Tournament of Minds

Tournament of Minds (TOM) is an international program designed to give students the opportunity to participate in creative activities involving stimulating, open ended challenges which demand experimentation and reward divergent thinking.

The TOM challenges are not simple, otherwise they would not be ‘challenges’ at all! Working with a group of seven people often provides complications; and working towards a fixed presentation date makes TOM a real-life task.

The 2020 ‘Super Challenge’ was

People often come across unusual things in unusual places. Something extraordinary has been found . . . in an unexpected place by an out of the ordinary group. People are asking many questions, there are so many questions but so few answers. Your team embarks on a journey to find the answers.

STEM Team (Salty Einsteins)

Harrison Dodds 7 Miki, Harry Rawson 7 Miki, Riley Eyck 7 Miki, Curtis McCoughtry 8 Xavier, Finn Hanley 8 Owen, Sienna Merigan 7 Miki and Max Craven 8 Realino

The Salty Einsteins discovered a new element they call Industriafonsium! They state ‘Historically our energy production has come from ecologically damaging fossil fuels, producing harmful chemicals and greenhouse gases. With the chance to reduce climate change and pollution, Industriafonsium could be the key to the future of environmentally friendly energy production for the world’.

In terms of the skills they develop, they write ‘Due to the COVID-19 isolation, everything was a bit harder. Every team member's communication developed as a result of this. Co-operative research around the polar explorer who discovered the substance, energy production and environmental issues meant that we all learnt about these topics. Our skills with technology used for research, communication, videography and video editing all had advancements.’

The Arts Team (LED - Lethal and Extraordinary Discoveries)

Max Marriott 8 Aitkenhead, Guy Wingrave 8 Xavier, Harry Tinker 8 Aitkenhead, Tiahni Paseuthsak 9 Gonzaga, Kathleen Donald 9 Faber, Jessica Sullivan 9 Arrupe and Harriette O'Keefe 7 Ricci

From The Arts team, in their own words ‘We are creating a short film retelling the story of a small band of time travelling villains. Two of the team members travel back in time to the ancient Greeks and retrieve the fabled weapons of the Gods. The lightning bolt of Zeus, the trident of Poseidon and the helmet of Hades. Two more travel into the future and grab pieces of technology with great power. The film shows flashbacks of these events after they happened and the artefacts have been brought to the present day. With everything retrieved, the leader of the villains Kronos (named after the king of the Titans), can assert dominion across the world’.

The group reported that ‘The most important behaviour and values are teamwork, consideration and respect. These three behaviours, and values are important because without them our video solution would crumble into pieces. If we didn’t work together, consider everybody’s ideas and respect what’s being said this experience wouldn’t be fun nor would it be completed’.

Social Sciences Team (Sociological Seven)

Charli Di Pasquale 8 Campion, Chelsea Ferguson 8 Rubio, Stella Burke 8 Rubio, Lily Flight 8 Campion, Will Hanley 8 Rubio, Ella McGlynn 8 Owen and Chloe McCurdy 8 Owen

The overview the team presented says ‘Our presentation started when six very different people each received a letter. On everybody saying the words ‘The Game Master’ at the end of the letter they are all transferred very suddenly into a white room that they share. This entire experiment is monitored by a character called The Game Master. It is broadcast and they are being monitored from when they find the letter till the end of this story. In other words, it’s a social experiment that is also a game show’.

Some of their insights include ‘We found that working together on our solution was a great break from the remote learning routine. It was great to be working in a team environment, especially since we were all feeling quite lonely with the current restrictions.’

Congratulations to all students who participated in Tournament of Minds 2020!

Ms Karen Perkins