What is Odyssey of the Mind? Is Odyssey a good activity for my - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

What is Odyssey of the Mind? Is Odyssey a good activity for my child?

Creativity can be taught! “By tapping into creativity, and through encouraging imaginative paths to problem-solving, students develop skills that will provide them with the ability to solve problems – great and small – to last a lifetime.” Odyssey of the Mind

Odyssey of the Mind Odyssey of the Mind Program Guide

The Basics  Teams of five to seven students (K-12) work together under the guidance of adult coaches to solve one of six new problems presented every year.  Teams compete in one of four divisions:  Primary (K-2)  Division I- grades 3-5  Division II – grades 6-8  Division III – grades 9 - 12  Student teams from 38 States and over 15 countries work on these problems starting in October, culminating in a State Tournament in March where they compete in their division. Winning teams advance to the World Finals in May.  The students do all of the work: every idea, every word in the script, every prop, device and contraption must come from the team of students!

The Competition The competition consists of three parts, each contributing points to the final score: The Long Term Spontaneous Problem 100 Points 200 Points Style 50 Points

The Long Term Problems Problem Type Description Problem I: Teams design, build and operate one or more vehicles. Sometimes they’re small, other times they’re big enough to ride on and transport Vehicle other items. Generally the vehicles are scored on their propulsion system, and for traveling and completing different tasks. Problem 2: Teams are scored for performance elements as well as for some type Technical of technical achievement. Usually, this problem requires the team to create one or more devices that perform certain functions or tasks. This is a performance problem based on something “classical.” It could Problem 3: Classics involve mythology, art, music, archaeology, or anything else that is classical in nature. Problem 4: Teams design and build a structure out of only balsa wood and glue. Structure They test the structure by adding Olympic-size weights until it breaks. Problem 5: This is strictly a performance problem, where scoring is based mostly Performance on the performance and elements within the performance. It sometimes requires a specific character, sometimes humor, sometimes an original story, but it’s always fun! Odyssey of the Mind Program Guide

The Long Term Problems Technical Problems In the technical problems (Problems 1, 2 & 4) teams must design and create a vehicle, a structure or other device, -- this robot was designed and built by a team from China : As another example, in the balsa problem, the team might have to design and build a structure (as shown below) that is only 8 inches tall, weighs no more than 18 grams (the weight of 3 nickels), out of only balsa wood and glue. The structure will be tested at the competition by how much weight it holds!  ~350 lbs!

The Long Term Problems The Performance Problems  Problems 3 and 5 - Classics and Performance.  These problems also have required elements. For instance, a special character, or humor or musical theater, or involve a piece of art work from a given list, or take place in a certain place and time.

Where do we get materials? Most teams use everyday materials they find at home, or even from the trash or recycling bin! Each problem has its own cost limit so that teams learn to work within a budget. Mrs. Potato Head, here, is made completely from objects commonly found in the home. She costs only a few dollars to make - the rest is imagination! This “mouse pad” was fashioned from discarded mice, each with its own personality

Style  The Style portion of the competition gives teams an opportunity to further showcase their talents and creative skills and to elaborate on their long-term problem solution.  Each problem has its own required Style elements, as well as Free Choice Style categories that are determined by the team.  These provide incentive for creativity in different areas because teams can choose the elements they want scored. Style score is in addition to the long-term problem score. ~ Odyssey of the Mind, Program Guide

Three types of Spontaneous • The team is asked to improvise Verbal verbally • The team is asked to solve a physical Hands-on problem – by building something, or manipulating materials Verbal- • A combination problem, with physical objects & verbal improvisation Hands-on Spontaneous examples from Program Guide, and from Northeast Pennsylvania Odyssey of the Mind .

• The team is asked to Verbal improvise verbally Name things that are blue. Go beyond the concrete, ‘my hat’, ‘the sky’, to more creative responses, such as ‘the wind blew ’ or ‘I feel blue ’ or maybe ‘ blue berries.’ Name an animal and a task that you could use that animal to do. Avoid an obvious match between task and animal, and consider unexpected combinations or animal puns: “Use moose to style my hair”; “Use a bat to hit home runs”; Have a mosquito bug my friends”

Hands- • The team is asked to solve a physical problem – by building on something, or manipulating materials Build the tallest tower using only straws, paper clips, rubber bands, toothpicks and marshmallows! Move a cup of water across a 6 ft. by 10 ft. area without spilling any water using only a yard stick, 2-6 in. pieces of yarn, 4 paper clips, 1 sheet of typing paper, 2 rubber bands.

Verbal- • A combination problem, with physical objects & verbal improvisation Hands-on Your problem is to pick up the object and say something about how the object could be used, or improvise with it. Each team member gets a lump of clay. They have two minutes to make anything about which they may tell a story. The first member starts the story and the second member adds to it using his or her clay creation as a prop.

Volunteers  Connecticut Odyssey of the Mind is an all volunteer organization.  All of our Judges, Coaches, even our Board Members donate their time so that the students of Connecticut can benefit from this unique program.  Parents, teachers and other community members come forward to help make this happen!

Coaches  Most of our coaches are parents who want their child to be part of this exciting program. But coaches can be teachers and grandparents. Each team provides their own coach.  We encourage new coaches to have a co-coach, which will make the first year easier for everyone. Coaches must be at least 18 years old.  COACH TRAINING - New coaches are required to attend! Two identical sessions are offered in November and in January. There are many materials available through CCI (www.odysseyofthemind) and CTOM (www.ctom.org)  We are also available to help you during the year, whenever you need it! ( AssnDir@ctom.org )

Judges and Volunteers Since we are an all volunteer organization each team must provide: A Judge – a 2 day commitment • Attend a day of judge training (in late February, early March) • Serve as a judge for the tournament in March. (Keep in mind, the judge will not be able to watch the performances- so if this is important to your Judge, pick someone else! But students love to point out to others that their mom or dad is a JUDGE!) A Volunteer – a half a day commitment • Work at the tournament for a 4 hour shift (no training necessary). Assignments include runners, door monitors, parking monitors. Volunteer can watch his or her student’s performance.

Costs and Registration We work hard to keep costs down so that as many students can participate as possible. Odyssey of the Mind is extremely affordable when compared to other activities available to students. 1. REGISTER for a CCI membership (National level) — Odyssey of the Mind is administered by Creative Competitions Inc. (CCI). Your local organization (school, youth group, church, etc) usually pays for this (Cost is $135.00 per membership, not per team) 2. REGISTER with Connecticut Odyssey of the Mind (CTOM) – Competition day. Cost is $225.00 to register and $275 if registered after the deadline. * 3. Each problem has an affordable price limit ranging from $125 to $145 per entry. 4. * See www.ctom.org for all details, and links to registration forms.

Costs: The Long Term Problem Each problem has a cost limit that the team must keep recorded for competition. This levels the playing field so that all teams spend the same amount of money on their solution, usually between $125 - $145. For many items, teams can use the tag sale price for things that are commonly available. READ! the Program Guide for a specific list of items exempted from the costs (musical instruments, computers, sound systems). We usually suggest that coaches collect $20- $25 per student to cover the costs of things the team decides they need to buy, hardware, fabric, balsa wood, etc.