2020-2021 Events

Hi, teams: We are doing a pretty major rearrangement of this page on Sunday night, April 4 to help you find the info you need for the tournament. Everything that was here before is still here; just now in this order: 

--Contests that require uploads prior to the tournament (new)
--Short descriptions of all events, including clarifications for the 2021 tournament (this section is important!). A few contests have their own web page, including Helicopter, Write It Do It, and Ag Sciences.
--Chart of all events (links to national website)
--List of what updates have been posted on this page and when (this used to be at the top)

Upload and WebEx Links

Please note that several events require students to submit video and/or photo either prior to the tournament or on tournament day, so a device for capturing / uploading is required (phone, tablet, computer, digital camera, etc.)

If students would like to practice uploading ahead of time, they may use this form to practice. A Gmail account is required!

Vehicle Design - B and C - Vehicle Plans in PDF

Agricultural Science - C - Photos of notebook - due Monday, April 5 at 5pm 

Mission Possible - B - Action Sequence List (PDF or Doc)  - due Tuesday, April 6 at 5pm

Write It Do It - B and C - Photo upload of finished drawing - due at end of time block on tournament day. 

  • Experimental Design B and C - Photo upload of graphs, analyses due at end of time block on tournament day
  • Helicopter B and C -- videos shot and uploaded during the 50-minute block. May be large files!
    • Flight logs are not required ahead of time, but students may upload them early to save time. They are due at the end of the 50-minute block, like all videos. They can upload these logs at any time and still return to the upload form for their flight videos during the time block.
    • Helicopter B upload
    • Helicopter C upload

Having trouble with Helicopters on tournamnent day? Hang in there! You can email our Event Supervisors. They will work with you to accomplish Kirsten Mattson [email protected] and Anders Larson  [email protected]

Showcase events or builds - just for fun

None of the following items are required or count for a score, but if you have built them for fun and would like to show them to other students please upload photos or video by noon on Tuesday, April 6.

  • Boomilever - B and C - Video or photos of build
  • Vehicle Design B and C (mousetrap and gravity vehicles) - Videos or photos of vehicle
  • Sounds of Music - C - Video of musical instrument 
  • Protein Model - C - Video  or photos of pre-build

Upload all showcase photos and videos here

Short descriptions -B

CIRCUIT LAB

Participants must answer questions about electricity and magnetism.

CRIME BUSTERS

Given a scenario, a collectionof evidence, and possible suspects, students will answer a series of questionsthat along with other evidence will be used to solve a crime.

DISEASE DETECTIVES

Participants will use investigative skills in the scientific study of disease, injury, health and disability in populations or groups of people.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN -- New: Items for experiment posted 3/25/21; further explanation posted 3/29

This event will determine participants' ability to design, conduct and report the findings of an experiment. Students will conduct an experiment during the tournament time block. This event will last 50 minutes and be divided into two sections.  In the first 20 minutes you will focus on designing and conducting your experiment.  In the second half, you will receive the second portion of your reporting assignment which focuses on analyzing and reporting your data. You may use only the writing implements, timepieces, rulers, non-programmable calculators that you brought with you. You must wear your eye protection.
  • Division B students need to have the following items on hand during the tournament: Water, 1 Pint-Sized Glass, 2 Cookies or Crackers, 1 Ruler, 1 Timer, 1 small sport ball (tennis, ping pong, etc..)
  • Since this event is focused on the planning and analysis of an experiment, students who compete as a team may ALL conduct the experiment at home if they wish, OR they may designate just one team member to conduct the experiment.
  • Students will upload images of their analysis, so they will need a way to take a photo and upload it to our google form. A Gmail account is required.

FOOD SCIENCE

Students will answer questions on food chemistry with a focus on fermentation and pickling.

FOSSILS

Teams identify and classify fossils and demonstrate their knowledge of ancient life by completing tasks related to interpretation of past environments and ecosystems, adaptations and evolutionary relationships, and use of fossils in dating and correlating rock units.

HEREDITY

Participants will solve problems and analyze data or diagrams using their knowledge of the basic principles of genetics.

HELICOPTER [NEW!]

Participants will design, build and test a free-flight, rubber band-powered helicopter. Helicopters will be judged by a video recorded and submitted ON TOURNAMENT DAY as well as their flight log. See full details on our Helicopter Event page.

METEOROLOGY

This event emphasizes understanding of basic meteorological principles associated with severe weather with emphasis on analysis and interpretation of meteorological data, graphs, charts and images.

MISSION POSSIBLE - New information posted 3/25/21; deadline updated 3/26

This event will be scored! (Previously listed as showcase only). Prior to the competition, participants design, build, test and document a Rube Goldberg-like device that completes required Start and Final Actions through a series of specific actions. Teams must complete their Action Sequence List and upload it no later than 5pm on Tuesday, April 6, the evening before the tournament (Downloadable template is on the National site). Students will sign up for an interview slot on tournament day and walk through list and demonstrate their device in live time to the event supervisors.

REACH FOR THE STARS

Students will demonstrate an understanding of the properties and evolution of stars and galaxies as well as their observation using different portions of the electromagnetic spectrum (e.g. Radio, Infrared, Visible, Ultraviolet, X-Ray and Gamma Ray).
 

VEHICLE DESIGN (REPLACES MOUSETRAP VEHICLE)

Teams write a proposal as if they were creating a mousetrap vehicle and then answer questions from the event supervisors about their proposal. Teams who have built a mousetrap vehicle may "showcase" it through photos and video, but the vehicle itself will not be scored. Students will submit their vehicle plans by Monday, April 5 at 5pm (upload link will be posted here) and will interact with the event supervisors in a live interview on tournament day to talk about their plans.
 

WATER QUALITY

Participants will be assessed on their understanding and evaluation of marine and estuary aquatic environments.

WRITE IT, DO IT [NOTE: this was earlier announced as WRITE IT, CAD IT]

  • Update 4/1/21 -- All these details and more on posted on a new page about this event
  • Update 3/26/21: The "Doer" needs to have writing implements in Blue, Black, Green and Red. The writer will be typing instructions, not hand-writing.
  • Update 2/24/21: We had originally announced this event as Write It, CAD It using a computer-aded design program, but are switching to use the format that has been announced for the National Tournament: The Event Supervisors will create a two-dimensional object using no more than four different colors commonly found in an eight-pack of markers, crayons, or colored pencils. The four colors that will be required will be shared with the qualifying teams’ coaches prior to the National Tournament, and it is expected that the “Doer” will have these items, as well as a blank sheet of paper on-hand on tournament day. At the start of the event, the “Writer” will log into the event and be presented with the image prepared by the Event Supervisors. He or she will then have 25 minutes to describe the image in the space provided. At the end of the 25 minutes, the “Writer” will be logged out and the image will be removed by the Event Supervisor. The “Doer” will then log in and have twenty minutes to read the instructions and attempt to recreate the image. At the end of the event the “Doer” will submit a picture of the image following the instructions provided by the Event Supervisor, so a method for capturing and uploading a picture is required.
 

Short descriptions C

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES (TRIAL) - NEW (announced 2/21/21) 

Participants will solve problems and answer questions about agricultural sciences using their knowledge of ecology, plant biolog, and environmental chemistry. This event consists of an online exam; an experiment conducted at home and a notebook detailing it; a live interview on tournament day to answer questions about the experiment. Download the national rules under Promising Pilots AND follow the Montana modifications. Students may earn medals in this event but scores will not count toward the team trophy. Upload your notebook files by Monday, April 5 at 5pm.

ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY

Participants will beassessed on their understanding of the anatomy and physiology for the human Skeletal, Muscular and Integumentary systems.

ASTRONOMY

Teams will demonstrate an understanding of Star and Galaxy Formation and Evolution.

CHEM LAB

Teams will complete one or more tasks and answer a series of questions involving the science processes of chemistry focused in the ares of Aqueous Solutions and Acids and Bases.
 

CODEBUSTERS [NEW for 2021!]

Teams will cryptanalyze and decode encrypted messages using cryptanalysis techniques for historical and modern advanced ciphers.

DETECTOR BUILDING

Teams do not actually build a device. During the tournament slot, teams will take an online test and also describe how they would build a device with the specifications given by the event supervisor.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN - Items for experiment posted 3/26/21; further explanation posted 3/29

This event will determine participants' ability to design, conduct and report the findings of an experiment. Students will conduct an experiment during the tournament time block. This event will last 50 minutes and be divided into two sections.  In the first 20 minutes you will focus on designing and conducting your experiment.  In the second half, you will receive the second portion of your reporting assignment which focuses on analyzing and reporting your data. You may use only the writing implements, timepieces, rulers, non-programmable calculators that you brought with you. You must wear your eye protection.
 
  • Division C students need to have the following common household items available: 1 Ruler, 1 Timer, 1 Piece of String, 1 Cup (paper or plastic), 3 Rubber Bands
  • Since this event is focused on the planning and analysis of an experiment, students who compete as a team may ALL conduct the experiment at home if they wish, OR they may designate just one team member to conduct the experiment.
  • Students will upload images of their analysis, so they will need a way to take a photo and upload it to our google form. A Gmail account is required.

FOSSILS

Teams identify and classify fossils and demonstrate their knowledge of ancient life bycompleting tasks related to interpretation of past environments and ecosystems, adaptations and evolutionary relationships, and use of fossils in dating and correlating rock units.

GEOLOGIC MAPPING

Teams will demonstrate understanding in the construction and useof topographic maps, geologic maps, and cross sections, and their use in forming interpretations regarding subsurface structures and past depositional environments.
 

HELICOPTER [NEW for 2021!]

Participants will design, build and test a free-flight, rubber band-powered helicopter. Participants will design, build and test a free-flight, rubber band-powered helicopter. Helicopters will be judged by a video recorded and submitted ON TOURNAMENT DAY. See full details on the Helicopter event page.

PROTEIN MODELING - IMPORTANT NEW INFORMATION POSTED 3/25/21

For the 2020-21 season, this event is online only and will not include a pre-built model. Students who build a protein model may showcase it through photos and videos, but the model itself will not be scored.
 
The online portion will include a computer exploration and a written test, both of which will be initiated through Scilympiad. For the computer exploration portion, students will use a browser-based MSoE Jmol Design Environment. This does not require download of any software, but please visit this website prior to the tournament to make sure the web page works on the computer they will be using on tournament day. Students are not allowed to use the computer application version of Jmol.

https://cbm.msoe.edu/markMyweb/jmolDesignEnvironment/#forward

In addition, students should read these three academic papers by Anzalone, Kadam and Komor prior to the event.

SOUNDS OF MUSIC - updated 3/30/21

Teams do not actually build an instrument. This event consists of awritten test on the physics of sound and music concepts. Students who HAVE built an instrument may submit videos of it as a showcase to show other students. However, the instrument will not be judged or scored.
 

VEHICLE DESIGN (REPLACES GRAVITY VEHICLE)

Teams write a proposal as if they were creating a gravity vehicle and then answer questions from the event supervisors about their proposal. Teams who have built a gravity vehicle may "showcase" it through photos and video, but the vehicle itself will not be scored. Students will submit their vehicle plans by Monday, April 5 at 5pm (upload link will be posted here) and will interact with the event supervisors in a live interview on tournament day to talk about their plans.

WATER QUALITY

Participants will be assessed on their understanding and evaluation of marine and estuary aquatic environments.

WRITE IT, DO IT [NOTE: this was earlier announced as WRITE IT, CAD IT]

  • Update 4/1/21 -- All these details and more on posted on a new page about this event
  • Update 3/26/21: The "Doer" needs to have writing implements in Blue, Black, Green and Red. The writer will be typing instructions, not hand-writing.
  • Update 2/24/21: We had originally announced this event as Write It, CAD It using a computer-aded design program, but are switching to use the format that has been announced for the National Tournament: The Event Supervisors will create a two-dimensional object using no more than four different colors commonly found in an eight-pack of markers, crayons, or colored pencils. The four colors that will be required will be shared with the qualifying teams’ coaches prior to the National Tournament, and it is expected that the “Doer” will have these items, as well as a blank sheet of paper on-hand on tournament day. At the start of the event, the “Writer” will log into the event and be presented with the image prepared by the Event Supervisors. He or she will then have 25 minutes to describe the image in the space provided. At the end of the 25 minutes, the “Writer” will be logged out and the image will be removed by the Event Supervisor. The “Doer” will then log in and have twenty minutes to read the instructions and attempt to recreate the image using the four colors. At the end of the event the “Doer” will submit a picture of the image following the instructions provided by the Event Supervisor, so a method for capturing and uploading a picture is required.

Division B (Middle School) 

Be sure to download the 2020-21 Rules Manual for complete event details!

Links in the chart below go to the national web pages. Montana modifications (above) will supercede national rules.

Life, Personal & Social Science  Earth & Space Science Physical Science & Chemistry Technology & Engineering Design 

Inquiry & 
Nature of Science
Disease Detectives  Fossils Circuit Lab
(Test Only)

Helicopter [NEW!] (To find the 2021 rules, scroll down to the Creative Concepts header)

Experimental Design 

(Common household items are needed. See list above)
Heredity Meteorology Food Science 
(Test Only)

Vehicle Design [REPLACEMENT] (To find the 2021 rules, scroll down to the Creative Concepts header)

 (replaces Mousetrap Vehicle)* 

Write It, Do It

(earlier announced as Write It, CAD It - see details above)
Water Quality 
(Test Only)		 Reach for the Stars  Crime Busters 
(Test Only)

Mission Possible

(see important information above)

  
      Boomilever+
(Showcase only - not scored)
  

Division C (High School) 

Be sure to download the 2020-21 Rules Manual for complete event details.

Links in the chart below go to the national web pages. Montana modifications (above) will supercede national rules.

Life, Personal & Social Science  Earth & Space Science Physical Science & 
Chemistry		 Technology & 
Engineering Design 

Inquiry & 
Nature of Science
Anatomy & Physiology Astronomy Sounds of Music  (Test Only; 
you can showcase a video of your hand-made instruments if you made one)

Helicopter [NEW!] (To find the 2021 rules, scroll down to the Creative Concepts header)

 Codebusters [NEW!]
Water Quality 
(Test Only)		 Fossils Chem Lab 
(Test Only)

Vehicle Design [REPLACEMENT] (To find the 2021 rules, scroll down to the Creative Concepts header)

(replaces Gravity Vehicle*)

Write It, Do It

(earlier announced as Write It, CAD It - see details above)
  GeoLogic Mapping  Protein Modeling 
(See important information above! Online online; built models* can be showcased but will not be scored)		 Detector Building 
(Test Only)		 Experimental Design 
(Common household items are needed. See list above)
      Boomilever+ 
(Showcase only - not scored)		  

 Announcing new TRIAL event for Division C: Agricultural Sciences. See rules and modifications below (2/21/21)

*Students who have built a mousetrap vehicle or gravity vehicle my showcase their vehicles through photos and videos. However, the actual vehicle will not be scored. Points will only be earned through the scoring rules for VEHICLE DESIGN.

**SHOWCASE EVENT. Students will still create their build, but it will be evaluated with alternate criteria and will not count for a team score. The goal here is to complete a project and show off your work for others.

+Boomilever: It is unsafe to build and test a Boomilever at home. If you have already built a Boomilever, you may display it in our photo/video showcase, but it will not be scored. Upload any Boomilever photos and videos for the student showcase here.

Record of updates to this page up through April 3

Updates April 3
Helicopter clarifications - B and C (posted on a new page)

Updates April 1
Write It Do It clarifications - B and C (posted on a new page)

Updates March 30
Detector building - C - Clarification: Teams do not actually build a device
Sound of Music - C - Clarification: Teams do not build an instrument

Updates March 29
Agricultural Sciences - C (Trial) Deadine for uploading notebook is Monday, April 5 at 5pm
Experimental Design B and C - further explanation added to explain how the test will work

Updates March 26
Vehicle Design - B and C - Deadline for uploading plans is Monday, April 5 at 5pm
Experimental Design - C - materials list has been posted below
WIDI B and C -- posted the four colors that students need to have
Mission Possible - deadline to upload Action Sequence List is 5pm on Tuesday, April 6

Updates March 25
Protein Modeling - C - link to Jmol online; link to 3 academic papers
Mission Possible - B - This event will be scored after all! Documents due the night before.
Experimental Design -- Both B and C - During the testing block, students will design and conduct an experiment using common household items and analyze and report on their data. Students will need to have these items available during the tournament. Eye protection must be worn.

Feb. 24, 2021: Write it, Do It change — we will NOT use a CAD program
Feb. 21, 2021: Agricultural Sciences -- new trial event for Division C.
Jan. 28, 2021: Announcements re: Helicopters, Vehicle Design, Write it, CAD it, Codebusters (C)