Compute This B

[Tramsarran]

Here's a little more on what I mean by the presentation concept. We could be given a topic that we have to research, for example an element like Carbon. We'd need to look for some facts that we can find quite easily about that element, such as it's atomic properties, uses/applications, where it is found in nature, what it may soon be used for, common compounds with carbon in it and why it is essential to life, etc. We'd have a fairly large amount of data that needs to be presented about the topic so it should be improbable that a team would get a perfect score. We can choose from a few ways to present the required data. One can be a Powerpoint presentation while another can be a video that automactically plays through the slides and may incorporate media clips found on the web that compliment the information in the slides.

The score will be based on how much data is covered, how well it is presented and creativity. I'd be glad if someone can come up with a better idea for criteria because some judges might have different ideas about creativity than others.

Other ideas for data to find and sort through could be data about a devastating natural disaster (the earthquake that struck Japan, a hurricane, volcanic eruption), global warming, renewable energy sources and more if you can think of them.

[Jimean716]

So long as it isn't NASA...

Hm? How come?

cuz he be hatin' lolz

[candykid919]

and i didn't know that you could fake data...

Guys... you aren't supposed to fake data. Plain and simple. You aren't supposed to do it. This is not a "faking data" competition. This is a "find the data" competition. If you can't find the data, you aren't doing your job. It is against the main rules of Science Olympiad to fake data. It destroys the integrity of the competition. If someone else is doing it, they will get what they deserve later on. You should at least have enough class to do the competition RIGHT.

Completely agreed, Z.

The thing is, if YOU can't find the data (assuming you are reasonably prepared and/or reasonably competent with the search box), it likely means that no one else can find it either (*cough*2010PAstates*cough*). Also in the rules, you're graded on the "completeness, accuracy, and format of graphical data presentation". If you fake the data, then you are neither complete nor accurate, and unless they specify the type of graph to use, it won't be formatted correctly either.

Well if you look at what most tests have as a sample grading sheet, you still get 30 out of the 50 graph points for formatting it right. Thats a lot, and its better than spending too much time on finding the graph info. If you can't find the data, set up the graph and do the short answer, then come back. Just make sure if you make up data, it makes sense. Don't put average temperature in January as 90 or something like that.

[Tramsarran]

I agree with faking the data when necessary to get the points for the graph. If you don't believe in faking the data, just leave your spreadsheet blank and all of us who will fake the data reasonbly to demostrate our skills will do just that and we'll see who gets more points. I do respect your opinion on the matter though. Nevertheless, convincing someone to not fake the data seems like quite a hard task as (hopefully)all of us are intent on getting the best scores and demonstrating all that we can do.

[quadratic]

the point of any test is to show if you know how to do something. The compute this test tries to tell if you know how to find information online and if you know how to make graph. So if you can't find information and because of that you let your test show that you can't graph or find data even if you can make the graph, your actually cheating the test into showing lower than your abilities

[zyzzyva980]

I've always interpreted this event as a "Find the data and interpret in an organized way" rather than "Make a graph look pretty." If SO wants you to make pretty graphs and that's what gets the most points, well, they make the rules. But I think that finding the data should be the most important part of this event by far.

[Jimean716]

I've always interpreted this event as a "Find the data and interpret in an organized way" rather than "Make a graph look pretty." If SO wants you to make pretty graphs and that's what gets the most points, well, they make the rules. But I think that finding the data should be the most important part of this event by far.

Having good quality graph is actually pretty important. Here are some scores:
Info.- Accurate, Graph-Good=100 pts.
Info.- Accurate, Graph-Fair=90 pts.
Info.-Accurate, Graph-Bad=70 pts.
Info.-Accurate, Graph-Absent=0 pts.
Info.-Fair, Graph-Good=80 pts.
Info.-Bad, Graph-Good=40 pts.
Info.-Fair, Graph-Fair=80 pts.
Info.-Fair, Graph-Bad=70 pts.
Info.-Bad, Graph-Fair=50 pts.
Info.-Bad, Graph-Bad=40 pts.
Hope this helps!

[quadratic]

Do the best with what you can find. Maybe the numbers aren't exact, but you can at least put something related in.
.

OS wait are you OK with making up data so long as it what we think the real numbers would be like

[Tramsarran]

Yes, if I would end up wasting too much time to find the data or it's extraordinarily difficult to find the data.

[zyzzyva980]

in the time it would take you to make up all the data, you could refine your search terms and go through around 10 pages, depending on the speed of the computers. So why not do that instead?