Scioly.org

I would suggest that they know about both of them, and what the differences are.
However for most tests I would bet they will only really have to know conventional flow, with maybe a question or two about what electron flow is.

Being that there is no standard anywhere that says SO tests should use one or the other, your kids should be exposed to both with the emphasis placed on conventional flow (like posted above), I suspect, while 'correcting' it, if you will. The only places these would be are either in the rules themselves or in an Official Clarification on the National site. Granted, this is mentioned in the rules under 3ci as current flow and direction. I'd say this falls under that topic.
Remember, supervisors are regular people and, so, can and will write tests differently. It's part of the uncertainty and 'fun' of SO.

EDIT: I'd also like to point out that the National site explicitly links to the Wiki, and this is one of the first topics in there. The Wiki is one of the most easily accessible resources (granted, it needs cleaning up), so everything in there that's covered in the rules may as well be treated as more than fair game.

What needs cleaning up on the wiki? I guess I've been the one to make most of the edits, so I'm probably responsible for the disorganization (you should see my desk )

Most of the B events are a mess; this one actually isn't bad, likely becuase it's both divsions. I was mostly referencing the writing in the paragraph in question:

Wiki wrote:They then flow around the whole circuit, la la la, and arrive back at the positive end. Capeesh?

Lalala capeesh?

Oh, go read the c division wiki instead, it might be better, you can just ignore the parts you don't need(probably a lot of stuff at the bottom).

The Shock Value wiki redirects to the Circuit Lab one.

Also, just check the official rules for what you do/don't need to know. For example, it says that there shoudn't be questions about AC circuits and inductors, at least for the Circuit Lab event. So you technically can ignore it, but you might want to read about them just for the heck of it. Learning more doesn't hurt.

Greetings!

I'm a coach and am not 100% sure where to begin with coaching this event (Division C, Circuit Lab). Are there some good kits that I should have my students work with? We have some snap circuits, but I have no idea if that's too "Mickey Mouse" for this event, or if it's appropriate.

For those who have done this event before and have had some success with it, what resources/tools helped you the most? I've got no problem with coaching the mathematics of the equations (they are pretty straight forward), but do not know how much I should be investing in purchasing some tools. One could easily drop a lot of money at RadioShack purchasing loads of reistors, diodes, LED's, etc. Do we need these? Is there already a recommended Science Olympiad tailored kit/set up?

Thank you in advance for any information you can provide!

Definitely have them work with actual circuits, it reinforces concepts and sometimes appears on the actual event at tournaments. What are snap circuits, are they those the ones that have "circuit boards" and you can "snap" the various pieces on? I think trying to work with making circuits with alligator clip wires. Its odd in a way and hard to wrap your head around it because the circuits don't appear square as the diagrams are , but I have seen at a tournament tho. I think you can easily form circuits with those, maybe try using light bulbs instead of resisters, although I'm not entirely sure we're you'd be able to buy them. Another tool you should have at hand is a multimeter, it can check if the batteries dead or not, the current and resistance running through the circuit and basically offers more hands on activity. (Also in case any event asks for knowledge asks for that ) For websites I think the Wiki, The Physics Classroom, and the Hyper physics are all good places to start.

Anyone else want to add anything?

Snap Circuits are good for WIDI I second using actual circuits since that's almost assurely what the lab portion of competition will be like. That said, if you have any of those electronics kits sitting around, that may be effective for a time. And, since it looks like you're a C team, some of the supplies you seek may be available at school already.

Thanks for the replies and tips.

We do have some circuit materials, but not enough. More shall be purchased.

The "snap circuits" is the kind where you snap them together, but yes, real circuits are the way to go. We'll just work with both.

For those who have done the event, what amount of experimental error have you found with the multimeters? How close are they to the predicted calculations when you look at the amps and the resistance?

Thanks!