Descriptions of ESSPA Events
ACADEMIC CHALLENGE - This is a contest of quick recall and knowledge in the areas of science, history, mathematics, literature, geography, current events, and general trivia. There are four rounds which consist of both oral and written questions. Three rounds are played as a team and one is scored individually. Teams consist of 5 members.
ACADEMIC ENDEAVORS - This is an academic competition using five different games that develop high-level thinking and strategy developing skills. The games will include Scrabble, Blokus, Boggle, Othello, and Quiddler. These Games are designed and built upon verbal and mathematical abilities. Team members must evaluate their opponent’s position and develop a strategy to maximize total points. Each school will be permitted to bring one team of five students. The highest individual scores and the highest team scores (The combined of all the team members scores) will be tallies and the top scorers in each category (individual and team) will be recognized.
A-MAZING AND PUZZLING COMPETITION - This competition is one in which students are presented with a variety of number, word, language, spatial puzzles and mazes. Weather permitting; students are challenged with a full sized maze constructed by students. The competition involves both team and individual events.
A MOMENT IN TIME – Students work in teams to conduct in-depth research of a specific event in United States history and creatively represent it by performing a ten-minute skit detailing key aspects and consequences of the event.
CALCUSOLVE - This is a mathematical competition involving problem-solving varying in content and difficulty. During the competition, nine individual and one group problem are presented to students. Extra problems are available in case of a team tie. Each problem includes clues. Initially, five minutes are allotted to solve a problem. A correct answer at this stage earns 5 points. If a clue is needed, students will have an additional 3 minutes. A correct answer at this stage earns 3 points. If the student has not turned in the answer, he will be given an additional clue plus one minute to solve the problem. A correct answer earns 1 point. Students are permitted to use calculators.
CHESS - This competition is an individual and team event. Teams are made up of four students and each team will play four 20-minute games of chess. For the first round, each team of four players will be matched up against another team. In subsequent rounds, teams with similar scores will play each other. The tournament director will adjudicate incomplete games. All standard rules of chess apply. Total game point score will determine final placing.
CREATIVE CONVENTION - This is a competition that encourages students to develop divergent and creative expression. Each creative convention includes a word game, a drawing exercise, a construction, plus a performance. Students should be able to draw quickly and clearly with style, construct usable devices from recycled materials and act, sing or dance with lots of pizzazz. Students are scored in each event on their ability to display fluent, flexible, elaborate and original thinking. Fluency relates to the number of ideas produced, flexibility to the variety of ideas produced, elaboration to the degree of detail incorporated and originality to the uniqueness of the ideas or products created.
CREATIVE WRITING - This mail-in event will focus on original student writings in the areas of poetry and prose fiction. Judges will evaluate creative writing entries based on how well they keep the reader's interest, how well they present believable characters and events, how they use words to create images and feelings, how they meet specific criteria and how they conform to the conventions of standard edited English.
E.A.E.A.O. – (East Allegheny Experimental Apparatus Organization) This activity involves three Experimental contests involving innovative and creative solutions. Past events have included such contests as designing a block stacker. The purpose of this event is to stack the largest number of wooden blocks, one on top of the other, in a three-minute time interval. Another event from the past is the tank tennis/bowler. In this event, the tank should be designed to perform two separate and yet related missions. The tank will be expected to propel itself, unguided, through a passageway 6 feet wide and 20 feet long. The tank will then be expected to launch a tennis ball toward a target of ten empty 2-liter bottles. A third contest from the past is called the Remote Control Car. The concept involves customizing a remote control car and using it to collect up to 20 golf balls that need to be returned to a goal (1 foot wide) within a five-minute limit. The golf balls will be located in a pit 10 feet wide and 15 feet long, which is littered with miscellaneous obstacles. Students must attempt to place the most golf balls in a cardboard box at the top of a ramp 4 feet long. The first event is worth 20 points, the second is worth 20 points for each part, total 40 points, and the third event is worth 40 points. This event is designed to help students understand and apply various rules of physics. Events may vary from year to year.
EQUATIONS - This is an open-ended activity utilizing algebraic and mathematical operations to promote interest and knowledge in the area of mathematics. Teams of five students demonstrate problem solving abilities, math skills and creative thinking to solve mathematical equations. Students should be knowledgeable in the use of exponentiation, roots and radicals. In addition, students will also play a round of Adventurous Equations, which allows the use of creative strategies in completing the set goal.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE COMPETITION - This is a language-based competition in which students are expected to have an understanding of the foreign language in both written and verbal capacity. Students of French, Spanish and German will compete in two speaking (oral) question rounds and two written communication tests of grammar and vocabulary. The competition will show student’s demonstration of foreign language fluency in both oral and written communication. No native speakers or students who have had extended language study in the target country may enter into the competition. The choice of language will vary from year to year.
GEOGRAPHY BOWL - This competition measures the student's knowledge of the geography of various continents with questions related to such items as land forms, water, people, capitals, cities, ports, islands, climate, raw materials, products, languages and etc. Each year one area of the world is selected for the competition. This year the areas include Asia and Oceania. The competition consists of five rounds. Two rounds are group oral rounds where teams use a buzzer to answer questions. Two rounds are for individuals including an identification of maps and flags. There is also one round involving the cooperation of all team members in answering questions.
INTERNET SCAVENGER HUNT COMPETITION - Students are divided into two teams that compete to locate facts and information concerning various topics such as academic subjects, sports, entertainment and etc. Teams will be given time limits to locate answers to questions using the Internet/World Wide Web. This competition takes place at Boyce Campus, Community College of Allegheny County.
K’ NEX CHALLENGE – Teams of 4 students will be given a challenge in October to design and build a K'NEX structure. They will have from October until December (student competition) to create a blueprint and narrative about their structure and then will be asked to build it at the competition. K'NEX is the next generation of construction sets. It inspires creativity, builds self-confidence and encourages interaction among students. K'NEX integrates a hands-on approach to math, technology, science, and engineering principals into the curriculum.
MR. PRESIDENT - This is a competition that assesses a student's knowledge of the Presidents of the Unites States of America and their accomplishments during their term(s). Student teams will participate in a buzzer round of 75+ questions each. There will be two rounds of Clue Cards where students will be given a clue to which they must recognize the President. Three clues are given with point diminishing with each clue that is given. Points are added for the individual and team scores. Students will also be asked to recognize the pictures of presidents and to be able to identify their Vice Presidents. Other rounds include picture puzzles. This year there will be a round dealing with pictures of historical events which students must identify the Presidential term. It is possible to have some surprises. For the year 2011-12 school year, the first half of the Presidents in chronological order will be George Washington through the Theodore Roosevelt.
PROPAGANDA - This is a competition designed to demonstrate various methods of influencing the ideas and behaviors of individuals. Students begin by learning different techniques including those of self-deception, techniques of language, techniques of irrelevance, those of exploitation, techniques of form and those of manner. These techniques are demonstrated by way of video segments taken from current events in the news, political speeches, commercials, parts of sitcoms and etc. to demonstrate how the thinking process can be distorted. Students are awarded points not only for their ability to correctly identify the technique being depicted in the video segment, but also for their ability to persuade other students to their line of thinking.
PUBLIC SPEAKING – This competition emphasizes oral communication and research skills. Students must prepare and deliver a five-minute persuasive or informative speech. The speech must be supported by research and may be accompanied by a visual aid.
ROBOTECH - In this futuristic role-playing game, five players on a team are given five characters, each with their own unique characteristics and abilities. The players, armed with their characters, an assortment of high tech weapons and vehicles (known as cyclones or mecha), and especially their wit, must complete a mission under the supervision of a game master. A game master is a person (not a player) who describes the situations the team encounters during the mission. Some of the encounters that a team may face include puzzles, combat, other characters, traps and etc. Winners will be selected based on the highest number of points attained. Points are accumulated by performing certain appropriate actions throughout the mission creativity bonus points and behavioral penalties may be given at the game master's discretion. Logic and creativity are the player's main tools to success.
SCIENCE BOWL – Students compete both as a team & individually to answer a variety of science related questions. The format of the competition includes, but is not limited to the following competitions: a written test, a team buzzer round competition, Pictionary with science terms, picture this (students work individually to identify various science related terms presented to them in picture format using power point), and Riddle Me This (students work with their team members to solve more challenging, higher level science problems).
THINKFEST - Students compete as a team to solve problems including logic, critical thinking, and lateral thinking. Given a set of materials, the team will construct a device to serve a specified purpose. Given a survival scenario the team will decide on a course of action and decide materials they have are most important to the team’s survival.
WORLD EVENTS - This is a competition testing a student's knowledge of current events as well as information related to a thematic period of time. The current event questions are taken from events from the past year. The thematic part of the competition includes topics from the period such as the 1920’s. For 2007-2008, categories will include Notorious People and Famous Faces, Politics, Economics & Inventions and Social & Cultural Life. During the thematic rounds, students must also demonstrate an ability to document their answer within two minutes for which they receive an additional four points. During each period the moderator will announce the topic of the question to be read. After the question is read, each player writes a wager of 2, 4 or 6 points on their wager/answer sheet. A player may abstain from answering, but no more than twice per round. The total cumulative score for all five members of the team will determine the order of finish.
WORD MASTER - Students will compete individually and as a team in this word challenge game consisting of five different vocabulary building activities. The rounds consist of Pick (speed Scrabble), SAT Word Wise (vocabulary in context), Word Chains (resembles Chain Reaction), Guggenheim (similar to Scattegories), and The Taming of the SAT Syllables (SAT words divided by syllables and scrambled must be reassembled).