Gotham Tech · Revised plan v2 · Days 12–16

Season 1 in Season 2's place

This is the go-forward plan starting Day 12. Day 11 didn't run as planned, so Day 12 resets to the essentials: finish Skills Arena, get the match code + launch sequence onto every bot, and run the first real matches in the afternoon. Days 13–16 are unchanged — they still carry the win-equation and percent-change lessons, so almost none of the math is lost. What changed is the competition wrapper, not the learning.

Two anchors that cannot move. Day 15 (Wed Jul 29) — Post-Task Diagnostic + Post-Reflection, the program's research data. Day 16 (Thu Jul 30) — Community Exhibition, external guests. Everything else flexes around these two.

The one substitution that saves percent change. Percent change was built on Season 1 → Season 2 allocations. Instead, teams get a single reallocation window on Day 13 — one stat change after seeing Match Day 1 results. That one move buys a real before/after for percent change, keeps the revise-and-retest loop, and gives residuals something to explain.

All times assume the standard 10:00 AM start with a 60-minute lunch.

Day 12 Skills Arena → Launch Sequence → Match Day 1 Thu · Jul 23

Finish the bots, load the match code with its launch sequence, then run the first real matches. No new lesson today — the goal is simply to get every team competing.

Time	Block	What happens
10:00 – 11:00	Skills Arena	Finish calibration: team stats on lines 55–58, find `deadStraight()`, tune `startupMs` then `unitMs`. Success = every team's bot drives a clean square. A bot that isn't driving cleanly can't compete this afternoon — triage those first. How to Run Skills Arena →
11:00 – 12:00	★ Upload + modify the match code (launch sequence from Day 5)	Their bots are still running Skills Arena code — they cannot play a match until it's swapped for the match build. Open the launch-sequence starter in MakeCode, enter the team's locked stats, Download, then modify and tune the launch sequence. Starter Code with Launch Sequence — MakeCode → How to modify the launch sequence — student guide → 10 Launch Sequence Strategies — reference → A bot that launches badly loses the round before it starts — let teams keep tuning right up to the first match.
12:00 – 1:00	Lunch	Protected.
1:00 – 2:20	Afternoon — MATCH DAY 1	The first real matches. Predict before each round, play, record goals + W/L immediately, run loss recovery between rounds. Rounds, pairings, refs, and how to enter the data are all on the schedule sheet — follow it start to finish. Match schedule + dashboard entry →
2:20 – 2:35	ENDS	Exit ticket: prediction, result, gap, one hypothesis for the gap. "Name one math concept you used today. Write the full calculation. Share it with your teammate and explain what it means for your bot's behavior. Not formula terms. Bot terms. You have 4 minutes."
Materials	Match schedule + dashboard → · Prediction Sheet · Match Data Log · Live Event Log · Postmatch Update Sheet

If matches can't run today, jump to Plan B at the bottom of this sheet. Don't lose the day waiting on bots.

Day 13 Win Equation + Match Day 2 Mon · Jul 27

Time	Block	What happens
10:00 – 10:15	Hook	Rivalry warm-up — read the leaderboard aloud, teams name the one team they want to beat.
10:15 – 11:05	Build the win equation	Class scatter plot from Day 12's real results (Speed on x, Goals on y). Pick two points → slope → solve `b` → `Goals = m·Speed + b`. Every team's equation differs — that's the point.
11:05 – 11:25	★ Reallocation window	One change only. Record the before and after values — this is the data percent change runs on tomorrow. Teams must justify the change with a number from Day 12.
11:25 – 12:25	Lunch
12:25 – 1:55	MATCH DAY 2 — 3 rounds	Predictions now come from the equation, not instinct. Don't start until every team can state its prediction source.
1:55 – 2:20	Rivalry Cards	One card per team. Every claim must cite a specific stat or dashboard number. No data, no card. Post on the wall. (Submission artifact.)
2:20 – 2:35	ENDS	"Each person rates today's team collaboration 1–3. Hold up your number at the same time. If anyone holds up a 1, talk for exactly 2 minutes about what happened. You have 5 minutes total."
Materials	Building & Solving Linear Equations → · Practice dataset (no match data) → · Equation worksheet · Prediction Sheet · Live Event Log · Postmatch Update Sheet

No match data yet? If Day 12's matches didn't run, the win-equation lesson still works — build it on the ready-made practice dataset (8 bots, 4 match days), then do it again with real bots once matches happen.

Day 14 Residuals + Percent Change + Match Day 3 Tue · Jul 28

Time	Block	What happens
10:00 – 10:15	Hook	Prediction market — each team posts a public number: wins in today's final round.
10:15 – 11:05	Residuals + percent change	Residual = predicted − actual for each match so far; is the model improving? Then percent change `(new − old) / old × 100` on yesterday's reallocation. Key idea: a 50% stat change does not mean 50% more wins.
11:05 – 12:05	Lunch
12:05 – 1:35	MATCH DAY 3 — 3 rounds	Predict, play, record. Any gap over 20% gets a written sentence naming the input the model got wrong.
1:35 – 2:15	Dashboard + Four Views	Complete every panel. Four Views is the most-skipped one — graph Match # vs Cumulative Goals and read the slope. (Submission artifact.)
2:15 – 2:30	ENDS	Read the standings going into the championship. "Write: 'The skill I used today was [name it specifically] and I will use it tomorrow by [name the exact moment and exact action in tomorrow's schedule].' You have 3 minutes."
Materials	Percent Change lesson → · Analysis Block (residuals) → · Prediction Sheet · Postmatch Update Sheet · Dashboard (Four Views) →

Day 15 Championship + Assessments — anchors, do not move Wed · Jul 29

Time	Block	What happens
10:00 – 10:25	Bot Lore Gallery Walk	Re-read every bot origin story; add one sentence that only makes sense because you competed.
10:25 – 11:10	Teach the Math	Each student picks one formula, uses their real numbers, explains it in plain language. Exit ticket: index card. (Submission artifact.)
11:10 – 12:10	Lunch
12:10 – 1:40	★ CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL	Bracket or final round-robin. Prediction ritual before every match. Crown a champion — the season needs a real ending before Thursday's guests arrive.
1:40 – 1:55	Post-Task Diagnostic	Non-negotiable. Individual, 12-min timer. Read the "comparing you to yourself four weeks ago" framing.
1:55 – 2:05	Post-Reflection Survey	Non-negotiable. Same sitting. Confirm site + name so it matches the Day 1 pre-reflection.
2:05 – 2:35	Exhibition prep	Station setup, rehearse the three visitor challenges on a teammate.
2:35 – 2:45	ENDS	"What will you tell someone tomorrow at the Exhibition about what you learned? You have 5 minutes."
Materials	Teach the Math lesson → · Teach the Math worksheet · Post-Task Diagnostic → · Post-Reflection Survey →

If the day runs long, cut Exhibition prep — never the diagnostic or the reflection. Those two are the pilot's before/after measurement; a missing post-task makes a student's whole Day 1 baseline unusable.

Day 16 Community Exhibition — unchanged Thu · Jul 30

Time	Block	What happens
10:00 – 10:40	Expert Setup	Stations: scouting notes, bot, coordinate grid, dashboard. Rehearse the three visitor challenges.
10:40 – 11:50	Community Exhibition	Visitors do all three challenges at one team's station; that team signs their card. Fill the Visitor Completion Tracker from the cards. (Submission artifact.)
11:50 – 12:10	Snack
12:10 – 12:30	Walk the Wall	Silent gallery of four weeks of artifacts. Don't narrate.
12:30 – 1:30	Awards Ceremony	Every award announced with its data criterion and the calculation. Best Teacher award for the clearest explanation, not the most wins.
1:30 – 1:50	Final journal + ENDS	"What did you learn about yourself as a problem solver? Name one specific moment from this program where you solved something you thought you could not. What did you do differently than you would have done before camp? You have 5 minutes."
Materials	Visitor Challenge Cards + Completion Tracker → · NY Submission Checklist →

Dropped What we're giving up, and what covers it

Commissioner's Meeting + Rule Proposals — the real loss: formal data-backed argument and presentation. Partly covered by Rivalry Cards (every claim cites a number) and the Exhibition (explaining with numbers to strangers).
Underdog Mechanic — needs a finished season with a clear last place. Drop it; the facilitator notes already say to skip it when there isn't one.
Season 2 entirely — one season instead of two. With three match days plus a championship, the predict → run → gap → recover loop still runs four or more times, which is enough for the residual work to be honest.

For the end-of-pilot submission: Gotham will not produce a Rule Proposals artifact. Mark that line N/A for Gotham so it isn't chased at the end.

Plan B If matches still can't run Thursday Day 12 · Jul 23

Decide by 12:00 PM. If bots aren't reliably driving a straight square and loaded with the match code by the end of the morning, switch — don't spend the afternoon troubleshooting and end the day with no data.

Run a Skills Ladder instead of head-to-head matches

Teams take turns running a scored course, one bot on the mat at a time. This is dramatically more robust than matches: no opponent to coordinate, no ball chaos, and teams can share working bots if only some are flashed.

The course: Skills Arena Challenge 1 (Dead Straight), 3 (Straight Shot), 5 (Corner Kick Right). Three attempts per team.
Scoring: 1 point per challenge completed cleanly, +1 bonus if the ball ends in the goal zone. Max 6 per attempt. Call these "goals" — the vocabulary should match the real season.
Keep every ritual intact: predict your score before each attempt → run → record actual → gap sentence → loss recovery for any team that scored below its prediction.
Post a leaderboard exactly as you would for matches, with Best Prediction named alongside top score.

Why this protects the rest of the week: the Skills Ladder produces the same shape of data as a match log — predicted, actual, error, per team. So Day 13's win equation just becomes Speed vs. Skills Score instead of Speed vs. Goals, and Day 14's residuals and percent change work untouched. Nothing downstream has to change.

If you get bots working later in the week

Switch to real matches on Day 13 or 14 — just label each row in the dashboard as skills or match so the two data sources stay distinguishable. Mixing is fine; unlabeled mixing is not.

If almost nothing is driving

Run the ladder with two shared bots on a rotation and have waiting teams act as scorers and timekeepers — being the official is real work, and it keeps the prediction ritual alive. A short day of real data beats a full day of troubleshooting.

Velocity Arena · NYC FIRST — Gotham Tech revised plan v2, Days 12–16. Companion sheet: Match schedule + dashboard entry.