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Survivor/MacGyver

Lab Section

  1. Find the rope we gave you, and choose 4 of the following knots to tie. Turn them in with the bonus. Label your knots with your team name & the knot type.

  2. Construct & turn in one of the following devices. It will be judged on it's cleverness & effectiveness. Use only simple materials to build it (string, sticks, and empty bottles are ok, premanufactured pulley systems and fishing hooks are not).

  3. Come down to the station and pick a lock. Picks and lock will be provided. You can do this when you turn in your bonus.

Orienteering

  1. Tell us what directional information you can glean from these things:
    1. an anthill at the base of a tree
    2. age rings in a tree
    3. the compass plant (a.k.a pilot weed or rosin weed)
    4. your shadow

  2. Given a stick, a circle, a sunny day, a few hours of time, and basic knowledge of geometry, how can you tell which way exact north is? Diagram below.

  3. Identify the North Star:

  4. How can you use The North Star to calculate your latitude?

Fire & Water

  1. What 2 protozoan are primarily responsible for making (Ameican) rivier water unsafe to drink?

  2. If you are low on water, should you eat more or less? Why?

  3. T or F: When water is scarce, drinking your urine will help keep you hydrated.

  4. In a Northeastern temparate forest, what is the best vegetation to tap for water? In a Southwestern desert?

  5. Name a geological feature that is a good indicator of the presence of water in a desert.

  6. Diagram the "Bow and Drill" method of Firemaking. State what type of wood you are using.

  7. Diagram how you would make a water purifier.

Signalling

  1. What do the following distress signals look like?

  2. what is morse code for SOS? (...---...)

Plants

  1. Edible Berry ID

    2) wintergreen/teaberry, edible
    3) nightshade, harmful
    4) raspberry, edible
    5) bunchberry, edible
    6) highbush cranberry, edible
    7) baneberry, harmful
    8) jack in the pulpit, harmful
    9) rowan/mountain ash, edible

  2. Poison Ivy ID

  3. Wild carrot and poison hemlock look very similar. How can you tell them apart?

  4. Match the plant name with the phrase that best describe it's medicinal uses.

    Balsam Fir a) root has calmative and antispasmodic properties. a popular over-the-counter tranquilizer in Europe.
    Caraway b) plant relieves nausea, used in glaucoma treatment, and is antibiotic for gram-positive bacteria.
    Castor Bean c) plant is a good cold/flu remedy due to it's expectorant, analgesic, anti-inflammitory, and sweat inducing properties.
    Goldthread d) seed tea relieves gas and soothes upset stomach.
    Jewelweed e) leaf tea relieves menstrual cramps, and aids in childbirth.
    Marijuana f) root is highly astringent, and chewed on for canker sores.
    Purple Coneflower g) sap is antiseptic, used in hemorrhoid treatment and root canal sealers
    Red Raspberry h) root used to treat 2nd & 3rd degree burns and stop bleeding.
    Salad Burnet i) plant is a nonspecific immune system stimulant.
    Valerian j) seed oil used as laxative and purgative.
    White Willow k) sap relives itching from skin irritations.
    Yarrow l) bark used to lower fever, kill pain, and reduce inflammation.

Weather Lore & Natural Disasters

  1. Tell us how to use the following things to predict fair or foul weather.

  2. "Red skies at night, sailor's delight. Red sky at morning, sailors take warning." Explain why this rhyme has scientific validity.

  3. What are the warning signs of a tornado?

  4. Circle the correct answer. Avalanches are most likely to occur...

  5. You are trapped in the house mapped on the left during an earthquake. Point out potential dangers. Mark the safest places to be with an "X" on the map.

Animal Encounters

  1. Venomous Snake ID

    Tell us whether each of the following North American snakes in venomous or not. Support your choice by either identifying the snake, or pointing out a feature of the snake that indicates its nature.

  2. How do you identify a black widow? a brown recluse?

Mark each of the following statements as True or False.

  1. If your friend is bitten by a venomous snake, you should...

  2. If a mountain lion takes interest in you, you should...

  3. If you are attacked by an alligator you should...

  4. To escape from a pack of killer bees you should...

  5. Black bears...

  6. Sharks...

  7. Ticks...

  8. provide a life size drawing of a lyme tick

Survival in Other Worlds

  1. How do you cross the deserts of Arakkis without getting eaten by a sand worm?

  2. What is the most important piece of survival gear according to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? How can you use it to defend yourself against the horrid Bugblatter Beast of Traal?

  3. What's the first rule of survival in Amber?

  4. In Middle Earth, what are Elven travel rations called?

  5. State where each of the following is a natural threat. (locations, not book/movie names)

MacGyver

Long before a sadistic television producer stranded those folks out on a deserted island, television gave us survival tips from the real pro, that cold-war heartthrob and mechanical genius, MacGyver. For one hundred and forty-one episodes, he and his trusty Swiss Army Knife did the almost-possible, every week. We know, the producers intentionally left key ingredients out of his accomplishments so that kids wouldn't try them at home. But that just made them more exciting. Wow, that was a long introduction for just seven questions, wasn't it? Well, we think MacGyver's worth it.

  1. What is MacGyver's first name, according to the pilot?

  2. What is his first name, according to the rest of the show?

  3. Which one of these things did MacGyver NOT use a paper clip to do?

    1. disarm a missile
    2. create a radio receiver
    3. hotwire a car

  4. By our count, MacGyver made one of these three times. Once, he used a car antenna, jumper cables, and a battery. Once, he used wire, a battery, and jumper cables. And once, he used a jumper cable, generator, and two half-dollars. What is this thing?

  5. MacGyver wasn't just a mechanical genius. He was also an expert chemist. What material did he make from adipic acid, hexamethylene diamene, and iron filings? In MacGyver's chemistry world, what (liquid) can one make from drain cleaner and phenolphtalein solution? and for an extra bonus smile from us, why wouldn't it be effective?

  6. In MacGyver's chemistry world, what can you do with chemicals from a first aid kit, and orange juice?

  7. Finally... MacGyver explained to us why cactus juice could be used to power a transistor radio. Why? (hint: MacGyver didn't tell us, but we know that bananas would do the same thing)

The MacGyver in You

  1. How do you hotwire a car?

  2. You're on a small airplane, and your pilot and co-pilot have just been incapacatated. Tell us, oh resourceful one, these things that you know that will help you land the plane.

  3. You have a package, and many enemies. Tell us the things that you would look for to see if it was a letter bomb.

Survivor:

    Number these survivor contestants in the order that they were voted off the island:

  1. What was the final challenge on survivor?

  2. Describe the winning distress signal in episode 4.