It's About Time C

[TheLeftEye]

Well, I mean in all the competitions, the event supervisor always plays the sounds before hand to show the students what it will be like. I dont think there will be too many people who are going to be confused. I was also interested why there is only 3 beeps in the beginning: people usually count down 3-2-1-GO, not 2-1-GO. THAT suprised me a lot when I listened to the mp3.

[VP15]

My partner and I were wondering what exactly a "commercial counter" (listed under 3. Construction, and the first item mentioned under section b.) is? We've been searching, and have found a range of different sorts of items that might fit under the term "commercial counter", but we're not completely sure what it is. If anybody knows what it means we'd love to know!

[JonB]

My partner and I were wondering what exactly a "commercial counter" (listed under 3. Construction, and the first item mentioned under section b.) is? We've been searching, and have found a range of different sorts of items that might fit under the term "commercial counter", but we're not completely sure what it is. If anybody knows what it means we'd love to know!

Look up "Tally-Counter-Manual-Mechanical" on Amazon.com. This was my first thought when I read the rules but I am sure there are MANY other items that would be considered commercial counters.

[Abonamza]

Hey, do you guys know if a tuner (for tuning instruments) can be used as a "calculator" that calculates the frequency of sound during the trial event (and yes this is for "It's About Time).

[JonB]

Hey, do you guys know if a tuner (for tuning instruments) can be used as a "calculator" that calculates the frequency of sound during the trial event (and yes this is for "It's About Time).

No electronic components allowed except for a scale/balance to measure mass. Remember, you cannot use a calculator in the time trials.

[finagle29]

I really do think that the soundtrack for the testing should also contain warning beeps for the end as well. The event is to test the clock the students made, and the reaction time shouldn't play such a significant problem for the students. For the 10-300 sec one, I have to stand there concentrated for the whole time, with my eyes closed.

I know this was talked about by our state director, Mike McKee (also past national competition director and such) and he supported that idea as well. Not sure if it will change, but I would agree with you that there should be warning beeps.

Interesting thought. I have to profess that It's About Time is near and dear to my heart since I got a silver medal in the event at Nationals in 1992. And I guess I've been thinking all along that current competitors should continue to have to do it 'the way I did' back then. My biggest concern is whether it's going to cause more confusion amongst participants as to what constitutes the start and stop of the interval, since there are more beeps of different types to listen for. Anyone have any thoughts regarding that?

Northwestern Lehigh ran IAT at a couple of the invitationals I've been to and they did not use the national sound files. They had the same set of starting beeps used to signal the end of the time interval with the final beep higher in pitch than the preceding 2-3ish warning beeps. They explained it well beforehand and played the 10.0 s interval for us so we could hear it and I don't think that there was any confusion.

In my opinion, warning beeps before the interval ends certainly makes all trials easier, especially the last one. However, seeing as how all of the clocks perform very well without the warning beeps, I don't think that event supervisors should do anything to make breaking ties more difficult by making the device section easier for all teams.

[bernard]

Science Olympiad posted a video on It's About Time to their Youtube channel.

[GoldenKnight1]

Interesting thought. I have to profess that It's About Time is near and dear to my heart since I got a silver medal in the event at Nationals in 1992. And I guess I've been thinking all along that current competitors should continue to have to do it 'the way I did' back then. My biggest concern is whether it's going to cause more confusion amongst participants as to what constitutes the start and stop of the interval, since there are more beeps of different types to listen for. Anyone have any thoughts regarding that?

Teams mostly have seemed to learn that they don't start measuring time for the first of the three beeps so I can imagine if there were 3 beeps at the end they would know to wait for the last higher pitch one. If lots of beeps were a concern why have them at the beginning? And I think the reason there are three beeps at the beginning is just justification for why there should be the beeps at the end. I think if warning beeps are at the beginning it would be better for them to be at the end as well. When I ran this I used a PowerPoint that read "ready", "set", and "go" on each of the first beeps at which time the screen turned green. Then two seconds before the end the screen turned yellow (which the teams could see) played two beeps and then the screen turned red and read "stop" at the same time the last sound was played.

[bernard]

Interesting thought. I have to profess that It's About Time is near and dear to my heart since I got a silver medal in the t at Nationals in 1992. And I guess I've been thinking all along that current competitors should continue to have toit 'the way I did' back then. My biggest concern is whether it's going to cause more confusion amongst participants as to what constitutes the start and stop of the interval, since there are more beeps of different types to listen for. Anyone have any thoughts regarding that?

Teams mostly have seemed to learn that they don't start measuring time for the first of the three beeps so I can imagine if there were 3 beeps at the end they would know to wait for the last higher pitch one. If lots of beeps were a concern why have them at the beginning? And I think the reason there are three beeps at the beginning is just justification for why there should be the beeps at the end. I think if warning beeps are at the beginning it would be better for them to be at the end as well. When I ran this I used a PowerPoint that read "ready", "set", and "go" on each of the first beeps at which time the screen turned green. Then two seconds before the end the screen turned yellow (which the teams could see) played two beeps and then the screen turned red and read "stop" at the same time the last sound was played.

For people who have to count oscillations, having beeps at the end might mess up their counting (especially if the beeps are separated by some time) since the beeps likely won't be synced with every team's device's oscillations. Beeps at the beginning don't have this issue since you aren't counting until the final beep. I would imagine that by minimizing the time between beeps (beep-beep-beeep rather than beep-pause-beep-pause-beeep) would throw teams off less with counting. I suppose you could learn to count so you aren't thrown up by warning beeps at the end, but you could also learn to stop counting when you hear one final beep.

[GoldenKnight1]

For people who have to count oscillations, having beeps at the end might mess up their counting (especially if the beeps are separated by some time) since the beeps likely won't be synced with every team's device's oscillations. Beeps at the beginning don't have this issue since you aren't counting until the final beep. I would imagine that by minimizing the time between beeps (beep-beep-beeep rather than beep-pause-beep-pause-beeep) would throw teams off less with counting. I suppose you could learn to count so you aren't thrown up by warning beeps at the end, but you could also learn to stop counting when you hear one final beep.

I have heard the noise of other clocks and people counting (all of which are at a different rate then ours) and teams still are able to get the right time so I am not too worried about the distraction of the beeps. I have seen teams practice using one or more metronomes that are set to different beats and/or having other team members counting at other rates to challenge them to what it might be like to have those other clocks and counts happening next to them.