2018-2019 CHALLENGE PREVIEWS
Competitive teams choose one challenge to work on for the year. Once a team is formed, the team manager will be provided a team number and resources to help the team get on its way.
TECHNICAL CHALLENGE
The Technical Challenge prompts students to complete tasks by using engineering, research, strategic planning, and related skills. Get an overview here.
- 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 CHALLENGE
Our Scientific Challenge blends the curiosity of scientific research with the creative expression of performance art. Get an overview here.
- 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 CHALLENGE
Our Engineering Challenge asks students to design, build, and test load-bearing structures created from specific materials. Get an overview here.
- 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
Our Fine Arts Challenge helps students develop acting and creative skills through artistic media, theater arts, script writing, and prop design. Get an overview here.
- 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 goes through 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
Our Improvisational Challenge is all about research, spontaneity, and storytelling. Teams receive topics and produce skits right on the spot. Get an overview here.
- 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
Our Service Learning Challenge is designed to engage students in public service that addresses real-life community issues. Get an overview here.
- 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 / RISING STARS®
Our Rising Stars for Early Learners Challenge offers simple experiences with the creative process, and it gives young kids (preschool through 2nd grade) a place to work together and make new friends. Get an overview here.
- 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.