Write It Do It B/C

[Cjkowalcz]

Does anybody have any helpful "terms" in explaining things? Things to help with direction or maybe the placement of an object. Thanks

[Allinea]

Does anybody have any helpful "terms" in explaining things? Things to help with direction or maybe the placement of an object. Thanks

Were you just thrown into this event? I'd like to first say that each team develops their own system through PRACTICE. If you were just thrown into it, I'll give a brief view of what my partner and I define things as.

It depends on what object you are needing to explain. For Legos, my partner and I generally describe pieces by studs (1x4, 2x2, etc), color and whether it is a brick or plate. In general, my partner and I depend heavily on colors to separate objects, followed in importance by orientation.

For directions, consider using the longest side as your reference point. From there, is it parallel to you (your shoulders?), is it perpendicular to you? If not, what angle is it forming and to what direction is it pointing? Your upper left, upper right, etc? Sloped objects are either sloping up away from you like this: / or are sloping down away from you like this: \ .

Orientation also plays a big role in object placement. What direction is something pointing at? What part of the object is first, or being connected to by other objects? Is it the pointy end, the rounded end, the rough end? Is it the top connector on a Knex piece?

We also depend on a clock system for circular orientations, and corners for square/rectangular things. Corners would also apply to triangles, but I haven't needed to write about triangles yet.

As I wrote above, it all depends on what your partner will be able to understand. Write clearly and good luck.

[Cjkowalcz]

Thanks!! We got third at regionals! I like the idea of the "parallel" explanation.

[Benlafin]

Just to make a note:
I finished Gold in my regionals this year for write it do it. We never practiced before. I honestly believe the most important thing to have is a "writer" who is great with communication and writing. And they have to be fast. My "do-er" wasn't exactly great at comprehending things, but as long as I wrote everything well, and did it as fast as possible, we were okay.
My point is, I think there's more to this event than practice. Although, I'm sure it helps to understand the way your other partner works. In any case, practice shouldn't be noted as the #1 key to this event. In my opinion.

[isaysroar]

The best thing to do for the write it do it event for science olympiad event is to partner up with some that you share a common language with or enjoy being around with. Even without any practicing, as long as your writer has a common language, write neat but fast, and is very specific to detail your all set.

I know my brother and I practiced once getting the model all backwards, and going to an invitational. We placed 5th out of 30 some schools. However, we managed this with discussion over any confusing instructions used in the previous practiced and the common language. I was fortunate enough to have my brother with me this year. Without him, we couldn't have practice even more and placed 2nd at regionals.

The important point is pick someone you're friends with or communicate well with and you'll be all set.

[hscmom]

Few more hints:

Google "toy building sets" and work with your partner or developing a vocabulary to describe weird things that you've never seen before.

Ask teammates to donate pairs of really weird things. I bought a pack of pegboard hooks from Big Lots a year or two ago and put them in some of our practice kits. The WIDI kids had no idea what they were but managed to describe them okay. And, unless your relationship with your WIDI goes way back and you have lots of shared experiences you might be surprised to find you have different vocabularies. Last year, our C "doer" didn't know what a "brad" was but figured it out. She said she would've called it a fastener. The more you practice with odd things, the better you will be at describing them.

Ask last year's team or someone from your state what sorts of materials have been used in the past at state. Don't limit yourself to those things, but do practice some with them. And, look for cheap items because the supervisor must come up with 60 or so sets (B and C divisions) of identical items. Cheap things can include beads, clothespins, beans, stickers, paperclips, pipe cleaners, etc.

Practice estimating lengths and angles in whatever your agreed upon method (inches or cm) is. Even if you can't get together with your partner on a certain day, you can practice this skill alone.

The writer should practice using different papers (lined, unlined) and pens/pencils as you never know what they'll give you.

[Cjkowalcz]

I noticed that a lot of people write in list form with hyphens in this event. Is that faster? Personally, my partner and I just write it as a paragraph; but I could give it a try if it is recommended.

[isaysroar]

I thought is was illegal to use hyphens. And I agree I'd much rather spill my ideas onto the paper than to organize them.

[zyzzyva980]

Hyphens can be made with a single keystroke on a standard keyboard, so I would expect them to be acceptable.

[isaysroar]

Oh cause I heard that a team used all hyphens or bullets and got disqualified.