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