TechnicalTECHNICAL: 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.