TECHNICAL: ON TARGET
LEARNING OUTCOMES: Aircraft Design, Technical Engineering & Design, Accuracy & Precision, Effective Storytelling
POINTS OF INTEREST
- Design and build an aircraft that takes off, flies, and lands.
- Design the aircraft to deliver a team-created payload.
- Create and present a story about one or more characters exploring a remote place.
- Create and present two Team Choice Elements that show off the team’s interests, skills, areas of strength, and talents.
SCIENTIFIC: MEDICAL MYSTERY
LEARNING OUTCOMES: Anatomy & Physiology, Medical Science, Technology, Effective Storytelling
POINTS OF INTEREST
- Research the human body and medical conditions that affect the human body.
- Create and present a story about a medical mystery that affects a human character.
- Design and build a representation that shows the medical mystery and at least one symptom.
- Present an action or scene that is shown from two or more perspectives at the same time.
- Create and present two Team Choice Elements that show off the team’s interests, skills, areas of strength, and talents.
ENGINEERING: MONSTER EFFECTS
LEARNING OUTCOMES: Structural Integrity & Failure, Structural Engineering, Technical Design, Effective Storytelling
POINTS OF INTEREST
- Design and build a structure that can support weight without breaking.
- Test the structure by placing weights and then removing them.
- Create and present a story in which the sudden appearance of a monster has surprising results.
- Design and create a special effect to enhance the sudden appearance of the monster and/or the events surrounding the monster in the story.
- Create and present two Team Choice Elements that show off the team’s interests, skills, areas of strength, and talents.
FINE ARTS: GAME ON
LEARNING OUTCOMES: Game Design, Theatrical Set & Prop Design, Technical Design, Theater Arts Skills
POINTS OF INTEREST
- Create and present a story that integrates research of a team-selected game.
- Create and present a game gizmo that causes an action or event to occur.
- Design and create a container that has a transformation.
- Design either the game gizmo or the container to be a technical element.
- Create and present two Team Choice Elements that show off the team’s interests, skills, areas of strength, and talents.
IMPROVISATIONAL: HEADS UP
LEARNING OUTCOMES: Cultural Competency, Character Development, Nonverbal Communication, Effective Storytelling
POINTS OF INTEREST
- Research historical figures found on coins from around the world.
- Create and present an improvisational skit that includes the historical figures in a tale.
- Integrate an event that has an impact on the tale.
- Present the skit in two parts, changing between comedy and tragedy.
- Present the skit in two styles, changing from verbal to nonverbal
SERVICE LEARNING: ESCAPE ARTISTS
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Social Entrepreneurship, Project Management, Theater Arts Skills, Effective Storytelling
POINTS OF INTEREST
- Identify, design, and carry out a project that addresses a need in a real community.
- Create and theatrically present a story that builds suspense about characters who attempt an escape.
- Integrate information about the project through clues that help the characters attempt to escape.
- Integrate information about the future of the project.
- Create and present two Team Choice Elements that show off the team’s interests, skills, areas of strength, and talents.
EARLY LEARNING: POP UP
LEARNING OUTCOMES: Technical Design, Theatrical Set & Prop Design, Improvisational Skills, Effective Storytelling
POINTS OF INTEREST
- Explore fiction and nonfiction stories.
- Create and present a story that combines elements of both fiction and nonfiction.
- Design and build a technical device.
- Create an interactive, life-size pop-up book to help tell the story.
- Integrate a randomly selected item into the story.
INSTANT CHALLENGE
Instant Challenges require teams to engage in quick, creative, and critical thinking. At a tournament, a team will receive an Instant Challenge and the materials with which to solve it. The team members must think on their feet by applying appropriate skills to produce a solution in a period of just five to eight minutes. Instant Challenges are performance-based, task-based, or a combination of the two. Although each Instant Challenge has different requirements, all Instant Challenges reward teams for their teamwork. Instant Challenges are kept confidential until the day of the tournament.