Rocks & Minerals - B & C Division (1/30/12): Anthracite coal - it is considered a metamorphic rock in many texts; however, it is found within sequences of sedimentary rocks, usually shales and sandstones. Students should understand the context and that it could be considered sedimentary in some interpretations, and metamorphic in others.

Feldspars - the official rock and mineral list includes three feldspars: Albite (Plagioclase), Amazonite (Microcline), and Feldspar (Orthoclase Group). Since these minerals are nearly impossible to distinguish in hand samples, for the purposes of this competition, color can be used to tell them apart.
Albite - white; Amazonite - blue green; Orthoclase - tan/pink. Competitors should understand that Microcline and Orthoclase are potassium feldspars and that they are polymorphs. Albite is one of many types of plagioclase feldspar, which have varying amounts of sodium and calcium.

Almandine (Garnet) - for the purpose of identification, garnet will be accepted. Therefore, any type of garnet is acceptable for NYS events.

The following minerals have been added for the State Tournament:

Quartz [Herkimer Diamond]
Labradorite (Plagioclase feldspar)
Wollastonite
Willemite
Rhodochrosite

Thermodynamics - C Division, Keep The Heat - B Division (1/30/12): There is ongoing discussion about whether cork is a wood product or an organic material. New York State has decided that, for all our competitions, cork will be classified as wood.

Forestry - B & C Division (1/5/12): Question: May students write in their Field Guides, and will the New York State competitions use the National Tree List or the New York Tree List? Answer: Students may write in their Field Guides. The New York State competitions will use the New York Tree List as posted on the State web site.

Magnetic Levitation - C Division (1/5/12): Questions continue to be raised about rule 3.l. The National Physics Committee is currently discussing a rewording of that rule to make the intention more clear, but they have not yet made a decision on the new wording. The intent of the rule is to insure that the vehicle designed by the students is magnetically levitated and not supported by either wheels that touch the bottom of the track or devices (horizontal wheels or other devices) that support the vehicle by the tension they maintain with the sides of the track. To clarify the rules intent, all New York State competitions (Invitationals, Regionals, and the State Tournament) will use the following determination:

The student-designed vehicle must be 100% magnetically levitated. To demonstrate that this is true, the students will place their vehicle in the ready-to-run position, then push the vehicle down until it makes contact with the bottom of the track. When the student lets go of the vehicle, it will pop back up to its original position if it is magnetically levitated. Any vehicle that passes this test will have met the requirements of rule 3.l.

Robot Arm - C Division (1/3/12): Question: Does the arm need to be controlled remotely? Can there be a wired controller connected directly to the arm? Answer: While the rules don't specifically state that you can use a wired controller rather than a remote control, it is alluded to several places in the rules: Under 3. Construction Parameters, the definition of the Device refers to "connections (wires, tubes, hoses, etc.); Under 6. vi, "The Device is physically moved by the connections to the control box(es)."; and 7.a refers to "control box(es) connections move any of the scoreable items..."

All of these are indications that there may be wires running from the control box to the arm to control it, rather than using remote control.

Thermodynamics - C Division (1/3/12): Section 4, subsection v should read "Teams may elect to add up to 100 ml of water from an ice bath to their internal beaker, immediately after receiving the hot water for bonus points."

Rocks & Minerals - B & C Division (1/2/12): Question: Anthracite coal is listed on the National list as a sedimentary rock, but it is a clear example of low-grade metamorphism. North Carolina recently made a clarification designating the rock as Metamorphic. Will New York be making the same change? Answer: For New York State competitions (Regional and State), Anthracite coal will be designated as Metamorphic.

Robot Arm - C Division (12/30/11): Question: My students are hoping to be able to use a magnet to pick up the nails. Their idea is to have a loose magnet sitting at the base of the arm. When they decide to pick up the nails…they will drag the magnet across the area of the nails…and drop all of them together (including the magnet) into the goal. Would this be ok to do?? They will have the magnet documented as a part of their arm…and also it will be included in their plan of action. Answer: This plan is within the rules provided the following conditions are met: (1.) As per rule 3.a, since the magnet is part of the device, it must start within the 30 cm x 30 cm square. (2.) As per rule 6.c.v, the magnet may not leave the 30 cm x 30 cm Arm Square while it is touching the surface of the playing field. That means if the magnet is accidentally moved out of the Arm Square, or if it is pushed outside of the Arm Square while the students are attempting to pick it up, then the run will be stopped as per 6.c.v. Students will need to practice picking up the magnet until they are able to do so cleanly to avoid breaking this rule. (3.) If they use the magnet to pick up all of the nails and then drop the nails and the magnet into the North Goal Box, they cannot score the maximum number of points. Total points for all of the nails dropped in the North Goal Box is 15. Total points for 4 of the nails in the North Goal Box and one nail in the Bonus Goal Box is 22. (4.) Finally, if the arm drags the magnet over the nails to pick them up and any of the nails touch the surface outside the competition area, then the nail(s) that touch the surface are out of play and will not count in the score (rule 7.a).

Robot Arm - C Division (12/10/11): State Tournament Only - As stated below (see Robot Arm (9/18/11)), the three technical documents must be emailed to jboyd@newyorkscioly.org before the State Competition in Buffalo. Teams failing to file the forms prior to March 30, 2012 will be ranked after all teams that did file prior to that date.

Robot Arm - C Division (12/8/11): Rule 3.b states that kits may be used but must be modified. They do not, however, define what a modification is. So long as students can show the event supervisor that they have made modifications to the arm, rule 3.b will be satisfied.

Magnetic Levitation - C Division (12/5/11): Question: Regarding rule 3.l of MagLev, is any of the following situations considered a violation of this rule? 1) The vehicle touches one side of the track before motor is turned on / before the vehicle is released / while it is moving (does not use the side as support); 2) Part of the vehicle touches the surface of the track (the magnet strips or the aluminum strip) before motor is turned on / before it is released / while it is moving (does not use the surface as support)." Answer: 1) 3.l is designed to prevent students from designing a vehicle that uses the side rails to support it rather than magnetic levitation (ie: placing wheels on the side of the vehicle that contact the sides and support it). If one side of the vehicle comes into contact with the side rail during the run, this does not violate rule 3.l; 2) If a part of the vehicle touches the surface of the track, then it is not magnetically levitated, and this would be a violation of both rule 3.l and the spirit of the competition.

Helicopter Egg Drop - B Division (11/17/11): Approximately 1/2 of the egg (in any orientation) must constitute the lowest portion of the device and the device must be designed so that this part of the egg will be the first part of the device to make contact with the ground. As per 2b. and 2c., nothing may be attached to the egg other than the tape or string used to secure the egg to the rest of the device and nothing may cover the egg, nor may it be contained in any protective device.

Helicopter Egg Drop - B Division (11/16/11): Question: Does the egg need to be at the lowest point of the helicopter, or can it be inside? If it is inside, then isn't it being protected by the material around it and in violation of rule: 2c. Also what if the blades are designed to slow the descent and to hit the floor before the egg. In other words, must the egg be attached so it would be the first thing hitting the floor if all goes as planned? Answer: The egg must be the lowest point, like the gondola on a hot air baloon. The intent is that the egg will hit first; in the decent, the device will be like a hot air baloon. The intent of the event is to construct a helicopter that will slow the decent to provide for the least damage to the egg.

Magnetic Levitation - C Division (11/15/11): The distance recorded for the vehicle travelling down the track will be two (2) meters at the State Tournament.

Road Scholar - B Division (11/1/11): B teams will require an AAA North/South Dakota road map, current edition, for the Regional Road Scholar competition

Magnetic Levitation - C Division (10/25/11): Question: regarding the Maglev rule under section 3.d: If a team choses to use a propeller assembly with a duct, is the duct considered part of the propeller? That is, can the duct of the propeller extend outside of the dimentions specified? Answer: Rule 3d states that the vehicle, with the specific exception of the propeller, must fit inside the vertical planes defined by the side rails of the track. If the propeller is enclosed by a device (like a fan would be) or if a device is placed behind the propeller, it is not part of the propeller, and must fit inside the track as defined above.

Robot Arm - C Division (10/14/11): State Tournament Only - Robots will be impounded for the State Tournament on the Friday before competition.

Gravity Vehicle - C Division (10/13/11): Concerning the Launch Area, the 150 cm dimension is parallel to the width of the start line, the 75 cm lines would be perpendicular and the back of the box would be 150 cm. The device would then have to fit in this box. There is no stipulation that the device has to be on the start line or on the back line of the box. If you build a device that's 50 x 50 it could be in the middle of the Launch Area box. However, there is a rule that says "one side of the base must be parallel to the track" (2g).

Robot Arm - C Division (10/13/11): The goals described in 5b. will be made from plastic 1/2 gallon milk jugs, not cardboard milk jugs.

Robot Arm - C Division (9/18/11): State Tournament Only - The three required technical documents should be submitted to the State Event Supervisor by March 21 if emailed or via mail that has a postmark no later than March 19. If the documents are submitted via email, they should be sent to jboyd@newyorkscioly.org and should be submitted as jpeg or Word documents. The subject line of the email should include your team number and the phrase "Robot Arm Documents" (ie: "C12 Robot Arm Documents"). If the size of the documents necessitates dividing them among several emails, please include that information in the subject line (ie: "C12 Robot Arm Documents 1 of 3"). If you wish to submit the documents via US mail, please send an email to the above address requesting the mail address. No mater how the documents are submitted, each page of the documents must include the team name and team number. If the documents are submitted via email, a reply will be sent to that email address to let you know they have been received. If the documents are submitted via US mail, please include an email address so that you can be informed that the documents have been received.

Astronomy - C Division (9/16/11): The DS9 imaging analysis software will not be used or referenced at the Regional competitions

Protein Modeling - C Division (8/12/11): For the State Competition, teams will be limited to two (2) students.

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