The toughest question to answer: What is Odyssey?
From Program Guide:
Odyssey of the Mind is a creative problem-solving competition for students of all ages. Teams of students select a problem, create a solution, then present their solution in a competition against other teams in the same problem and division.
My Wording differs slightly
Odyssey of the Mind is a team-driven creative problem solving competition.
Team-driven: The team does everything themselves- makes props, costumes, writes scripts, etc. Team-driven also means students learn fundamentals of being on a team- cooperation, collaboration, sharing, etc.
Creative: Teams will create objects you never would think of - and that's great!
Problem solving: Not what you would imagine. OotM problems are more like guidelines. Create an 8 minute skit with a serious character, a silly character, a song, a dance, and something that changes form. Part of "problem solving" is answering that, but the other part comes from dealing with problems that spring from that: "How do we make costumes?" "How do we cut wood?", etc.
Competition: Teams will compete against others who worked on the same problem, and you'll be amazed how different everybody's solutions are!
Team-driven: The team does everything themselves- makes props, costumes, writes scripts, etc. Team-driven also means students learn fundamentals of being on a team- cooperation, collaboration, sharing, etc.
Creative: Teams will create objects you never would think of - and that's great!
Problem solving: Not what you would imagine. OotM problems are more like guidelines. Create an 8 minute skit with a serious character, a silly character, a song, a dance, and something that changes form. Part of "problem solving" is answering that, but the other part comes from dealing with problems that spring from that: "How do we make costumes?" "How do we cut wood?", etc.
Competition: Teams will compete against others who worked on the same problem, and you'll be amazed how different everybody's solutions are!
Three different aspects of odyssey
- Long term problems
- Style elements
- Spontaneous problems
Different Team Classifications in odyssey
- Primary Teams: Kindergarten-2nd Grade
- Division I Teams: 2nd-5th Grade
- Division II Teams: 6th-8th Grade
- Division III Teams: 9th-12th Grade
- Division IV Teams: Collegiate Level