Challenge Preparation Activities 2015
Years 5 and 6
Escape From Greystone Manor
Story Auction
Catch The Beat
Snappy Solutions
Teams should organise a time to meet regularly.
Teams will be able to do much of this preparation with little assistance.
Teachers may choose to use some of the activities in the classroom.
There will be practice workshops on the day of The Challenge.
We advise that not everything in this handbook will be in The Challenge.
Have fun with these activities!
Challenge No.1
Your team is visiting the old Greystone Manor when you suddenly realise you’ve become separated from the tour
group. You try to locate the others, but discover that they have left without you. You are now locked inside the old
home which was originally owned by an eccentric scientist who mysteriously disappeared. You have to get out, but
the clock is ticking – the last bus out of the abandoned town leaves in just 30 minutes!
The windows are barred and the front door is locked. You have to find a way to escape but it appears that the only
way to do this is to figure out the combination for the key safe by the front door. You must search the house for the
clues hidden in the answers to a series of scientific challenges. Can you escape Greystone Manor before the last bus
is just a dust trail in the night?
Complete the following activities for a head start!
LINKS TO THE CURRICULUM
Science Understanding:
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Physical sciences
Science Inquiry Skills
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Questioning and predicting
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Processing and analysing data and information
INTERPRETING GRAPHS
Adult assistance necessary: None
Preparation Time: Nil
Activity Time: 20 minutes
Materials: Computer and access to the internet for further practice only.
Being able to interpret a graph is
an important skill required for
this challenge.
This line graph shows the number of leaves produced
by bean seedlings in a two month period. Analyse the
graph to answer the questions below.
1. How many plants produced less than 21 leaves?
2. How many plants produced between 46 and 50
leaves?
Number
of
plants
3. How many leaves did the largest number of plants
have?
4. How many leaves did 7 of the plants produce?
You can do more practice by following the links below:
http://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/51/
bar_charts
Number of leaves
http://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/129
/interpret_pie_charts
DIFFERENT FORMS OF ENERGY
Adult assistance necessary: None
Preparation Time: Nil
Activity Time: 20 minutes for each topic.
Materials: Computer and access to the internet.
SOUND WAVE GRAPHS:
Did you know an oscilloscope is an instrument
that can show sound waves as a graph?
Follow the link below:
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/resources/s/sound
/oscilloscope.asp
How does the amplitude (volume) and frequency (pitch) of
a sound affect the appearance of the sound waves on the
virtual oscilloscope?
ELECTRICITY:
Make sure you’re familiar with the basic
components of a circuit.
Follow the links below for some
help with electricity:
http://www.cleo.net.uk/consultants_resources/science
/circuitWorld/circuitworld.html
http://www.andythelwell.com/blobz/guide.html
Follow the links below to discover the difference
between a series circuit and a parallel circuit.
http://thefusebox.northernpowergrid.com/page/circuit
builder.cfm
Use the link above to practise building both types of
circuits.
TYPES OF ENERGY
Investigate the different types of energy and then
complete the crossword. You can start with the link
below:
http://www.enwin.com/kids/electricity/types_of_
energy.cfm
ACROSS:
2. When you drop a ball, gravitational and potential
energy______________ to kinetic energy, sound
energy and heat energy.
5. The stored energy that something has when it is
high up is called _______________ potential.
7. Rubbing your hands together changes kinetic
energy into heat and sound ______________.
8. Any moving object is said to have _____________
energy.
9. There are many different forms or _______ of
energy.
10. A form of energy that hot objects have.
DOWN:
1. This is a form of kinetic energy caused by vibrating
objects. It travels as sound waves.
3. The form of energy used by electrical devises. It is
easily transmitted by wires.
4. What we call stored energy.
6. Energy can be changed from one form into
another, for example, a torch changes chemical
potential energy to ___________ energy.
USING A PROTRACTOR
Adult assistance necessary: None
Preparation Time: Nil
Activity Time: 15 minutes
Materials: Protractor access to computer and internet for
additional practice.
C
Practise using a protractor to measure the
angles between the following lines:
2. B and E: _________________
D
B
A
1. A and C: _________________
E
3. C and D: _________________
F
4. E and C: _________________
5. A and E: _________________
TIPS FOR USING A PROTRACTOR:
6. D and F: _________________
1. Place the centre line (crossbar) of the protractor over the vertex of
the angle. The vertex is the pointy end where the two lines of the
angle meet.
2. Rotate the protractor so that the horizontal black line of the
protractor is sitting on top of one of the rays of the angle you want
to measure.
3. To decide which scale to read (top or bottom) find the scale that
begins at zero on one line of your angle.
4. For more practice measuring angles check out the link below:
http://www.mathplayground.com/measuringangles.html
7. B and D: _________________
8. A and B: _________________
TIP: There will be questions in this
challenge based on information that
you haven’t seen before. However, if
you read the information presented
carefully, you will be able to use it to
solve a problem.
GOOD LUCK TEAMS!
ANSWERS
Interpreting Graphs: 1. 5 2.12 3.18 4.21-25
Types of Energy: Across. 2. Changes 5. Gravitational 7. Energy 8. Kinetic 9. Types 10. Heat Down: 1. Sound
3. Electrical 4. Potential 6. Light
Using a Protractor: 1. 90o 2. 120o 3. 36o 4. 63o 5. 154o 6. 52o 7. 93o 8. 35o
Challenge No.2
Story Auction
Connections to Curriculum: English
No doubt you have all written stories before. But I doubt you’ve ever written one under as much pressure as
you’ll feel during Story Auction.
This Challenge starts with teams bidding with Monopoly money for particular genres, characters and words. You’ll
have to think quickly – if you bid too much too early, you might be stuck with characters you really don’t want.
With the genre, characters and words you’ve bought, you’ll have to create a story that incorporates all your
bought elements, PLUS … is exciting, tension-packed, emotional, may be even humorous!
It takes most writers 10 minutes just to turn their computer on. You’ll only have that time to write a complete
story.
Then you’ll read your story out – it cannot be more than two minutes long – with a beginning, middle and end.
Are you up to the Challenge?
Here are three preparation exercises for you to do at school in the lead-up to the challenge.
Activity 1: Genres/writing styles
Teacher Preparation Time: 30 Minutes (perhaps more depending on guidance needed)
Lesson Duration:
Materials:
One 50-Minute Class Period per genre (or more depending on how many
genres participants wish to study). I suggest you study at least three genres.
Books, notebook and pens
Borrow books in some of the following genres and make notes about what characteristics books of the same
genre share.
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fantasy
crime
horror
science fiction
supernatural
Do the same for some popular writers such as:
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Andy Griffiths
Dr Seuss
J K Rowling
Tolkien
Here are some of the things to look out for:
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setting
types of conflict
style of dialogue
types of characters
types of resolutions.
The more you know about these genres, the more points you will be likely to get in the Challenge. The more
genres you study, the more chance you’ll have of being able to bid for a genre you understand well.
Activity 2: Story structure
Teacher Preparation Time: 15 Minutes
Lesson Duration:
One 50-Minute Class Period
Materials:
Notebook, pens
Most stories throughout human history have a traditional three-act structure. I will be looking for your story in
the Challenge to have a three-act structure. Here are the features of a three-act structure.
Act 1 – The set-up: Introduces the main character/s, the setting, the genre and the time period (i.e. past, present,
future). Act 1 ends with an inciting incident. An inciting incident is an event or a discovery that sets the main
character/s towards their goal. It is something that they cannot ignore. For example, in Harry Potter the inciting
incident is when Harry receives the letter informing him that he is a wizard.
Act 2 – Confrontation: This is the longest part of a story and it contains lots and lots of conflict. In other words,
different things get in the way of the main character/s achieving their goal. Act 2 ends with the climax – when the
main character/s has their final battle and usually gets what they set out to achieve.
Act 3 – Resolution: This is where the reader learns how the main characters react to the climax and how they
have changed from the way they were at the beginning of the story.
Now look at a story that you have read or studied and see if you can identify all the elements of the three-act
structure that are written about above. Here are some things to look for:
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How does the author make you aware of where and when the story is set?
How do you know who the main character/s are?
What is the inciting incident?
What sort of problems (conflict) get in the way of the main character/s achieving their goal?
What is the climax?
How do the main characters react to the climax?
How have the main character/s changed at the end of the story compared to the beginning?
Following these basic rules in the story you create in the Challenge will gain you many points.
Teacher notes:
Explain the three-act structure as outlined above and discuss the students’ findings after they have analysed a
story.
Activity 3: Writing and reading
Teacher Preparation Time: 5 Minutes
Lesson Duration:
30 minutes
Materials:
Notebook, pens, stopwatch
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Choose a genre that your team has looked at in some detail (see exercise 1).
Pick two words at random from a dictionary.
Choose two character types that would not normally appear in your genre (e.g. a butcher and a footballer
in a science fiction story).
Set a stopwatch for 10 minutes.
As a team, write a story in your chosen genre. Make sure you include the two words and the two
character types. You can include other characters if you like.
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Keep an eye on the time because you must stop when 10 minutes is up. Hopefully you have a story that
has a beginning, middle and an end, and that can be read out in no longer than 2 minutes.
Set a stopwatch for 2 minutes.
Have a team member (or more than one) read the story out.
If you have not finished the story when the alarm goes, make a note as to where you got up to. This is the
length that your story should be during the Challenge (or even a little shorter).
With your teacher’s help, check that your story has the elements discussed in exercise 2 (story structure).
Teacher notes:
Make sure your students adhere to the time limit. Check their final story against the elements discussed in
exercise 2 (story structure).
Challenge No.3
Catch The Beat
The Beat Thief has struck again at Quaver Dance Hall! Before you embark on solving this musical mystery it might
be worth brushing up on a few things. Below are some activities that will help you to build the skills you will need
to catch the thief. These activities can be done in any order. Good luck.
Activity 1: Finding The Beat
TEACHER INFORMATION
Teacher Assistance: None
Connections to curriculum: Music and Maths
Preparation time:
5-10 minutes
Activity time: One - two session
Materials:
Audio player/speakers and internet
THINGS TO KNOW
Every piece of music has a beat. The beat is what you clap to if you are clapping in time with the music. Each time
you clap is a single beat (musically this is called a crochet).
The speed or tempo of a piece of music is written in beats per minute (bpm). You can work out the bpm by counting
how many times you clap in one minute of music. 60bpm is a slow piece of music and 190bpm is a fast piece of
music. In the table below are some examples of the bpm for some famous songs.
Song and Artist
Beats per Minute (bpm)
Happy, Pharrell Williams
160 bpm
Fight Song, Rachel Platten
88 bpm
Let it Go, Indina Menzel
135 bpm
Circle of Life, Elton John
160 bpm
Note: Sometimes the tempo of a
song will change making it harder
to work out the bpm. Bohemian
Rhapsody changes tempo several
times. Over 140 artists have
recorded Somewhere Over the
Rainbow and each artist has used a
different tempo
ACTIVITIES TO DO
Can you find the bpm for the songs below?
Song and Artist
Beats per
minute (bpm)
Song and
Artist
Beats per
minute (bpm)
Song and Artist
Shut and Dance
Walk the moon
Shake it Off
Taylor Swift
Flashlight
Jessie J
Photograph
Ed Sheeran
Black Magic
Little Mix
Uptown Funk
Mark Ronson
Don’t worry if you don’t have a copy of these songs, you can listen to them through the ARIA website
www.ariacharts.com.au/chart/singles
FURTHER INFORMATION
Of course the songs above are just suggestions. You can find the bpm for any song you like.
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songbpm.com will tell you the bpm for a lot of songs so you can check your answers. You’ll need both the artist
and the title of the song.
www.all8.com/tools/bpm.htm and www.beatsperminuteonline.com/ are both websites with a counter so you
can tap the keyboard in time to the music and it will calculate the bpm for you. Really helpful if you just want to
practise tapping along to the music.
BPM Detector is a free app available for android or apple devices (Ask your parents and teachers permission
before you download anything).
Sibelius Academy (www2.siba.fi/muste1/index.php?id=2&la=en) is a great website if you would like to know
more about the structure of music, tempos (bpm) and time signatures.
Activity 2: The Direction Of The Dance
TEACHER INFORMATION
Teacher Assistance: Minimal
Preparation time:
Materials:
Connections to curriculum: Maths, Visual/Spatial
awareness, Mapping
5 - 10 minutes
Activity time: One – two sessions
Copies of the dance compass
THINGS TO KNOW
Dance etiquette says that all dancers should move around a dance floor in the same direction. This is usually
anticlockwise around the room and is called the Line of Dance (LOD for short). Why?
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LOD helps dancers to avoid collisions and dancing traffic jams
There are a few theories about why LOD is anticlockwise. The most sensible reason is that ladies would always
stand on their partner’s right to avoid being stabbed by the men’s swords. The ladies’ were always on the
outside of the circle so their giant skirts had room to swish; the skirts also protected the audience from being
hit by swords. Two silly theories relate to witchcraft and the earth’s rotation.
LOD helps create a dance compass so you can work out the direction of each dance step.
The pictures below show the relationship between the dance compass and the LOD.
Backing Diagonal
Wall
Backing
LOD
Backing Diagonal
Centre
Centre
No matter which of the 4 sides of the
dance floor you are on, the ‘centre’ arrow
always points to the centre of the room
(the compass rotates anticlockwise ¼ of a
turn when you turn the corner)
Facing Diagonal
Centre
Facing LOD
Facing Diagonal
Wall Wall
Centre
Dances are broken down into figures, which are a list of steps that, when done in combination, read like directions
that move you around the room. The table below has an example.
Step
number
1
2
Beginning
direction
Facing LOD
3
Foot
Step direction
Turn
Left foot
Right foot
Forward
Forward
Left foot
Close to right foot
No turn
½ turn to the left
(facing centre)
No turn
Finishing
direction
Facing centre
Step directions can be forward, backward, sideward and diagonal (forward or backwards with 1/8 turn left or right)
or close feet together (close right foot to left foot or close left foot to right foot).
Turns can be to the left or right. The dance compass is broken up into eight segments therefore each segment is
worth 1/8 of a turn. You can turn any amount, but the most common amount of turn is 1/8, 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, (one eighth,
one quarter, three eights and one half).
ACTIVITIES TO DO
It’s time to get your feet moving around the room.
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Pick a spot in the room and a direction on the dance compass to start and finish in.
Make a table to similar to the one above with the step directions. See if your teammates can follow your
directions and finish in the correct spot and direction.
Sound too easy? Try the following ideas to make it more difficult:
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At least every third step you must turn between 1/8 and 1/2 of a turn, left or right.
Each time you turn, you must turn a different amount to the previous time you turned.
You must step in all the different directions at least once, but no more than 3 times.
Can you move between the same two spots in exactly 24, 36 and 44 steps?
Draw or speak the directions instead of writing them down.
What other rules can you come up with to make it more difficult for your teammates?
Activity 3: Cryptic Clues
TEACHER INFORMATION
Teacher Assistance: Minimal
Connections to curriculum: Logic and English
Preparation time:
5 minutes
Activity time: One - two sessions
Materials:
Newspaper and/or internet
THINGS TO KNOW
Any good mystery has clues that need to be solved and the musical mystery of Quaver Dance Hall is no exception.
It is time to put your thinking caps on and solve some cryptic clues. There are lots of different ways to solve cryptic
clues. Below are some examples of the 4 types of cryptic clues you need to know how to solve and some hints on
how to solve each type.
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Step 1: Identify the word/s that might be the definition. It is often at the start or the end of the clue.
Step 2: Use the rest of the clue to work out what type of wordplay is being used
Step 3: Check the answer and keep practising.
Clue Type
Hidden
words
Acrostic
Odd/even
clue
Anagrams
Explanation
The letters of the answer are hidden
inside words. Hidden words clues are
hiding, cover, buried, from, or part of.
The answer is spelled out by the initial
letters of words from the cryptic part of
the clue. Acrostic word clues are first,
leader, beginning or start.
Take out letters (often odd or even) to
make the answer. Odd/even word clues
are odd, even, delete, remove or drop.
The answer is an anagram of the words
in the clue. Anagram word clues are in
mix, scrambled, ordered, play or new.
Example
Warmth in the
atrium (4)
Try harder if
new German
leaders object
(5)
Observe odd
characters in
scene (3)
A Shakespeare
play set in
Eltham (6).
Answer
HEAT.
The hidden word clue is ‘in’, the
atrium, heat is a synonym of warmth
THING.
Leaders is the acrostic clue, T-H-I-NG, which is a synonym of object.
SEE.
Observe is a synonym of see, the odd
letters of scene.
HAMLET
Eltham is an anagram of Hamlet. Set
in is cryptic anagram clue.
ACTIVITIES TO DO
Can you work out the answers to each of these cryptic clues?
1.
3.
5.
7.
Tapestry covers primates (4)
Removing cattle to find the feline. (3)
From this position, can’t go up? That’s odd (4)
Cheap bag of mixed fruit (5)
2.
4.
6.
8.
Metal covered by the environment (4)
Black and white lamb starts to cry (4)
What’s at the start of any road running one way? (5)
Playing with things to make the day disappear (6)
FURTHER INFORMATION
Want more information and cryptic clues to practise?

Most newspapers (e.g. The Guardian (www.theguardian.com/crosswords/series/cryptic) has cryptic
crosswords. If you can’t solve them all remember that some clues are difficult and there are other types of
clues as well.
Check out alwayspuzzling.blogspot.com.au for more information on and examples of cryptic clues.
apes, iron, cat, bawl, atop, arrow, peach, nights

Challenge No.4
Snappy Solutions
This Challenge will require you to solve a complex problem very quickly. The more problem solving activities you
do for practice the better – and faster – you will be.
Activity 1: Identifying The Central Issue
TEACHER INFORMATION
Adult assistance: Take each team through the following problems and ensure they are not solving the problem but
identifying exactly what has to be addressed to solve it.
Preparation time:
Activity time:
Materials:
Curriculum Connection:
1 minute
Maximum 10 minutes per issue
Pen and paper
Thinking Skills
1. There are many clubs at your school and you are president of the chess club. You are trying to boost your
membership. You have brainstormed a few ways to encourage more people to join, like more advertising
of your meetings around the school, but you want something that would really encourage people to
come. Whatever you do must be affordable since it will come from club dues and must be effective. What
would you do to boost membership?
What is the essential problem here?
2. You desperately want to get a lead role in the end of year Production. You have only had chorus role
previously. You have been taking acting classes outside of school but the teachers don’t know this.
Auditions are in two months’ time. You are worried they’ll just pick last year’s leads.
What is the essential problem here?
3. There is a new girl at your school. You think she seems very nice. However your best friends have decided
to tease her. They play tricks on her and even make her cry. When you try to be nice to her they start stirring
you. You are hoping to go on camp with them in the holidays but are not sure you will be invited. You hate
what they are doing.
What is the essential problem here?
Note it is important to practise writing the central issue simply and clearly!
Activity 2: Identifying forces that are stopping a solution and forces driving a solution
TEACHER INFORMATION
Adult assistance:
Preparation time:
Activity time:
Materials:
Curriculum Connection:
Set the task and explain
1 minute
Maximum 30 minutes
Pen and paper
Thinking Skills and Sustainability
PROBLEM: PRESERVING THE GREAT BARRIER REEF
Facts about the Reef
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The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system in the world.
It is found in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia.
The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest living structure.
It is made up of around 2900 individual reefs and 900 islands.
The Great Barrier Reef is around 2600 kilometres (1616 miles) in length.
Astronauts can see the Great Barrier Reef from space.
Marine animals called coral play an important role in the formation of the Great Barrier Reef.
Coral create calcium carbonate which forms a hard, shell-like skeleton.
The Great Barrier Reef is home to a wide range of life, including fish, sea turtles, giant clam, seahorse, sea
snakes, nudibranch, sea turtles, stingray, sharks and many more.
Over 1500 different species of fish live in the Great Barrier Reef, including clownfish, star of the animated
film Finding Nemo.
Whales, dolphins and dugong can also be seen in the Great Barrier Reef.
Climate change is perhaps the biggest threat to the Great Barrier Reef.
Warmer ocean temperatures put stress on coral and lead to coral bleaching.
The Great Barrier Reef is a popular tourist destination with around 2 million visitors every year.
It has World Heritage listing
Go to Google and search: ‘What are threats to the Great Barrier Reef?’ (Negative forces – leading to destruction)
Do another search: ‘What are the opportunities to save it?’ (Positive forces – leading to preservation)
List the positive and the negative forces.
State them as follows:
Tourism is a force for preservation.
Dredging coal ports is a force for destruction.
Group them into categories: Tourism, Mining, Agriculture, etc.
Some will have both positive and negative effects Eg. Tourism – promotes seeing pristine reef but overuse destroys
coral.
Activity 3: Mind Mapping
TEACHER INFORMATION
Adult assistance:
Set the task and explain
Preparation time:
1 minute
Activity time:
Maximum 20 minutes
Materials:
Large sheets of butcher’s paper
Curriculum Connection: Thinking Skills and Sustainability
WHAT IS A MIND MAP?
A Mind Map starts with a central issue and each idea about that issue is represented by a branch. Then each branch
is taken one at a time and broken down into sub ideas and so on until the Map has all the possibilities about the
issue recorded visually. Then the issue is revealed in all its complexity but is ordered into categories that make it
easier to solve.
coach
talent
SPORTS STAR
training
AIS
physique
money
club
rivals
Here is a Mind Map about Mind Mapping
Study it and then create your own for the Great Barrier Reef problem above.