Verbal: Throwing Up

Throwing Up

Judges Version
Problem Source: Michelle Kretzschmar
http://texasom.blogspot.com/

This is a verbal spontaneous problem. You have one minute to decide which 5 team members will participate.

(After the team chooses) Judge reads:

You will have 1 minute to think and 4 minutes to respond.

Each of you has 7 cards. After each response, you will place a card in the box. You will respond in sequence. You may give responses until you no longer have any cards or until time ends, whichever occurs first.

Questions count against your thinking time. You may not skip your turn, nor repeat, nor pass. If one member of the team is stuck, the team is stuck.

• Common answers will receive 1 point.
• Creative answers will receive 3 points.
• Highly creative or humorous answers will receive 5 points.

Your problem is: Name things that can be thrown. Creative Example: Thrown for a loop, hopes thrown away, horse throws a shoe.

(Judge repeats, "Your problem is:…)

JUDGES: Be sure each team member has 7 cards. Provide a box or basket for the cards to be placed into after each response.

L-Team Building: Index to Group Activities and Games

Team building is critical in both the short term and long term problems. This site is a good place to look for team building activities. The Index to Group Activities and Games is actually part of the Wilderdom Website but can stand as it's own website. The site is nicely organized and easy to use.

The front pages lists 12 categories in order of popularity, recently added group grames, and most popular group games. When you click on a category, you are taken to a page that lists games for the category available on the site which is followed by a list of games on other websites. Each game on the list contains a basic description so you have a general idea if you should click on the link or not. The site also includes articles and books about games as well as links to other sites. The site continues to grow as users add their own games to the categories.

HO: Over the Plate

Over the Plate

Judges Version
Problem Source: Michelle Kretzschmar
http://texasom.blogspot.com/

This is a hands-on problem. You have one minute to determine which team members will solve the problem.

JUDGE READS TO TEAM (after participants are determined):

You will have 7 minutes to complete this problem. You may talk or ask questions at any time; however, time continues. At the end of 7 minutes, your solution will be scored.

Your problem is: To build a structure to support a golf ball over the paper plate using the given materials. Neither the structure nor the golf ball may touch the paper plate. You will be given materials to be used in your solution. No other materials may be used. You may use the scissors to solve your problem but they may not be used as part of the final solution for the problem.

Score will be as follows:

• 10 points for each inch of clearance of the golf ball from the paper plate.
• 1-25 points for team work
• 1 point for each item used

Materials and Setup
Give each team the following materials. Consideration: Allow the team to fold the plate but not cut it.

• 1 cup
• 1 paper plate
• 1 golf ball
• 10 straws
• 20 toothpicks
• 1 piece of clay
• Mailing labels
• 5 paper clips
• 1 clothes pin
• 1 pair of scissors

Scoring Grid

Item	Quantity	Value	Total
Each inch of clearance of golf ball		10
Team Work		1 - 25
Each item used		1

Verbal: Portable Device

Portable Device

Judges Version
Problem Source: Michelle Kretzschmar
http://texasom.blogspot.com/

This is a verbal spontaneous problem. You have one minute to decide which 5 team members will participate.

(After the team chooses) Judge reads:

You will have 1 minute to think and 4 minutes to respond. You will respond in clockwise order. You may not respond unless you are holding the given items. Once you have answered you pass the items to the next person. Questions count against your thinking time. You may not skip your turn, nor repeat, nor pass. If one member of the team is stuck, the team is stuck.

• Common answers will receive 1 point.
• Creative answers will receive 3 points.
• Highly creative or humorous answers will receive 5 points.
  

Today we are increasingly carrying things that have been made portable such as phones and music players. You will be given a group of objects. You problem is: to name a new portable device based on these objects.


(Judge repeats, "Your problem is:…)

JUDGES: Be sure each team member has at least two objects. (Suggested: pipe cleaner and practice wiffle golf ball).

Verbal: Things that hang

Things that Hang

Judges Version
Problem Source: Spirit of Chicago
http://texasom.blogspot.com/

This is a verbal spontaneous problem. You have one minute to decide which 5 team members will participate.

(After the team chooses) Judge reads:

You will have 1 minute to think and 4 minutes to respond. Each of you has 7 cards. After each response, you will place a card in the box. You will respond in sequence. You may give responses until you no longer have any cards or until time ends, whichever occurs first. Questions count against your thinking time. You may not skip your turn, nor repeat, nor pass. If one member of the team is stuck, the team is stuck.

• Common answers will receive 1 point.
• Creative answers will receive 3 points.
• Highly creative or humorous answers will receive 5 points.
  

Your problem is: Name things that hang.

(Judge repeats, "Your problem is:…)

JUDGES: Be sure each team member has 7 cards. Provide a box or basket for the cards to be placed into after each response.

HO: New Postage Stamp

New Postage Stamp

Judges Version
Problem Source: Spirit of Chicago
http://texasom.blogspot.com/

This is a hands-on problem. You have one minute to determine which team members will solve the problem.

JUDGE READS TO TEAM (after participants are determined):

You will have 6 minutes to complete this problem. You may talk or ask questions at any time; however, time continues. At the end of 6 minutes, you will have 1 minute to present and explain your solution.

Your problem is to design a postage stamp using the materials given. No other materials may be used. At the end of six minutes you will have one minute to explain why the post office should use your stamp.

Score will be as follows:

• 1-25 points for the creativity of design
• 1-25 points for the creativity of explanation
• 1-25 points for team work
• 1 point for each item used

Materials and Setup
Give each team the following materials.

• 6 Plastic Straws
• 6 Cotten Balls
• Yellow and Blue Markers
• 16 Toothpicks
• 6 3x5 index cards
• Scotch Tape
  

Scoring Grid

Item	Quantity	Value	Total
Creativity of the design		1 - 25
Creativity of the explanation		1 - 25
Team Work		1 - 25
Each item used		1

L-Coaching: Odyssey World

The value in this site is not necessarily it's content but it's email group. You can join the group through the website or through yahoo groups at Odysseyworld. On the list you will find an international group of coaches with years of experience that they're willing to share--providing it's not OA of course. Have questions on teamwork, what and when to practice, what to feed them? It's all here. It's also a great place to go when you're certain there is no way your team will pull it off and you just want to give up. Someone on the list will reassure you that they will get it together by competition and come fall, you'll be ready to volunteer again.

Mixed: Bugs at the Alamo

Bugs at the Alamo

Judges Version
Problem Source: Micelle Kretzschmar
http://texasom.blogspot.com/

This is a hand-on/verbal spontaneous problem. You have one minute to decide which 5 team members will participate.

(After the team chooses) Judge reads:

This is a two-part problem. In Part 1, you will have 6 minutes to develop your solution and practice. In Part 2, you will have 3 minutes to present your solution for score. You may talk or ask questions at any time; however, time continues.

Your problem is to create a scene of a group of bugs at the Alamo. You may present your scene in any way your group decides. You may not use any props in presenting your solution.

Score will be as follows:

• 1 - 20 creativity of the scene
• 1 - 20 effective portrayal of bugs
• 1 - 25 points for teamwork

Scoring Grid

Item	Quantity	Value	Total
Creativity of the scene		1 - 20
Effective Portrayal of Bugs		1 - 20
Team Work		1 - 25

L-Multiple: Arizona Odyssey of the Mind

This is another must visit site for coaches in search of spontaneous help. The site includes a list of spontaneous tips appropriate for both coaches and team members. It also covers different methods of "speed control" designed to slow down responses to improve creativity. You will also find over 200 verbal practice problems but you'll need to format them for yourself. The "Getting Started Kit" is a good model for anyone putting together a state information packet.

L-Multiple: VOICES Virginia Odyssey of the Mind

This is one of the first sites you should go to as a coach. The coach's handbook is priceless. It answers most, if not all questions, a coach might have starting out and provides suggested "Lesson Plans" for the first five meetings. This is worth the paper to print out for coaches and parents.

The site also includes a "problem of the week" which is completely formatted for judges. You can access previous problems through the archive. Other information includes parent guidelines, outside assistance guidelines, and school coordinator information. The site is up to date during Odyssey season and the coach's handbook is updated each year.

L-Spontaneous: Creative Problem Sovlers

This site is oriented to Destination Imagination. The site is nicely organized into performance based, task based, and combination based challenges. Each section has "quickies" as warm-ups, training problems that are formatted, and unformatted submitted problems.

L-Spontaneous: Spirit of Chicago

Source of 100's of practice problems. There are 91 sets of ten practice problems. Each set is all verbal or all spontaneous. You can download each set or get all exercises at once as a pdf file. These problems are not "formatted" so if you're practicing competition conditions, you'll have to format them yourself. Warning: the site plays a brief piece of music on it's homepage which is annoying since it plays everytime your return to the index.