0dyssey of the Mind
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Students are encouraged to think creatively and imaginatively to
solve problems.
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Students are free to express their ideas and suggestions without
fear of criticism.
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Students learn to work together and develop team building skills.
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Team members work together at length to solve a predefined
problem (the Long term problem); and present their solution to
the problem at a competition.
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They must also generate spontaneous solutions to a problem they
have not seen before; this is the spontaneous problem at
the competition.
Divisions
• Primary Division for students in K-2. Primary teams do not
actually compete against each other. They simply perform for
the judges and participate in the program.
• Division I for students in grades 3-5.
• Division II for students grades 6-8.
• Division III for students grades 9-12.
• Division IV for students for college level.
Long Term Problems
• Vehicle: involves building vehicles of different sizes that must
perform specified tasks.
• Technical: involves building “innovative contraptions”.
• Classics: incorporates knowledge of architecture, art, and
literature.
• Structure: requires the designing and building of a structure
using only balsa wood and glue, and competing to see which
structure can hold the most weight.
• Performance: requires the team to act, sing, and dance based
on a given theme.
Long Term Problems
• For each Long-Term problem, every team can have a maximum of
seven members.
• Every team gives a eight minute performance which includes set up
and take down of the props.
• The total cost of all materials in a solution must either be under
$125 or $145, depending on the problem.
• Each of these solutions to the problem requires participants to push
their thinking capacities as they decide how best to utilize their
skills, time, and money.
• A new problem for each category is presented every year.
Spontaneous Problems
• As the name suggests, teams do not know ahead of time the
topic they are to compete in. Upon competition, individual
teams will enter a room of judges and will be presented with
one of three problem types: Verbal, Hands-on, or Mixed.
Verbal Spontaneous Problem
• In Verbal problems, teams are usually given a minute to think
and then two to three minutes to respond to a theme such as
“make a rhyme using a name or species of an animal".
• Teams will then be graded based on the creativity of their
individual responses.
• For instance, “there is a dog on a log” is a common answer
which would earn the team one point, while “I can step on an
ant, but an uncle I can’t” involves word play, a creative
response that is worth 3 or 5 points.
• Verbal problems encourage individuals to incorporate their
knowledge of history, science, literature, and popular culture.
Hands On Spontaneous Problem
• Hands-on problems focus on teamwork and the ability to
listen to complicated directions.
• Teams will usually be instructed to build something based on
the limited materials given, such as a freestanding tower using
a few sheets of paper, some paper clips, a pair of scissors, and
a piece of tape.
• At the end of the day, the team with the tallest tower and the
best teamwork would earn the most points.
• The directions often include a loophole that, if discovered,
could place a team far ahead the others.
• It should be noted that in OM, if the rules do not say that
something cannot be done, then it can; in other words,
participants are encouraged to search for loopholes whenever
possible.
Verbal Hands-on Spontaneous
• A mixed, or verbal hands-on problem is typically a hands-on
problem, followed by verbal response.
• For example, tell a story about the tower that you built.
Style
• Style is a component of long-term problem where teams are
judged on specific elements of their skit.
• The pre-specified elements are related to the problem in
some way; they are typically something to do with the
appearance of a vehicle, costume, or prop.
Time Commitment
• Teams usually meet once or twice a week either after school,
in the early evenings or on Saturday or Sunday.
• Meeting will be 1 to 2 hours in length.
• Many coaches will work around your student’s schedule until
December, but from January to March, your total commitment
is required.
• Keep in mind, that this program can not run without coaches!
• All team members must have their parent volunteer to help
their child’s OM team.
Fundraising and Costs