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I agree with Starapollo1. Don't let it get to your head or you'll just end up freaking out and doing worse. Sometimes, things just happen. For example, at our state competition, the bottom of the structure was completely tapped down so we couldn't see it, we weren't allowed to go within four feet of the structure, and halfway through the proctor rotated the structure so we could "see all sides of it." It wasn't how we practiced, so we dropped a few places. If things had gone differently, we might have done better. Practice gets you ready, but competition day can become a whole nother game.

For 2010 FL state, we had pipecleaners, beads, straws, and cups. Is that bad? I had legos 4 regionals...

TheBookworm wrote:For 2010 FL state, we had pipecleaners, beads, straws, and cups. Is that bad? I had legos 4 regionals...

I wouldn't say it's "bad"- it's a little harder than a building toy, but then again, we had a building toy at NY States (one that most people had never seen, which I think is what the supervisor was relying on) and it was ridiculously easy (like top-ten-teams-all-had-perfect-scores easy... we had one, maybe two connections wrong, would have been in the 13-15 range if we hadn't gotten DQed >.<), so harder isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I would certainly practice with random craft materials like that, because it's not uncommon to see those in competition.

Phenylethylamine wrote:

TheBookworm wrote:For 2010 FL state, we had pipecleaners, beads, straws, and cups. Is that bad? I had legos 4 regionals...

I wouldn't say it's "bad"- it's a little harder than a building toy, but then again, we had a building toy at NY States (one that most people had never seen, which I think is what the supervisor was relying on) and it was ridiculously easy (like top-ten-teams-all-had-perfect-scores easy... we had one, maybe two connections wrong, would have been in the 13-15 range if we hadn't gotten DQed >.<), so harder isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I would certainly practice with random craft materials like that, because it's not uncommon to see those in competition.

Thnx, I needed that. The good thing is that at the states we got 22nd place (though I dont think I did that bad) out of 54 teams only because I know my partner inside out; she's my bffl Lol

does anyone know what the materials for WIDI at Nationals last year were?

kikiwalls wrote:does anyone know what the materials for WIDI at Nationals last year were?

Div C was k'nex. And was also k'nex the year before if I remember correctly (not likely...).

In other news: pheny, I sincerely hope sk8lnne is in div C as well. Maybe I'll run into the right WIDI room this year!

Do u know wat the nats r 4 b div ? I'm not sure I'll get to far in nats... Lol

jazzy009 wrote:

kikiwalls wrote:does anyone know what the materials for WIDI at Nationals last year were?

Div C was k'nex. And was also k'nex the year before if I remember correctly (not likely...).

In other news: pheny, I sincerely hope sk8lnne is in div C as well. Maybe I'll run into the right WIDI room this year!

She is in Division C now- she's in my grade- but she won't be at Nationals this year.

How do people like to describe the knex pieces? The rods are all different lengths too, so how do you differentiate? Also, if you get a really complex device how do you decide whats important or not. (from the writer point of view)

earthbot25 wrote:How do people like to describe the knex pieces? The rods are all different lengths too, so how do you differentiate? Also, if you get a really complex device how do you decide whats important or not. (from the writer point of view)

Easy: all rods of a given color are the same length, so you can ignore the length and describe the rods solely by color.

Technically, everything is important, but if you're short on time, make sure to write enough that the structure is STABLE. If there are extra pieces sticking out that can be added at the end, leave describing them to the end; if there's some central base structure that will keep the Doer's model from falling over, tell them to build that first. That way, their structure will stay intact, and they hopefully won't second-guess themself as much because it seems to be falling apart.