schedule

VERBAL SPONTANEOUS: The Ants Go Marching

When team enters room, judge says “This is a verbal problem. You will have one minute to decide which five team members will participate.”

JUDGE READS TO STUDENTS: (Do not read numbers or phrases in parenthesis.)

1. You will have two minutes to think and two minutes to respond. Questions count against your thinking time.

2. You will receive one point for each common response. Highly creative or humorous responses will receive three points. This will be a subjective opinion of the judge and the judge's decision is final.

3. Your team is to take turns in sequence. You may not skip your turn, nor repeat nor pass. If one member of the team is stuck, the team is stuck.

4. Once the time begins, it will not be stopped. If the judge asks you to repeat or to clarify your answer, it counts against your time. Speak loudly and clearly.

THE PROBLEM IS:

5. No one has a picnic without a few ants. They can find their way to food, no matter where it may be. Your problem is: Name as many places as possible where you might find ants, or might find things with ”A – N – T”s.

(Repeat #5, THE PROBLEM IS: )

6. “BEGIN” (Judge starts timer).

FOR JUDGES ONLY:

Be sure to give exactly two minutes to think and two minutes to respond. Timing is critical. Students responding at the buzzer can finish and be scored.

You should repeat the problem for each team. You may answer questions during the two minutes thinking period, but time continues.

Score: One point for each common response and three points for each creative.

Common Responses: Places you would see ants: at a picnic, in the cupboard, on the floor, in an anthill, in my pants, etc.

Creative responses: Unusual or humorous responses, or those that make use of the letters “A-N-T-S,” such as “Gi-ANTS in San Francisco,” “Auntie Mame in a musical,” “S-ANT-a at the North Pole,” or “ants are inside an anteater.”

NOTE: Answers may either incorporate the letters “A-N-T” (in that order), or may have the sound of “ant” (which includes “aunt”). Also note that once one word with “a-n-t” incorporated into it, such as “giant,” has been used, then other answers with the same word are scored as common unless they are exceptionally different and creative.