A Physics match has a strictly defined format. In the New Zealand National Tournament there are two parts to each match with teams taking turns to report on and oppose problems. This means asking one team member, supported by their team, to take on the role of reporter or of the opponent. Fights are watched and scored by a jury of five or six jurors.
The job of the reporter
Your job is to write a PowerPoint presentation BEFORE the tournament to which you speak to for a maximum time of 12 minutes, including demonstrations / videos / simulations, which :
- explains what the problem was
- say what you did to investigate the problem and get precise and reliable data. How did you experiments change as you learnt more about the problem?
- describes difficulties you encountered and how you overcame them
- describes, using the physics theory you know and have found about in your research, how the problem can be explained.
- acknowledge those who helped you, both people and sources of information.
- in addition to the presentation you need to correctly answer questions that arise from your report that are put to you by the other teams and the judges.
The job of the opponent
Your job as an opponent is to show how well the reporter has researched, understands and explains the problem, by:
- asking for clarification of points they may have missed out
- giving credit to the reporter for things they have done well experimentally and/or theoretically. NOT giving this credit looses the opponent marks./
- making sure the solution offered by the reporter considers all of the relevant variables
- pointing out any errors in the report and giving the reporter the opportunity to correct their assertions (or dispute your claims)
- discussing the report presented to you by the reporter and NOT bringing in your research findings as if was the answer.
- In addition you need to be able to correctly answer questions that arise from the report by the judges.
Timings for the Physics Match
Each half of the Physics match follows tightly defined timings. Ideally there is no break between the two halves so even after introductions etc, the entire match will be completed inside of two hours.
IYPT differences
Internationally, Physics Matches are called Physics Fights and the take place between three teams. The third team must review the performances of the reporter and the opposer. Again the team selects one team member to be the reviewer in the match
In IYPT ONLY – The job of the reviewer
The reviewer must develop a presentation that
- gives a balanced evaluation of the problem as presented by the reporter
- gives a balanced evaluation of the relevance and quality of the points raised by the opponent
- state whether you agree with the Physics proposed by the reporter and the opponent as it relates to the problem.
- In addition you need to be able to correctly answer questions that arise that are put to you by the judges.