📄 Competition · Notebook · Beginner

How to Use the
Notebook Template

A color-coded Google Slides notebook built around the EDP. This guide covers first-time setup, keeping entries in order, maintaining the table of contents, adding clickable navigation, and the mistakes that cost teams before competition.

// Section 01
How Notebook Access Works
Your team notebook is created by Mr. T. Here is what you must know about access, naming, and sharing.
📄 Your Notebook Access
✅Your team notebook will be created and shared with you by Mr. T. You do not need to set anything up.
❌Do not make your own copy of the master template or any other notebook unless Mr. T explicitly tells you to.
❌Do not change sharing settings on your team notebook unless instructed. Keep settings as they are when you receive it.
⚠️If you cannot access your notebook, email [email protected] right away. Do not start a new notebook on your own.
❌
RECF EN4: Do not use AI tools to write, organize, improve, or fill in any notebook entry. Every word in your team's notebook must be original student writing. The template is structural scaffolding only — you provide all content.

How the Template System Works

Mr. T keeps one master template — a blank Google Slides file with the color system, divider slides, and placeholder prompts. Your team gets its own copy. That copy is the only place you write.

📄
Master Template
Mr. T owns this. You cannot edit it.
🔄
Team Copy
One per team. Shared with your members. This is where you work.
🚫
No Extra Copies
Do not duplicate your team copy. One notebook per team.

Notebook Naming Rules

Your notebook's file name must follow this format exactly:

Required File Name Format
[TeamNumber]-Notebook-2026-27
Example: 2822A-Notebook-2026-27

If Mr. T named it for you, do not rename it. If he asks you to rename it, use exactly this format.

☐ Access Setup Checklist
  • ☐Confirm you can open your team's assigned notebook in Google Drive
  • ☐Verify the file name matches the required format above
  • ☐Check that all team members appear as editors (not viewers)
  • ☐Do NOT change sharing settings from what Mr. T configured
  • ☐If anything above fails, email [email protected] before starting any work
1 / 8
// Section 08
EDP Connection and Notebook Habits
How every slide color maps to an EDP step, and the full SigBots habits checklist for the season.
🔄
Every entry in the template connects to an EDP step. This is not a coincidence — it is the design. When you use the template correctly, the EDP is visible in the notebook's structure without any extra work.

The Template-to-EDP Connection

Green slides

EDP: Identify the Problem

Game overview, scoring analysis, criteria & constraints, team goals
Gold slides

EDP: Brainstorm & Research

Concept sketches (3+), research citations, subsystem comparison
Purple slides

EDP: Select Best Solution

Decision matrix with weights + scores, written conclusion
Orange slides

EDP: Build & Program

Build log, CAD screenshots, code changes with before/after values
Cyan slides

EDP: Test & Evaluate

Hypothesis before test, data table (n≥5), conclusions driving next action
Red slides

EDP: Tournament Prep & Reflect

Pre-comp plan, match results, design flaw identification → triggers next EDP cycle

Notebook Habits Checklist — Use These All Season

☐ Season Habits Checklist
  • ☐Every major entry connects to a specific EDP step (visible from the slide color)
  • ☐Brainstorm section shows at least 3 options — including the ones that were rejected
  • ☐Each rejected idea has at least one sentence explaining why it was not chosen
  • ☐Decision matrices appear for every major design decision — not just the first one
  • ☐The notebook shows how the design evolved from V1 to V2 and beyond
  • ☐Test entries include the hypothesis written before the test ran
  • ☐Competition reflection entries identify the specific design flaws that start the next EDP cycle
  • ☐At least one project-tracking element exists: goals slide, season timeline, or Gantt chart
  • ☐Programming evolution is documented — code changes have before/after constants and plain-language explanations
  • ☐The template is treated as a structural scaffold only — no placeholder text appears in the final notebook
8 / 8
// Section 02
Opening and Setting Up Your Notebook
Step-by-step first-time setup. Complete this on kickoff day before writing any content.
🚀
Before your first entry: complete the setup steps below. A notebook that starts with the wrong name, missing front matter, or broken sharing is harder to fix later — and judges see every gap.

Step-by-Step: First Time Opening Your Notebook

1
Open Google Drive and find your team notebook
Go to drive.google.com. Look in Shared with me if you do not see it in My Drive. Search for your team number if needed. If it is not there, email [email protected] immediately.
2
Verify the name is correct
The file should be named [TeamNumber]-Notebook-2026-27. If it is not, do not rename it yourself — ask Mr. T first.
3
Add it to your Drive shortcuts
Right-click the file → Add shortcut to Drive. This puts it in your My Drive for fast access every session. Every team member should do this.
4
Check who has access
Click Share (top right). You should see all team members listed as Editor. Do not add anyone else or change permissions without asking Mr. T.
5
Complete the Cover Page (Slide 1)
Fill in: team number, team name, season name and year, school name, season start date. Leave the photo box as a placeholder until you have a team photo. Do not delete the placeholder.
6
Fill in the Team Roster slide
Add each member's name, grade, and role (Driver / Engineer / Strategist). Add one sentence per member explaining what notebook sections they own. Date this slide with today's date.
7
Confirm the Table of Contents is ready
Slide 2 should have the TOC table with four columns: Slide # | Entry Title | EDP Phase | Date. Do not fill in entries yet — you will update it as you work.
✅
Everything above should be done on kickoff day before writing any content entries. The setup takes about 15 minutes and prevents problems for the rest of the season.
🔬 Notebook Habit
Start with the Design Problem, Not the Robot
Before filling in any content beyond the Cover and Roster, your first real entry should define the problem your robot needs to solve. The template is structured so this comes first. This is intentional — the problem definition drives every design decision that follows. Teams that skip it and go straight to brainstorming end up with a notebook that looks like it was written backwards, because it was.
2 / 8
// Section 03
Keeping Entries Chronological
The rules for chronological order, date headers, and page numbers — and why version history matters.
📅
Judges read notebooks forward in time. A notebook that jumps around, has missing dates, or has entries that could have been written after the fact is a notebook judges trust less. Chronological discipline is not optional — it is part of the rubric.

The Chronological Rule

Every entry must be added in the order it happened. Do not go back and insert slides between existing entries. If you missed documenting something, add a catch-up entry at the current date that explains what happened earlier — do not backdate it or insert it out of order.

✅Add new entries at the end of the current section. Work forward through the template.
✅If you missed documenting a session, add a note today: “Catch-up entry for [date] — written [today's date] from notes taken at the time.”
❌Do not insert slides out of order. Google Slides version history shows exactly when each slide was added and edited. Judges and reviewers can see this.
❌Do not delete slides. If you make a mistake, use a strikethrough over the error or add a correction slide immediately after. Never remove content.

Adding Dates Consistently

Every entry slide must have a date. Use the entry header format on every slide:

Required header — top of every entry slide
📝 Written By:
[Student name]
👁️ Witnessed By:
[Teammate name]
📅 Date:
MM/DD/YYYY

Page Numbers in Google Slides

Google Slides does not add automatic slide numbers to content slides. Use one of these approaches:

Option A — Number text box (recommended)

Add a small text box in the bottom-right corner of every entry slide. Type the slide number manually (e.g., 14). Update the TOC to match these numbers.

Option B — Slide number via Insert menu

In Google Slides: Insert → Slide numbers. Choose to show numbers, set the starting number if needed. This adds numbers to all slides automatically. Note that divider slides will also get numbers.

🔬 Notebook Habit
Show How Designs Evolved Over Time
Chronological order is not just a rule — it is what makes the notebook tell a story. When a judge flips through, they should be able to see: problem defined, options explored, decision made, built, tested, result changed the design, repeat. A notebook that jumps to conclusions without showing the journey does not score Expert. Date discipline is what makes the evolution visible.
☐ Date and Chronology Checklist
  • ☐Every entry slide has Written By, Witnessed By, and Date in the header
  • ☐Entries appear in the order they happened — no slides inserted out of sequence
  • ☐No slides have been deleted (errors are struck through or noted, not removed)
  • ☐Every slide has a page number (text box or Insert → Slide numbers)
  • ☐Catch-up entries are labeled as such with both the original date and the date written
3 / 8
// Section 04
Maintaining the Table of Contents
The four-column TOC format, when to update it, and how to color-code EDP phases.
📜
The TOC is the judge's map. A judge with 8 minutes to review your notebook uses the TOC to navigate directly to your decision matrix, test data, and competition reflections. A TOC that is out of date or missing is a navigation failure that costs you time and points.

The TOC Format

Your Table of Contents slide uses a four-column table. Keep it on Slide 2 and update it every session.

Slide #Entry TitleEDP PhaseDate
1Cover Page—08/29
8■ Game OverviewIdentify Problem09/08
14■ Concept BrainstormBrainstorm09/19
18■ Drive Decision MatrixSelect Solution10/01
23■ Build Log — Drive v1Build & Program10/12

When to Update the TOC

✅
Color-code the EDP Phase column. Change the text color of the EDP Phase entry to match its phase color — green for Identify Problem, gold for Brainstorm, purple for Select Solution, etc. This lets a judge find any phase at a glance without reading every row.
☐ TOC Maintenance Checklist
  • ☐TOC is on Slide 2 — do not move it
  • ☐Every entry slide in the notebook appears in the TOC
  • ☐Slide numbers in the TOC match the actual slide numbers in the presentation
  • ☐EDP Phase column text is color-coded to match the phase colors
  • ☐Dates in the TOC match the dates on the actual entry slides
  • ☐TOC was updated at the end of the most recent session

Adding Pages Mid-Season

The template has 37 slides. Your finished notebook will have more — every build log entry, test protocol, and competition reflection is a duplicate of a template slide. When you add slides, two things break: page number footers and TOC slide numbers. Here is exactly what to do about each.

⚠
The #1 notebook maintenance mistake: adding slides and not updating the TOC or footers. Judges see a footer that says "22 / 37" on what is actually slide 34 and immediately know the notebook was not maintained. That is a trust signal — and it is negative.

Page Number Footers — Switch to Automatic

The template uses manually typed footers like 21 / 37. Every time you add a slide before an existing one, every footer after it is wrong. The fix is permanent and takes 2 minutes:

Step 1 — Turn on automatic slide numbers
In Google Slides: Insert → Slide numbers. Turn on slide numbers. Set “Start at” to 1. Click Apply to all. This replaces your manual footers with auto-updating numbers that never go wrong.
Step 2 — Delete the manual footer text boxes
The template slides have manual 21 / 37 text boxes in the bottom-right. Once you have automatic slide numbers on, find and delete those manual boxes so they don’t conflict. You can select-all on a slide (Ctrl+A) and look for the number text box.
Step 3 — Forget about it for the rest of the season
Automatic slide numbers update instantly when you add, delete, or reorder slides. You never touch them again. Do this on kickoff day — before you add any content slides.
⏱
Total slide count in the footer: Google Slides does not automatically show “X of Y” — just the slide number. If you want “21 / 54” format, you need to manually update the total whenever you add a significant batch of slides. Most high-scoring teams just use the plain slide number, which is simpler and judges accept it.

TOC Slide Numbers — What to Update and When

When you add a slide at position N, every TOC entry for slides N and above shifts by +1. That means you need to update those row numbers. Here is the workflow teams that keep clean notebooks follow:

After every session: add new rows first, then renumber
When you finish a session, go to the TOC slide and add a row for each new slide you created. Type the correct current slide number for it. If adding that slide pushed existing slides down, update those numbers too. Do this before you close the file — it takes 3 minutes and prevents a 40-minute audit before competition.
When inserting a slide mid-deck: only update affected rows
If you insert a slide at position 28, only TOC rows for slides 28 and higher need updating. Rows 1–27 are unaffected. Scroll to the insertion point in the TOC, increment each affected row’s slide number by +1, and add the new row in the right position.
Full audit before every competition
Do a complete TOC vs. slide-panel cross-check the day before each event. Open the slide panel (left side of Google Slides), count the actual slide positions, and verify every TOC number matches. This takes 10 minutes and is non-negotiable pre-competition maintenance.

TOC Rows — The Template Has Buffer Space

The updated template (v3) has 20 blank rows at the bottom of the TOC table as a buffer for entries added during the season. When you fill those, right-click any existing TOC row in Google Slides and choose Insert row below to add more. The blank rows are already formatted to match the existing entries.

✅
TOC overflow: If your notebook grows large enough that the TOC does not fit on one slide, add a “Table of Contents (continued)” slide immediately after the first TOC slide. Judges expect multi-page TOCs in well-documented notebooks. Update the Cover Page link to point to the first TOC slide.
4 / 8
// Section 05
Interactive TOC and Back-to-TOC Links
How to add clickable hyperlinks in the TOC and add Back-to-TOC buttons on every entry slide.
🔗
An interactive TOC turns your notebook into a fast-navigation document. Judges can click any entry in the TOC and jump directly to that slide. This is one of the highest-impact judge-friendliness improvements you can make — and it takes about 20 minutes to set up.

How to Create Clickable TOC Links

In Google Slides, you can link any text or shape to a specific slide. Here is the step-by-step process for making your TOC interactive:

1
Select the entry title text in the TOC
Click on the text in the Entry Title column that you want to make clickable. Highlight the text (triple-click to select the whole cell's text).
2
Open Insert → Link
In the menu bar: Insert → Link. Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+K (Windows) or Cmd+K (Mac).
3
Choose "Slides in this presentation"
In the link dialog, click Slides in this presentation. You will see a list of all slides. Select the slide that matches this TOC entry.
4
Click Apply
The text will now be underlined and clickable. In presentation mode (or when shared), clicking it jumps directly to that slide.
5
Repeat for every entry in the TOC
Work through every row. As you add new entries to the notebook across the season, add the link when you add the TOC row. Do not wait until the end of the season.
💡
Use the Slide Number column as the link anchor instead. If your entry titles are long, you can link the slide number in the first column rather than the full title. Either works — just be consistent.

Adding "Back to TOC" Links on Entry Slides

Each entry slide should have a small “Back to TOC” button in the bottom-left or top-right corner. This lets a judge jump back to the TOC after reading any entry.

1
Insert a shape on an entry slide
Insert → Shape → Rounded rectangle. Make it small: about 1.5 inches wide and 0.3 inches tall. Place it in the bottom-left or bottom-right corner, consistent across all slides.
2
Add the text "← TOC" or "Back to TOC"
Double-click the shape to add text. Use a small font (10–12pt). Color the shape background to match the slide's EDP phase color so it blends in visually.
3
Link the shape to Slide 2 (the TOC slide)
Click the shape (not the text). Insert → Link → Slides in this presentation → Slide 2 (Table of Contents). Apply. The entire shape is now clickable.
4
Copy it to every entry slide
Right-click the linked shape → Copy. Select all the entry slides in the slide panel (click first, Shift+click last). Right-click the selected slides → Paste. The back-to-TOC button is now on all of them at once.
✅
Set up the Back-to-TOC button once, then duplicate it across slides. Do not create it from scratch on each slide — that is 40+ separate steps and risks inconsistent positioning. Build it once, copy it to all slides at once.
🔬 Notebook Habit
Navigation Is Evidence of Organization
A well-navigated notebook tells judges that your team was organized throughout the season, not just at submission time. An interactive TOC with working links communicates that the notebook was built and maintained as a living document — which is exactly what the RECF rubric rewards.
5 / 8
// Section 07
Common Mistakes
The eight most common notebook problems and exactly how to fix each one before competition.
🔎
Most notebook problems are avoidable. These are the errors that judges see most often and that cost the most points. Read them before your first competition, not after.
📌All entries written the night before competition

Every entry appears in version history with a timestamp. A notebook where 80% of the entries were created in one editing session does not demonstrate a season-long engineering process.

Fix: Write entries the same day as the work. Even a 3-sentence entry written in real time is worth more than a polished entry written weeks later.
🡇Wrong person makes a separate copy

Someone cannot find the team notebook, so they start their own Google Slides file and work there. Now there are two notebooks. Neither is complete. Neither is the official record.

Fix: If you cannot find your notebook, email [email protected] before doing anything else. Do not start a new file.
🚫TOC not updated after adding entries

The notebook has 45 slides but the TOC only references 20. A judge looking for the decision matrix cannot find it and assumes it does not exist.

Fix: Add a TOC row every time you add a new entry slide. Make it a habit at the end of each session, not a catch-up task before competition.
✍️One person writes all entries

Every “Written By” field shows the same name. Judges assume the other team members do not understand the work. They will direct interview questions at the members who have no entries.

Fix: Assign notebook sections to each role. The Engineer writes build and test entries. The Strategist writes game analysis and decision entries. The Driver writes testing and match reflection entries.
📷Photos without explanation

A slide with a robot photo and a date but no written explanation of what it shows does not score rubric points. Judges cannot read your mind from a photo.

Fix: Every photo must be accompanied by at least one sentence explaining what it shows, why it matters, and what changed because of it.
⚖Decision matrix without the conclusion

The matrix table is filled in with scores — but there is no written paragraph explaining why the winning option was chosen and what the team gave up by not choosing the others.

Fix: After every decision matrix, write 2–3 sentences: 'Option B scored highest because... We accepted the tradeoff that... This decision led to...'
📥Sharing settings changed without permission

A team member makes the notebook 'Anyone with the link can edit' so a friend can help. Now an unauthorized person has edit access to the official team record.

Fix: Never change sharing settings without Mr. T's explicit instruction. Email [email protected] if you think a change needs to be made.
👀Template prompts left in the finished notebook

Placeholder text like '[Write your problem statement here]' appears in slides submitted to judges.

Fix: Before every competition, do a full read-through and replace or delete every placeholder prompt. The template is scaffolding — it should not be visible in the submitted notebook.
🔬 Notebook Habit
Show Previous Ideas, Not Just the Winning One
One of the most common rubric weaknesses is a notebook that only shows the robot that was built. Expert notebooks show the path: here are the three ideas we considered, here is what research told us about each, here is the decision matrix, here is why we chose this one and what we gave up. Judges are specifically looking for this. If your brainstorm section only has the chosen design, add the rejected alternatives before the next competition.
7 / 8
// Section 06
Judge-Friendly Navigation and Submission
The complete navigation system, the slide panel structure check, and how to submit for remote judging.
🏆
A judge has 5–8 minutes and 40–80 slides. The notebook that is easiest to navigate gets the most thorough review. Every navigation feature you add is a gift to the judge — and a point in your favor.

The Full Navigation System

TOC
Interactive Table of Contents (Slide 2)

Four columns. Color-coded EDP Phase. Every entry hyperlinked. Updated after every session.

DIV
Section Divider Slides

Full-width color slide marking each EDP phase and each new iteration. Makes section starts visible without reading.

HDR
Entry Headers

Written By / Witnessed By / Date on every entry slide. Colored left border or background matching the EDP phase.

BTN
Back-to-TOC Button

Small linked shape on every entry slide. Consistent position. Links to Slide 2.

PG#
Page Numbers

Bottom-right corner of every entry slide. Matches TOC slide numbers exactly.

Using the Slide Panel for Structure Checks

Before every competition, do a visual scan of the slide panel (the thumbnail column on the left in Google Slides). You should see a clear pattern:

Submitting for Remote Judging

If your event uses remote judging (digital submission), follow these steps:

  1. Export as PDF: File → Download → PDF document (.pdf). Rename the file to match your notebook name format: [TeamNumber]-Notebook-2026-27.pdf
  2. Test the PDF before submission: Open the PDF and confirm hyperlinks still work. Some PDF viewers preserve Slides links; some do not. If links break, submit the Google Slides sharing link instead.
  3. Sharing link check: Before sending any link, open it in an incognito window to verify it loads as “Viewer” without requiring sign-in.
  4. Do not make last-minute edits after submitting. Google Slides tracks version history. Edits after submission are visible to judges.
🔬 Notebook Habit
Project-Tracking Evidence Belongs in the Notebook
Strong notebooks include more than just design entries. They also show that the team managed their project. This includes: goals set at the start of the season, a timeline or Gantt-style planning slide, ownership of tasks, and a record of what was planned vs what actually happened. The template has an Appendix section for this. Use it. Judges use it to assess whether the team functioned as an engineering team, not just a building team.
6 / 8
This site is an informational reference. RECF EN4 prohibits AI-generated content in engineering notebooks and programming code. Rewrite everything in your own words. About EN4 →  ·  References & Sources →
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