NASA’s Earth Science Enterprise is sponsoring one of
this year’s problems at the 26th annual “Odyssey of the Mind
World Finals.”
Children from around the world gather May 28-31 at Iowa
State University, Ames, Iowa, to compete in the creative
problem solving competition. The Odyssey challenges students
to solve long-term problems ranging from science and
technology to the creative arts.
NASA is challenging students to design, build and run three
small vehicles to transport items from an Orbit Area to an
Assembly Station in space. The NASA problem opens with a
three-dimensional representation of a scene of the Earth as
viewed from space. Items affecting the problem, both real
and imaginary, are added to the scenario, and the scene
changes. The vehicles will be powered in different ways. One
vehicle will carry its energy source, and the other two will
travel on the momentum created by different sources.
Over the past year, NASA has supported the Odyssey through a
Web site for participants to help develop solutions to
problems facing the Earth and to help students learn more
about the environment. NASA has also created curriculum
activities for members in an effort to integrate creative
problem solving into the classroom.
The Odyssey and NASA partnership is a natural collaboration.
Both organizations represent the best in innovation,
teamwork and creative problem solving. NASA expects to reach
nearly two million students, parents, teachers and coaches
world-wide through sponsorship of “Odyssey of the Mind,”
stimulating interest and learning about Earth system
science.
The Odyssey program, founded in 1978, is an international
creative problem solving competition for students from
kindergarten through college. Participants come from almost
every state and Australia, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg,
Canada, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Japan,
Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Siberia,
Singapore, Slovakia, United Kingdom, and West Africa. During
the year, students are separated into four divisions, based
on age, and form teams to solve one of five long-term
challenges. After developing their solutions, teams compete
at state and regional levels.
The mission of NASA’s Earth Science Enterprise is to develop
a scientific understanding of the Earth system and its
response to natural or human-induced changes to enable
improved prediction capability for climate, weather and
natural hazards.
For information about “Odyssey of the Mind” visit the
official Web site at:
http://www.odysseyofthemind.com/
For information about the “Odyssey of the Mind World Finals”
competition visit:
http://www.odysseyofthemind.com/wf2003
NASA’s “Odyssey of the Mind” Web site is at:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/odysseyofthemind/
For information about NASA, Education, and Earth Science
Programs on the Internet, visit:
