Two ways to lay out the trifold, what goes in each block, how everything fits on a 3 foot table, and big print-outs for every section title. Addie writes the words; this page only plans the space.
← Fair guideThe board
A 36 by 48 inch trifold: a 24 inch center panel and two 12 inch wings. On a 3 foot table the wings fold in a little more than usual so the whole board is 36 inches wide.
Layout 1 Recommended
Follows the order of the school's six parts: the left wing asks, the center shows, the right wing answers. Easy for judges who score with the rubric in hand.
Front view, to scale (48 in wide, 36 in tall). Pink blocks are what a judge should find first.
Layout 2
The question takes the center, right under the title, with the turret photo and both graphs below it. The wings tell the story: the problem and the machine on the left, the test and the answer on the right. Best if Addie wants the board to read like a poster from far away.
Front view, to scale. Uses the same print-outs as Layout 1, plus the Problem title.
What goes where
The fair guide has the questions for each part. This is only what ends up on the board.
| Block | What goes in it | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Engineering goal | One sentence: build a robot that finds, tracks, and hits a flying mosquito by itself. | Addie's words |
| Question | The science question, big. What makes the MS-2000 miss more: a faster mosquito or a smaller one? | Due Nov 18 |
| The problem (Layout 2) | Why mosquitoes matter: bites, disease, how fast and how small they are. | Research notes |
| Research | 3 to 5 facts, one per bullet. The real laser fence is a good one. | Due Dec 2 |
| Hypothesis | One for speed, one for size, each with if, then, and because. | Due Dec 9 |
| Variables | What changes (swing angle, target hole), what gets counted (hits in 30 seconds, time to first hit), what stays the same (3 feet, room, a charged power bank, camera training). | Fair guide table |
| Big photo | The finished turret, printed 8 by 10. A second photo mid-flash is a bonus. | Take it in December |
| How it works | Addie's labeled drawing: camera, laser, servos, micro:bit, mosquito pod, wand, radio. | Copy from the journal drawing |
| 14,000× fact | A killing laser would need about 14 watts. Ours is 0.001 watt, on purpose. | Plan, lethality math |
| Materials | The main parts, short list. Not every screw. | Parts list |
| Procedure | How one run works, as numbered steps. | Fair guide, experiments |
| Graphs | One bar graph per test: 3 bars, averages on top, a title, and both sides labeled. | Due Jan 25 |
| Results | A small table of the averages for all 6 settings. | Due Jan 25 |
| Conclusion | Was the hypothesis supported? Which one made it miss more, by how much? What next time? | Due Jan 25 |
| Catholic connection | 2 or 3 sentences. | Due Dec 2 |
| Sources | 2 or 3, written the same way. | Due Dec 2 |
The table
The laser is lined up for 3 feet, and the dot stays on the pod from 2 to 4 feet. At the fair the mosquito hangs about 2 feet from the camera, so the turret and the backdrop both fit across one table with the beam running sideways, never toward judges.
Top view, to scale for a 36 by 24 inch table. A deeper table works the same with more room behind the beam lane.
Print-outs
Print on plain paper, cut on the dashed lines, and lay everything on the board before gluing anything. Addie's own text, photos, and graphs go under each title.
Under 1 milliwatt. Mounted, never handheld.
Do not look into the beam.