Study and Build Event Tips:

Look at some resources online such as youtube, the gallery, or forums.

• These can give you an idea on how the events are run and what successful builds look like. Most of the engineering still lies on you, but it'll give you some ideas to start with.

• Here is the gallery: https://scioly.org/gallery/

Look at the wiki!

• The wiki has lots of detailed information about builds and study events, and the gallery also has photos of different builds so you have some ideas on getting started.

Make sure you are reading and rereading the rules. It's really easy to miss something. As you make your device, check each requirement to ensure that it works properly.

Initially, go for a simple and work from there.

• 3 months might seem like a lot when you're planning, but by the time you have the materials you need, you'll end up having a lot less time. Try to go for the simplest design you can at first and improve it as you go long.

Test your device a lot. Remember that builds are a work in progress and aren't ever perfect.

• For some events you'll have to rebuild your device after every trial. For these events, experimenting a lot is important in order to improve. After each attempt, think about how your next build could be better and when going to competitions, consider what other people did that worked.

• For other events, you'll likely not have time to make more than 1 or 2 builds. In these events though, testing is still very important in order to understand what you have built. In a competition, if something goes wrong, then, you'll be able to fix it better.

Practice tests are extremely helpful for all study events. It'll give you an idea about timing and what types of topics are tested and what aren't.

• Make sure to be realistic about timing! Coming up with time management strategies for tests will be useful—there is a chance that you’ll be running out of time during competition, depending on who wrote the test and the event.

• After you take a test, make sure to review things you don't know. This is the most important part! If you don't know something, look it up and if your event allows one, add it to your binder.

• Places to get tests:

  • https://scioly.org/tests/ or click on your event here https://www.soinc.org/events/2023-division-c-events

Flashcards, videos (if you can find them), and diagrams to label, are all good study materials. This is especially important for events without binders (ie Anatomy and Physiology)

• Quizlet is good for flashcards. You can also consider making your own.

• For videos of you’re in the market for some lecture-style videos, you can try your luck with some university channels like MIT or Stanford on YouTube. A lot of major universities are recording their lectures these days.

• For diagrams, try a quick google search. If you’re not having any luck, try tacking on “worksheet” or “teaching materials” to your search.

Look at the scioly wiki!

• The wiki has lots of detailed information about study events. There's also a test exchange on the same website with practice tests.

Wikipedia is extremely helpful for information despite what your teachers might tell you.

You should be comfortable with any reference material you bring into an event. Don't just copy it from online. Instead read it, practice with it, and add information to it.

• For events with binders, consider adding a table of contents so you can quickly find things.

Ask your teammates on both teams. There's also a list of people who have competed in the events before