Odyssey of the Mind Program Guide by Dr. C. Samuel Micklus & Carole Micklus Published by: This guide is intended for use by coaches and teams in the Odyssey of the Mind program. It contains Table of Contents Page ELCOMETOTHE DYSSEYOFTHE What is Odyssey of the Mind.................................................................................................... School Memberships............................................................................................................. Community Groups............................................................................................................... Home-Schooled Students......................................................................................................... Age Divisions.................................................................................................................. Team Member Participation...................................................................................................... Membership Identification...................................................................................................... Membership Withdrawals and Transfers.....................................................................................19 DYSSEYOFTHE OINGTO Rules that Apply to All Problems............................................................................................... ENALTY ATEGORIES “Spirit of the Problem” Violation.............................................................................................. Unsportsmanlike Conduct........................................................................................................ Incorrect or Missing Membership Sign......................................................................................44 Outside Assistance............................................................................................................. Over Time Limit................................................................................................................ Over Cost Limit................................................................................................................ EASONSFOR Possible Disciplinary Action................................................................................................... LOSSARY Style Form Cost Form Outside Assistance Form Verbal Spontaneous Problem: Verbal/Hands-On Spontaneous Problem: Comb Improv Hands-On Spontaneous Problem: Wrap It Up Welcome to the Odyssey of the Mind Coaches are the driving force behind the team. While the members do all the work themselves, coaches are there to offer encouragement and to keep them on schedule. And when the students do well, the coaches feel just as proud for their accomplishments. Coaching an Odyssey of the Mind Team n OotM the coach plays a limited, but important, role. Each Odyssey of the Mind team must have at least one adult, 18 years of age or older, registered as its head coach. Having an assistant coach will lessen the demands assumed by one person. OotM does not assign coaches. Training Your Team n important benefit of Odyssey of the Mind is that students learn to work with others. Oftentimes, to encourage creativity, talented individuals are given free reign to “do their own thing.” They may be accustomed to having their own ideas recognized, but now they have the ideas of their team members to consider as well. It is natural for new teams to take time developing into a cohesive group. You may have to help that process along. Ultimately, you’ll find that team members will form life-long friendships and develop a deep respect for one another’s Teaching Teamwork It is the coach’s responsibility to provide stability and to ensure that each team member has equal input to the problem solution. Everyone’s opinion counts, so avoid allowing one or two team a positive manner. Rather than simply saying they don’t like an idea, ask them to state why and tocatch a baseball,” which encourages creativity and allows for an array of usable solutions. However, stating the problem as, “Design a new glove,” will result in solutions that do not serve the intended purpose of catching a baseball. Functional fixedness About Your Membership e welcome all students to participate in Odyssey of the Mind. However, to enter official must have an established mission other than participating in Odyssey of the Mind. If the community group contributes money to a school to sponsor a team or to enable students to participate, the membership would be in the school’s name. Home-schooled students can purchase memberships under a home school name. A home school Team Member Participation Up to seven members may participate on an Odyssey of the Mind team. There is no minimum number of team members required but we recommend each team has at least five, preferably six but their card will say “Team B,” “Team C,” and so on. CCI will then reissue a card to the first membership, adding “Team A” to distinguish it from the subsequent memberships. For example, Walden HS would then become Walden HS Team A. This becomes the official membership card If your team’s name is incorrect on the membership card, you must notify CCI. You must Odyssey of the Mind Problems Problem 5: Performance – This is strictly a performance problem, where scoring is based Here are examples of problem solutions from the 2011 World Finals. ROBLEM ROBLEM ROBLEM ROBLEM TRUCTURE ROBLEM Long-Term Scoring Each long-term problem lists five Style categories. Categories one through four are either specific scoring elements or “Free choice of team.” The fifth category is always “Overall effect of the four Style elements in the performance.” All Style categories are scored subjectively, and each is worth 1 to 10 points, for a maximum of 50 points. The team awarded the most Style points receives a score of 50; every other team receives a percentage of 50 based on its raw score. (2) Free choice of team: For these categories, teams cannot select anything that is already presented in the problem or Program Guide you will be instructed to read them again. There are three categories of problem clarifications: (1) General clarifications amend or further explain a problem’s limitations without revealing information about a team’s solution. All general clarifications are posted on www.odysseyofthemind.com/clarifications. When teams question a problem limitation, before requesting a clarification, they should first check online to see if their concern has already been addressed. Clarifications take precedence over limitations listed in the problem and the rules in this guide, so it’s important that teams keep current on all general clarifications issued throughout the year. (2) Team-specific clarifications pertain to a particular team’s solution. These are younger children to the creative problem-solving process. To prepare students for Odyssey of the Mind according to the type of problem presented to the team. Members with strong verbal skills might be best Problems from Creative Interaction by Dr. C. Samuel Micklus & Samuel W. Micklus. Practice building structures out of common materials such as toothpicks, paper cups, and just about anything else you can think of. Awards Teams that earn a Ranatra Fusca Creativity Award at the state/province/country level of 2011 Spirit Award recipient, Program Rules in any way and any reaction or participation from the judges or audience does not count for score. Also, if the team wishes to include playbills as part of a free choice category in Style part of the problem solution or Style. Persons other than the team members may appear on team-made recordings as long as their contribution is commercially available and is not created to be part of the solution. Team members must create any media that is a major part of their solution. Duplicates, no matter how they are produced, are not considered to be created by the team. For example, Foot coverings: is allowed. For example, prohibited batteries include but are not limited to: lead-acid photocopy Odyssey of the Mind materials for distribution within the membership during the program year, but these materials are copyrighted and may not be distributed beyond the membership and without permission for future use. In all areas — music, visuals, written word, characters — it is the team’s responsibility to avoid copyright violations. It is illegal to use and reproduce copyrighted material without the owner’s permission. The team should find out if a work is copyrighted and obtain permission to use the work. Judges will not permission from the owner. No team is allowed to use WorldFinals or the WF logo. Teams and/or any other group must obtain permission from its local association or CCI for the ® Highlights from 2011 World Finals at the University of Maryland. (Clockwise from left) (1) A master- ful micro-sculpture of OMER by last year’s Creativity Award Winner Willard Wigan made a second appearance. It fits in the eye of a needle! (2) A WF team shows its Odyssey spirit in OMER hats. (3) OMER with new friends! use of any other OotM trademark or copyright to be used at World Finals. read George Washington HS or Geo. Washington HS, but GWHS is insufficient. If a membership card contains any other information, such as Team A, Team B, and so on, that must appear on the sign as well, either spelled out or abbreviated, e.g., Tm A. The team may add to its membership sign as it wishes, and the sign may change appearance assistance and, if so, the nature of that assistance. The judges will assess an Outside Assistance penalty based on how crucial the assistance was to the team’s solution. Coaches act as facilitators, but they are not allowed to suggest how a team should solve a problem. They may pose thought-provoking questions, but they should never hint at a solution. If the team asks for an opinion, the coach should respond, “You decide.” Unless a situation is deemed for score. Overtime is never allowed in spontaneous. The judge calls “time” at the end of each period and the team must stop, so there are never any penalties for exceeding the time limit. To maintain an equal playing field among teams, each problem has a cost limit. This is the maximum Team-made t-shirts not considered a costume can be valued at garage sale prices even if all performing team members are wearing them. Any elaboration of foot coverings must be included in the cost as well. (1)Extension cords and multiple plugs. (2)Batteries. (3)Chairs, stools, tables and desks. isciplinary action may be taken against a team in certain situations. This is a decision of the judges and/or Tournament Director. Possible reasons for disciplinary action include, but are not limited to, the following: Copyright violation — copying Odyssey of the Mind materials for non-members. the time of receipt of a written discipline procedure from the licensed association. The appeal will be presented to CCI and will be reviewed in a timely fashion. CCI’s decision is final. Denial of membership or participation: A team, coach or team member may be denied participation in the Odyssey of the Mind program for a specific period of time. However, the team, coach or team member will be afforded the opportunity to defend any claims against them. Disqualification: he following words and phrases are commonly used in OotM problems. If a word appears in italics in a long-term problem, it is defined in the Problem Glossary or it is defined below. If it appears in both, use the definition in the problem. These defin itions are written for the purpose of solving OotM problems and may differ from what is found in a dictionary. Some of the terms are also used in spontaneous problems. Appearance Other helpful information can be found at these Web sites: www.creativeopportunities.org OR Odyssey-world.org The following pages contain the forms necessary to enter official F NOTE: This form may be photocopied or scanned into a computer, but the information may not be altered in any way. TOTAL STYLE SCORE = (Maximum possible = 50 points) 1 to 101. _____________________ 1 to 102. _____________________ 1 to 103. _____________________ 1 to 104. _____________________ 5. Overall effect of the four Style elements in 1 to 105. _____________________ the performance Briefly tell how the four Style elements combine to enhance the long-term problem solution. or type and use only the space below. Style Category Possible PointsPoints Awarded (Team fills in #1 to #4) (Judge fills in) Team members must complete this form and list all items used in the presentations of their problem solu- tion, including those exempt from cost and assigned a value. Adults may help fill it out for Division I team members only. Do not include sales tax. F Long-Term Problem__________________________Division_______________________________ Membership Name __________________________Membership # __________________________ City _____________________State/Prov. _______Country _______________________________ Judge(s)____________________________________________________________________________ TOTAL VALUE OF MATERIALS USED NOTE: This form may be photocopied or scanned into a computer, but it may not be altered in any way. __________________________________Division ________________________ City _______________________________State/Prov. ____________Cou NOTE: Verbal Spontaneous Problem: Keep it Going When the team members enter the room, tell them this is a verbal problem. B.JUDGE READS TO TEAMS: (1) You have 2 minutes to think and 5 minutes to respond. You may ask the judges questions, however, time will continue. You may not talk to each other during response time. (2)You will receive 1 point for each common response and 5 points for each creative response. This will be a subjective opinion of the judges, and the judges' decision is final. Each of you has 7 response cards. You may respond in any order. Before you give a response, you must hand one of your cards to the judge. You may not share your cards. (4) Speak loudly and clearly. Once time begins, it will not be stopped, even if the judge hasn’t heard your answer and asks you to repeat your response. Verbal Spontaneous Problem: When the team members enter the room, tell them this is a verbal problem. B.JUDGE READS TO TEAMS: (1) You have 2 minutes to think and 5 minutes to respond. You may ask the judges questions, however, time will continue. You may not talk to each other during response time. (2)You will receive 1 point for each common response and 5 points for each creative response. This will be a subjective opinion of the judges, and the judges' decision is final. Each of you has 7 response cards. You may respond in any order. Before you give a response, you must hand one of your cards to the judge. You may not share your cards. (4) Speak loudly and clearly. Once time begins, it will not be stopped, even if the judge hasn’t heard your answer and asks you to repeat your response. (5)Your problem is to name an animal and a task that you could use that animal to do. For example, you might say, "Use a giraffe to knock apples out of a tree." Verbal/Hands-On Spontaneous Problem: Comb Improv When the team members enter the room, tell them this is a verbal/hands-on problem. B.JUDGE READS TO TEAM: (1)You have 1 minute to think and 2 minutes to respond. You may ask the judges questions; however, time will continue. You may not talk to each other at any time. (2) You will receive 1 point for each common response and 3 points for each creative response. This will be a subjective opinion of the judges, and the judges' decisions are final. (3) Your team is to take turns in sequence. You may not skip your turn, or repeat, or pass. There is an object in front of you. Hands-On Spontaneous Problem: Wrap It Up When the team members enter the room, tell them this is a hands-on problem. B.JUDGE READS TO TEAMS: (1)You have 7 minutes to solve the problem. The judge will warn you when 2 minutes remain and when 1 minute remains. You may ask questions and talk to each other at any time. (2)There is tape, paper and two scissors on the table. (3)There are various items on the table. Each item has a number on it. (4)Your problem is to wrap as many of the numbered items as possible with the paper. (5)An item is considered wrapped if you cannot see any part of it. (6)If the number on the item is red, you may not alter the item. (7)You will be scored as follows: a.Each item that is wrapped will receive points equal to the number marked on it. 4 unsharpened pencils (1) 2 pieces cardboard, approximately 6" x 6" (4) 1 small frying pan (10 in red) the
Odyssey Of The Mind