NewsAcademics
Middle School team advances in Odyssey of the Mind
Mar 21, 2007 9:50 AM
By Tannika King - Faculty
After placing third in Division II at the Georgia Odyssey of the Mind competition on March 10, the team from Darlington’s Middle School will advance to State, which will be held April 21 at Columbus State University.
The seven-person team worked on Problem 4 – Out of the Box Balsa. Team members had to design, build, and test a structure made of balsa wood and glue that would balance and support weights. The twist was that the structure had to fit completely inside a box that was smaller than the assembled structure. When competition time began, the team had eight minutes to remove their materials from the box, creatively assemble the structure, and test it by placing weights onto it.
“Our goal was to support 100 pounds of weight. Other structures build by teams in our division held 200-400 pounds,” said Meredith Gaffney, who has been involved with Georgia Odyssey since second grade, competing at State the last four years and World in 2004 and 2005.
Other members of Darlington’s Middle School team included Gaffney’s sister Madeline, a sixth-grader, who has also experienced a great deal of success at Georgia Odyssey, and five novice participants – eighth-grader Lucas Jennings, sixth-grader Remy Jennings, seventh-grader Hiram Johnson, sixth-grader O’Keefe Johnson and eighth-grader Alissa Schlosberg. The team was coached by Darlington parent Ellen Gaffney.
According the Georgia Odyssey Web site, the competition promotes creative team-based problem-solving for students in kindergarten through college. Teams are given their long-term problem months before the competition. Participants build their own sets, make their own costumes and write their own scripts. They are judged on their long-term problem-solving abilities and style (the look of their set and costumes), as well as their ability to solve a spontaneous problem, one that they are given the day of the competition.
For more information on Georgia Odyssey of the Mind, click here.
The seven-person team worked on Problem 4 – Out of the Box Balsa. Team members had to design, build, and test a structure made of balsa wood and glue that would balance and support weights. The twist was that the structure had to fit completely inside a box that was smaller than the assembled structure. When competition time began, the team had eight minutes to remove their materials from the box, creatively assemble the structure, and test it by placing weights onto it.
“Our goal was to support 100 pounds of weight. Other structures build by teams in our division held 200-400 pounds,” said Meredith Gaffney, who has been involved with Georgia Odyssey since second grade, competing at State the last four years and World in 2004 and 2005.
Other members of Darlington’s Middle School team included Gaffney’s sister Madeline, a sixth-grader, who has also experienced a great deal of success at Georgia Odyssey, and five novice participants – eighth-grader Lucas Jennings, sixth-grader Remy Jennings, seventh-grader Hiram Johnson, sixth-grader O’Keefe Johnson and eighth-grader Alissa Schlosberg. The team was coached by Darlington parent Ellen Gaffney.
According the Georgia Odyssey Web site, the competition promotes creative team-based problem-solving for students in kindergarten through college. Teams are given their long-term problem months before the competition. Participants build their own sets, make their own costumes and write their own scripts. They are judged on their long-term problem-solving abilities and style (the look of their set and costumes), as well as their ability to solve a spontaneous problem, one that they are given the day of the competition.
For more information on Georgia Odyssey of the Mind, click here.
