We just got back from our Tag 'em problem. Here is Synopsis of our problem.
The team's problem is to design, build, and run one, two, or three small vehicles that will make trips and get "tagged" within a Tagging Zone for score. The team will create tags and a system to remotely place them onto the vehicle. To receive maximum score for a trip, a vehicle will have one tag successfully placed on it and will continue traveling into a Home Area. The team will present a performance that incorporates the running and tagging of the vehicle. Cost limit: $145.
We had to be at Parkview High school at 7:00am this morning. We had our long term at 10:00am. Our theme was a fancy French restaurant were they served hot dogs in plastic baskets. Our vehicles were wood cars with plastic baskets on top of them. Our tagging system was one of those trash picker uppers attached to a pole with string going along a wood pole to the attach station.
We tagged six out of ten vehicles and all of our vehicles made it into the home aria. We got a 122.32 raw points(at the end when they figure out who won the will give that team 200 points and just raise all the others the same amount.) We got 137.33 as our final score for our long term problem.
Then we had lunch and it was off to see the other group from our school. They were doing the out of the box balsa problem. We had our spontaneous problem at 1:55. I can't talk about it until after the state competition, I will post it then.
Some things we learned being the first time we had been to an odyssey of the mind competition. Fist for the long term problem, Practice the problem as much as possible and don't panic. Just do it as if the judges are not there when asked if you ready give a creative answer and don't use time as your last word of the skit. For the spontaneous, decide who is going to go in depending on what kind of problem you are doing(there is no time for hurt feeling if it means you could win or lose.) When given the chose if you want to have the other two teem members stay inside or outside the room chose outside. There is always the chance that they will try to signal or speak if they see something the rest of the team doesn't see.
We when out to diner before the "5:30" award ceremony that started at 6:30. We were so happy to see that we had come in second as we were eight raw points below the other person who was going to be in second.
I think that it was a good experience for all of our teem and we can't wait to go to state competition, and hopefully world! Over all we got 228.33 points today.
