Write It Do It B/C

[ceg7654]

Other than materials like pipe cleaners and craft supplies, Styrofoam, binder/paper clips and other regular office supplies, straws, beads, lab equipment, and plastic toys like Legos and K'nex, what sorts of other unusual materials (or even usual ones) have you seen at your competitions?

There were those chemical spot plates at my Invitational. Good for WIDI because there's many little sections. Also dice, good because there's a certain number on each side. That's pretty much all I can remember that you haven't mentioned yet and isn't too obvious.

[willowmist]

Other than materials like pipe cleaners and craft supplies, Styrofoam, binder/paper clips and other regular office supplies, straws, beads, lab equipment, and plastic toys like Legos and K'nex, what sorts of other unusual materials (or even usual ones) have you seen at your competitions?

At Regionals this year, the materials used were Chex Mix, Cheerios, and nails on a styrofoam board. Crazy stuff.

[SOnerd]

What do you think are qualities a doer and a writer should have? I'm doing this with my best frien, and we are trying to decide who should be the writer/doer.
For example, the writer should be really technical-minded and good at explaining things

[hscmom]

What do you think are qualities a doer and a writer should have? I'm doing this with my best frien, and we are trying to decide who should be the writer/doer.
For example, the writer should be really technical-minded and good at explaining things

OK, I've coached WIDI at both B and C divisions.

WRITER:
Quick writer and adequate speller.
Attention to detail.
Sense of time (get it all done in 25 minutes)
Able to come up with descriptions of strange things.
Not easily frustrated
Sense of distance and angles

DOER:
Quick worker with steady hands
Quick reader and good decoder if the writer is less than perfect spelling
Not easily frustrated; able to move on if things don't make sense
Able to concentrate and get it done in 20 minutes
Not easily distracted by other doers in the room

THE PAIR:
Able to work together to come up with ways to describe things
Trusting that the other is doing his or her best -- this is probably the most important quality.
Enthusiastic (well that goes for all SO events)

WHO DOES WHAT JOB:
Why don't you each write two and do two and I am sure as you discuss how it went, you'll come to the conclusion of who should write and who should do! If one of you have done WIDI before (and I'm guessing not), I find that usually the one with more experience tends to be the better writer as he understands what the doer needs. Of course, this isn't always true.

Best to you!

[ceg7654]

That was really helpful for my partner and I. Thanks hscmom! However, we're still pretty evenly matched. The main thing is that I'm good at describing structures with many different levels, and she's great at describing structures that are flatter. I think the latter is harder(there was one we saw a sample of that had paper cutouts and it looked super hard) but the former is more common.

[hscmom]

That was really helpful for my partner and I. Thanks hscmom! However, we're still pretty evenly matched. The main thing is that I'm good at describing structures with many different levels, and she's great at describing structures that are flatter. I think the latter is harder(there was one we saw a sample of that had paper cutouts and it looked super hard) but the former is more common.

Sounds like you are both loaded with talent. Keep practicing in both roles until one of you starts to shine as either writer or doer.

[CulturallyScientific]

Just curious, but how do you guys usually tackle builds that have a lot of "units," as in having a lot of larger components that could be their own separate mini-builds, but they're all interconnected with each other? (sorry, this isn't really clear... )

[hscmom]

Just curious, but how do you guys usually tackle builds that have a lot of "units," as in having a lot of larger components that could be their own separate mini-builds, but they're all interconnected with each other? (sorry, this isn't really clear... )

Yes, they are all like little builds, so the writer must describe how to make each little thing (aka unit) and how it's connected or related to the other components. One of the writer's main tasks is to take an initial look at how complex the entire thing is, and decide how much (or how little) detail he can give to each thing. He also must decide if something must be done before something else (it's easier to put things on than under, you know!).

I know this is vague... I guess it's really up to each team to figure out the usual order of things and how much detail is needed.

[CulturallyScientific]

Just curious, but how do you guys usually tackle builds that have a lot of "units," as in having a lot of larger components that could be their own separate mini-builds, but they're all interconnected with each other? (sorry, this isn't really clear... )

Yes, they are all like little builds, so the writer must describe how to make each little thing (aka unit) and how it's connected or related to the other components. One of the writer's main tasks is to take an initial look at how complex the entire thing is, and decide how much (or how little) detail he can give to each thing. He also must decide if something must be done before something else (it's easier to put things on than under, you know!).

I know this is vague... I guess it's really up to each team to figure out the usual order of things and how much detail is needed.

Thanks, hscmom! If we're usually pressed for time during a build, do you suggest that the writer try to describe the general setup of the units in relation to each other more, or to focus on the smaller details, if there just isn't time to do everything? Usually we can get both right pretty accurately, we just need to work on speed... or sometimes there are just those impossibly complex or long builds

[hscmom]

Thanks, hscmom! If we're usually pressed for time during a build, do you suggest that the writer try to describe the general setup of the units in relation to each other more, or to focus on the smaller details, if there just isn't time to do everything? Usually we can get both right pretty accurately, we just need to work on speed... or sometimes there are just those impossibly complex or long builds

I'd say for a complex build, just describe the bare minimum. You want to get as many pieces generally right as possible. One thing you can do is have the writer quickly give the bare-bones description and then if there is any time left, add some extra details. Let's say that the writer wrote, "The blue block is on left edge of tray, 10 cm from near edge" Then he writes everything else. If he still has time, he might want to add something like "blue block is 5 cm from white cup." If the builder put the blue block correctly the first time it was mentioned, he won't really need the "white cup" statement. However, such a statement might help him "tune up" his build.