Questions | Contest Main Page

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
      it will be on the S. side
    2. age rings in a tree
      thickest on the south side
    3. the compass plant (a.k.a pilot weed or rosin weed)
      the leaves point N/S
    4. your shadow
      faces W in the morning and E in the evening.

  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?
    degrees from star to horizon = latitude

Fire & Water

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

  2. If you are low on water, should you eat more or less? Why?
    less, digestion uses water- to carry off excess wastes of food.

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

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

  5. Name a geological feature that is a good indicator of the presence of water in a desert.
    foot of concave banks of dry river beds, 1st depression behind first sand dune of dry desert lakes, base of rock cliffs or outcroppings, gravel wash from mt. valleys, outside edge of dry streambed, depressions

  6. Diagram the "Bow and Drill" method of Firemaking. State what type of wood you are using.
    fir, balsam, poplar, cedar, cypress, tamarack, yucca, linden, willow good. birch, maple, oak bad

  7. Diagram how you would make a water purifier.

Signalling

    What do the following distress signals look like?

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

Plants

  1. Edible Berry ID

    1) currant, edible
    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


    3rd pic is poison ivy

  3. Wild carrot and poison hemlock look very similar. How can you tell them apart?
    Carrot often has a single dark bloom in the center of it's flower cluster, and has hairy stems. Hemlock has neither of those, and has an unpleasant odor if it is crushed.

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

    Balsam Fir (g) a) root has calmative and antispasmodic properties. a popular over-the-counter tranquilizer in Europe.
    Caraway (d) b) plant relieves nausea, used in glaucoma treatment, and is antibiotic for gram-positive bacteria.
    Castor Bean (j) c) plant is a good cold/flu remedy due to it's expectorant, analgesic, anti-inflammitory, and sweat inducing properties.
    Goldthread (f) d) seed tea relieves gas and soothes upset stomach.
    Jewelweed (k) e) leaf tea relieves menstrual cramps, and aids in childbirth.
    Marijuana (b) f) root is highly astringent, and chewed on for canker sores.
    Purple Coneflower (i) g) sap is antiseptic, used in hemorrhoid treatment and root canal sealers
    Red Raspberry (e) h) root used to treat 2nd & 3rd degree burns and stop bleeding.
    Salad Burnet (h) i) plant is a nonspecific immune system stimulant.
    Valerian (a) j) seed oil used as laxative and purgative.
    White Willow (l) k) sap relives itching from skin irritations.
    Yarrow (c) 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.
    reflects prevailing wind patterns in N. hemisphere the red sky indicates high moisture levels (coming rain). if you see it in the morning, it is coming your way, if it's at night, it's heading away from you.

  3. What are the warning signs of a tornado?
    dark (greenish) sky, wall cloud, (low dark cloud base, rotating) large hail, load roaring noise (like a train), etc.

  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.


    bad: windows, kitchen, fireplace
    good: under desks, against walls with no windows, in doorways

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.

    1) green ratsnake, not venomous
    2) coral snake, venomous
    3) scarlet kingsnake, not venomous
    4) water moccasin/cottonmouth, venomous
    5) black racer, not vemonous
    6) bullsnake, not venomous
    7) copperhead, vemomous
    8) garter snake, not venomous
    9) panamint rattler, venomous

  2. How do you identify a black widow? a brown recluse?
    brown recluse- has distinctive dark violin-shaped mark located on the head and thorax. black widow- glossy black color, red hourglass on belly

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?
    set up distracting thumpers, stay on rock, make irregular noises when walking.

  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?
    towel, put it on your head.

  3. What's the first rule of survival in Amber?
    don't trust your family

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

  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?
    Stace.

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

  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

    he didn't use a paper clip to create a radio receiver

  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?
    an arc welder.

  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?
    nylon. 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?
    fake blood; because it would come out pink instead of red

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

  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)
    because it contains electrolytes

The MacGyver in You

  1. How do you hotwire a car?
    run a wire from the positive side of the battery to the positive side of the coil, or the red wire that goes to the coil. find starter solenoid, connect the bolts (anchoring the battery wire(+) and the wire to the starter) with a screwdriver or somesuch. unlock steering column with screwdriver.

  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.
    no return address, oil stains, excess postage, wires, twine

Survivor:

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

  1. What was the final challenge on survivor?

    hands on a hard idol (included walking on hot coals and keeping still for a very long time)

  2. Describe the winning distress signal in episode 4.

    "tagi is groggy" written in the sand with a synchronized dance