscape Multibody environment.
  4. Engineering Drawings Challenge - Use Computer Aided Design (CAD) in the development of their robot. Learning how to produce proper drawings will be an incredible boost to their resume.
  5. Website Design Challenge - Your students can learn how to design a website and earn points for the skills they demonstrate. They can use this platform to learn how to program in a variety of languages including HTML, CSS, Java, Python, and others.
  6. Video Design Challenge - There is an art and great skill in creating a good video. Students can learn about the basics of photography and videography as they develop a custom video on one of our select topic areas.
bESTology 2.0 - the study of engineering, science and technology
Outbreak game has a medical theme and postings are still applicable.

Teachers: We encourage you to incorporate bESTology into your curriculum, summer camps, enrichment activities and more.  All videos have been previewed and embedded to ensure child safety.
Students: Knowledge is Power! bESTology will teach you the skill sets to be successful in the workplace and in life. We challenge you to become a bESTologist. bESTology Link
  1. Journey Through the Human Body
  2. So just how powerful is our Central Nervous System?
  3. Our cardiovascular system is amazing!
  4. Breath in…Breath out…
  5. Digestive System
  6. Skeletal System
  7. Muscular System
  8. Homeostasis
  9. Medical Terminology
  10. Microbiotics
  11. Surgical Robots
  12. Summary