WELCOME TO
ODYSSEY OF THE MIND!
1. What is Odyssey of the Mind?
2. Time Commitment
OM is like doing a sport!
Your TEAM depends on YOU!!!
Calendar ~ October through mid-March
Meetings ~ Early Out Mondays (alternates club/team) in Rm 612
Regional Competition ~ Sat., March 3, 2012~Palm Springs HS
State Competition ~ Sat., March 31, 2012~Northern CA
Application Packet~ Return to Mrs. Counts by Wed., Oct. 5
~ Student & parent signatures required
~ Extra copies available in Student Services Office
3. The 3 parts of a Problem ~ Long Term, Style, Spontaneous
4. Parents Needed!
Teams will be formed around parent coaches
Coaching, support at home, family commitment
But NO OUTSIDE ASSISTANCE
Coaches’ Training Saturday, November 5, 9am-3pm
5. Fees & Fundraisers~TMS $30 Club Fee due by Nov. 14 Meeting
T-Shirt Sales (Club Fee includes one free t-shirt)
Parent/Corporate Sponsors
6. Spontaneous Demo & Practice
ALL MONDAY MEETINGS BEGIN AT 1:55 & END PROMPTLY AT 2:55
PICK UP AT FLAG POLE
January-March: Wednesday Meetings 3:15 to 4:15
Please Note: Office Closes at 4:00
QUESTIONS???
CONTACT MRS. YOUENS 677-0628 or 970-2742
omconstance@gmail.com
MORE INFORMATION:
www.odysseyofthemind.com
www.calomer.org
www.facebook.com/MurrietaOM
Odyssey of the Mind
2011-2012 Calendar
THOMPSON MID SCH 20971
1:55-2:55pm (Room 612)
MONTHY GOALS
Work on Spont at All Meetings
SEPTEMBER
Monday - 26th
By Wed, Oct. 5
Student/Parent Kick-off Meeting
Turn in OM Contract to Mrs. Counts
Orientation Meeting
Form Teams
OCTOBER
Wed, Oct 5th
Monday - 10th
Monday - 17th
Monday - 24th
Monday - 31st
OM Contract Packet DUE
All-Group Meeting
Team Meetings
All-Group Meeting
Team Meetings
Team Building Exercises
Read the Problem, more than once
Research the Topic
Brainstorm & Chart Solutions
Choose a Theme
NOVEMBER
Saturday - 5th
Monday - 7th
Monday - 14th
Thanksgiving Break!
Monday - 28th
COACHES TRAINING
Team Meetings
All-Group Meeting
(optional team meetings)
Team Meetings
Frame up story, refer to the problem
Start writing the script
Start building/experimenting with
technical aspects
Start planning scenery & props
Document team process w/photos, etc
All-Group Meeting
Team Meetings
(team meetings highly
encouraged during break)
Finish the script
Practice & revise the script &
recheck against the problem
Set up meetings over break to build
scenery, props, vehicles,etc!!!
3:15-4:15pm (Room 612)
Start putting together Team Album
JANUARY
Wednesday - 11th
Monday - 16th
Wednesday - 18th
Monday - 23rd
Wednesday - 25th
Monday - 30th
Team Meetings
(optional team meetings)
All-Group Meeting
Team Meetings
Team Meetings
Team Meetings
Memorize lines
Design & make costumes
Finish technical aspects
Finish scenery & props
Practice with all of the above
FEBRUARY
Wednesday - 1st
Monday - 6th
Wednesday - 8th
Monday - 13th
Wednesday - 15th
Monday - 20th
Wednesday – 22nd
Monday - 27th
Wednesday - 29th
SPONT WORKSHOP
Team Meetings
Team Meetings
(optional team meetings)
All-Group Meeting
(optional team meetings)
Team Meetings
Team Meetings
All-Group Meeting
Reread the Problem~are all required
items included in your solution?
Continue to practice & refine
Invite Feedback
Prepare FORMS
MARCH
Saturday, March 3
To Be Announced
OM TOURNAMENT, Palm Springs
Wrap-up Meeting (Party!)
Arrive Early & HAVE FUN!!!
Bring stories & visuals to share!
DECEMBER
Monday - 5th
Monday - 12th
Winter Break!
TOURNAMENTS:
Saturday, March 3rd
Saturday, March 31st
May 23-26, 2012
For the Tournament: Team Album
Folder w/All Forms + Extra Copies
Emergency Repair Kit
INLAND EMPIRE REGIONAL TOURNAMENT IN PALM SPRINGS!!!
CALIFORNIA STATE FINALS TOURNAMENT IN NORTHERN CALIF!!!
OM WORLD FINALS @ IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY IN AMES, IOWA!!!
What Are the Three Components of
Odyssey of the Mind?
At an OM competition, teams are judged in three distinct areas:
 The Long-Term Problem
 Style
 The Spontaneous Problem
The Long Term Problem (200 points)
Every year, the OM organization publishes five competitive Long-Term Problems. Some
problems are “dramatic” in nature, focusing on a literary topic, for example, with the
performance generally in the form of a skit. Other problems are “technical” in nature,
involving the creating of one or more devices that accomplish certain tasks. Other
problems combine both areas, requiring some technical component in a skit. All
problems are open-ended enough that an unlimited number of interpretations are
possible. The Long-Term problems are prepared by the team in advance of the meet,
and usually three to five months are spent developing these solutions. (Example: Build
a vehicle powered by a jack that will maneuver an obstacle course.)
Style (50 points)
Odyssey of the Mind Long-Term Problem solutions require creative problem solving.
The Odyssey of the Mind program rewards teams for elaborating their Long-Term
Problem solutions since elaboration requires additional creativity. OM calls this
elaboration Style. Confused? Think of it like the icing on the cake: If the Long-Term
Problem is the cake itself, then Style is the way the cake is decorated, so to speak. All
teams that solve a given problem have met the requirements of the problem – the cake.
But all teams have “decorated their cake” in unique ways – they all have created special
aspects of their solutions that were not required – and that is their Style. Up to 50 points
can be rewarded to teams for these special features. (Example: A team is required to do a
skit about the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The team creates the required skit,
but elaborates on it by making it an opera, complete with subtitles – that is Style.)
The Spontaneous Problem (100 points)
Each OM team entering a meet must also solve a Spontaneous Problem. One of the purposes of
spontaneous competition is to see how well the team members react to new situations. Spontaneous
Problems take one of three forms: Verbal, in which team members generate as many creative verbal
answers as they can in a short time period; Hands-On, in which a physical or technical problem must be
solved in a short period of team; and a combination of the two, Hands-On Verbal, in which a physical
object is manipulated in turns by the team members as they generate creative verbal answers. All
Spontaneous Problems require teamwork and points are often awarded for this, regardless of the success
of the team’s solution/answers. Team members will not know the content of the Spontaneous Problem
until the judge presents the problem to them. Teams competing against each other are required to solve
the same Spontaneous Problem. Team members are not allowed to discuss the problem they were given
until the end of the tournament. (Example: This is a verbal problem. There is a brown paper bag on the
table. Your problem is to say what the bag may be used for. You have one minute to think and two
minutes to respond.)
2011-12 Long-Term Problem Synopses*
*Tentative as of April 15, 2011. All problems have an 8-minute time limit.
Problem 1 Ooh-Motional Vehicle
The problem requires teams to design, build, and drive a vehicle that will travel a course where it will encounter
three different situations. The vehicle will display a different human emotion for each encounter and one will
cause it to travel in reverse. The team will create a theme for the presentation that incorporates the vehicle and
the different emotions. The emphases will be on the technical risk-taking and creativity of the vehicle’s
engineering for travel, and change of emotional appearance.
Divisions: I, II & III
Problem 2: Weird Science
The team will create and present a performance about a team of scientists on an expedition to uncover the cause
of mysterious events. The team will select the location of the expedition from NASA Earth Observatory
Photographs to be posted at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/odysseyofthemind/event_selector.php. The
scientists will collect two samples and will report on their findings. The performance will also include a technical
representation of the mysterious events, a moving backdrop that helps portray traveling, and a team-created
device that the scientists use on the expedition.
Sponsored by NASA.
Divisions: I, II, III & IV
Problem 3: Classics . . . To Be or Not To Be
In this Classics problem, teams will put a musical theatre spin on one of William Shakespeare’s most famous
lines: “To Be Or Not To Be.” Hamlet, the title character, ponders this question and realizes that the easy way out
is not always the correct choice. An original “Hamlet” character will face a team-created dilemma. Unlike
Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the team’s character will take the easy way out only to discover that it was the wrong
choice. Teams will also incorporate a character that portrays Hamlet’s conscience, a creative scene change, a
creative costume change, and use of a “trap door.” A portion of the performance will include musical theatre
elements.
Divisions: I, II, III & IV
Problem 4: You Make the Call
For this problem, teams will design and build a structure made of only balsa wood and glue that will balance and
support as much weight as possible. The structure may have a maximum weight of 9 grams and will receive 2
times the weight held, or 12 grams and receive 1 ½ times the weight held, or 15 grams and receive the actual
weight held. The testing of the structure will be presented in a performance that includes mathematics in its
theme.
Divisions: I, II, III & IV
Problem 5: Odyssey Angels
The team will create and present a performance where a group of students travel throughout one or more teamcreated places where they encounter negative situations. These “Odyssey Angels” change what they find and
turn them into positive situations. On their journey, they help two individuals with different problems and help
save an entire community from a bad situation. One Odyssey Angel cannot speak, and another has a special
team-created power.
Divisions: I, II, III & IV
Primary Problem: Hide and Peek
The team is to create a device that uncovers three surprise objects by lifting a team-decorated container off of
each of them from 5, 8, and 10 feet away. The containers may be raised at any time, in any order, and may be
raised simultaneously. The demonstration of the solution will be presented during a performance that integrates
raising the containers and the surprise objects in its theme. There will be a narrator character and a setting.
Grades K-2
© all problems copyright Creative Competitions, Inc. — 2011