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Pre-College/Youth Programs

Academic Competitions

State of Jefferson Scavenger Hunt 2010 - Middle School

Participants in the State of Jefferson Scavenger Hunt have three days to complete answers to academic, artistic, current news, and internet questions using library resources and documentation. Middle and high school teams involve as many students and adults as possible in the high-pressure task of finding and documenting the right answers. The Hunt culminates in an adjudication session chaired by a judge. During the adjudication, competing teams have the opportunity to challenge and defend their responses. Students learn teamwork, organization, library skills, critical-thinking skills and verbal communication. The Middle School Scavenger Hunt will take place in January 2010.

The 11th Annual State of Jefferson Middle School Scavenger Hunt
January  26, 27, 28 and February 2, 2010


Last Year's Contest

2008 Hunt Directions and Timeline

Adjudication was held Thursday, November 20, 2008 from 9:00am to 2:00pm
The Arena, Stevenson Union, Southern Oregon University

Steve Boyarsky, Superintendent of the Southern Oregon Education Service District and Judge;
Carol Jensen, Director of Pre-College Youth Programs, Southern Oregon University; Danya Hector, Program Manager of Pre-College Youth Programs; Bill Street, Hunt Director;
Pam Turner, Judge; Staci Palin, Judge

Results

Ashland Middle School and Pinehurst were declared the winner with 81 points. Talent Middle School placed second place with 71 points and Scenic Middle School took third place with 70 points.

Picture of Ashland/Pinehurst Scavenger Hunt team

Ashland/Pinehurst Scavenger Hunt Team

Category Ashland / Pinehurst
Eagle Point Applegate McLoughlin Rogue River Ruch Scenic Talent
Print
19
11
14
13
10
10
13
13
Internet
27
22
23
22
21
26
24
26
Bring Ins
11
6
7
12
13
12
12
11
Audio
6
3
3
4
6
6
4
3
Images
10
5
10
5
6
10
11
10
Where in the World
8
5
5
5
4
5
6
8
Total Points
81
52
62
61
60
69
70
71
Place
1st
         
3rd
2nd

2008 Middle School Scavenger Hunt Questions

Our Dedicatee's cabin

 

Part I: Print-Based Questions:

Each answer requires at least one piece of print-based documentation with two to challenge the Hunt Director's answer. Print-based questions must be originally from copyrighted sources (books, magazines, journals, newspapers or government documents). Documentation should refer to the underlined portion of the question, but need not contain the exact wording unless it is a proper name or in “quotes”. See official rules for more details.

Dedicatee:

  1. Our dedicatee’s dad named him Pearl. When he caught Pearl writing a story about a boy who lived in a cave, his dad tore it up and thrashed him for his foolishness. By the time of his death, “Pearl” had written 89 books. Pearl is better known as: (F&L)? (2 points)

    Answer: Zane Grey
    Source:
    Source:
  2. A small, scrappy kid who never walked away from a fight, our dedicatee was also “one of the early pitchers to master the curveball”. Name the Ivy League school he attended on a baseball scholarship. (2 points)

    Answer: University of Pennsylvania
    Source:
    Source:
  3. Our dedicatee wrote, “The new hand did not get a chance to straddle a horse for over a week, and then his mount certainly was not one of the thoroughbreds he saw prancing in the pasture or kicking the bars of the corral…. He could not help being thrilled by the thought that every one of these beautiful horses belonged to him.” Name the "new hand". (F, L) (2 points)

    Answer: Ernest Selby
    Source:
    Source:
  4. The “Storm of the Century” affected over 90 million people! Damages exceeded 5 billion dollars. Who made the estimate that compared the storm to the amount of water that flows past New Orleans in 40 days? (2 points)

    Answer: National Weather Service
    Source:
    Source:
  5. Name the man who named an Oregon landmark Emmons Peak. (L) (2 points)

    Answer: Wilkes
    Source:
    Source:
  6. When tomatoes are out of season, this popular restaurant serves up a tasty orange fruit in its sandwiches that the local locavores love. What’s the name of the company that heavily subsidizes this restaurant? What is the name of the fruit? (2 points)

    Answer:
    a. Google
    b. Persimmon
    Source:
    Source:
  7. ”_________ woke _________ with a sharp rap of her snout, bruising him with her hard jaw.“ Who (a.) woke whom (b.)? (F and F) (2 points)

    Answers:
    a. Saphira
    b. Eragon
    Source:
    Source:
  8. Which Oregon coach said, "Ours was probably the only UO team that didn't know the word defeat." ? (F, L) How many games did that squad win? (2 points)

    Answer:
    a. Cal Young
    b. One
    Source:
    Source:
  9. To the nearest foot, how tall is a Jabberwock? (2 points)

    Answer: “some 20 feet tall”
    Source:
    Source:
  10. “____  ____’s final memory of the family farm was watching everything his family had built, planted and nurtured be systematically destroyed. He realized that his life would never be the same.”
    Years later, after ____  ____ died, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. What was his name? (F, L) (2 points)

    Answer: Cesar Chavez
    Source:
    Source:

Part II: Internet Questions:

Documentation is required for Internet questions. The source is the URL of the home page or actual page on which your answer appears. Required documentation is a printout of the answer from the specific page and must include a URL. Documentation should refer to the underlined portion of the question, but need not contain the exact wording unless it is a proper name or in quotes. Two valid internet sources are required to challenge the Hunt Director's answer.

  1. Tuk Tuk” is one of the roles played in a movie that just came out in the past year. What’s the name of the movie? (2 points)

    Answer: Hari Puttar: A Comedy of Terrors
    Source:
    Source:
  2. If you were applying for a job as an Operations Engineer at Twitter, what kind of college degree would you need and how many years of experience with Linux? (2 points)

    Answer:
    a. a. B.S. in Computer Science
    b. 4+
    Source:
    Source:
  3. Cheewa James recently gave a talk here in the Rogue Valley. Where did she give the talk (town name) and what tribe did she talk about? (Tip: You may have to copy and paste the text of this web page to a Word document if it fails to appear when you print it off the internet.) (2 points)

    Answer:
    a. Jacksonville
    b. Modoc
    Source:
    Source:
  4. Bottlemania was published in 2008. Explore the website and find the link to a nearby river’s watershed council (within 100 miles of Medford). Click on the link and scroll down to the article that has a slippery slope in the title. What is on that slippery slope? (2 points)

    Answer: Bottled water
    Source:
    Source:
  5. Cartier-Bresson is no Guoleifsdottir.” Where does Guoleifsdottir post her photos and how many megapixels does her favorite camera have? (Tip: you may need additional sources to document each answer!) (3 points)

    Answer:
    a. a Flickr or www.rebekkagudleifs.com
    b. “around 12”
    Source:
    Source:
  6. Some say he’s fixated on fish. He used an “app” developed by the aviation industry to design this one. Who is this guy? (F, L) (2 points)

    Answer: Frank Gehry
    Source:
    Source:
  7. This little creature eats up eleven billion dollars worth of U. S. property every year! If it ate a page of computer paper, it could produce enough hydrogen to drive about six miles in a fuel cell car! What is it?! (2 points)

  8. Answer: Termite
    Source:
    Source:
  9. A bunch of ultimate Frisbee players spent a lot of time last summer emptying the containers in the back of Chinese restaurants. What college did they attend? (2 points)

    Answer: Dartmouth
    Source:
    Source:
  10. Take a virtual visit to Cadillac Ranch. Who posted the photograph of the sunlit Cadillacs on Sept. 30, 2008? (F, L) (2 points)

    Answer: Andie Smith
    Source:
    Source:
  11. If you know who Peter Britt was, you might be able to find the answer to this question: what was the name (F) of the Native American woman featured on one of the web pages of a local educational institution? (2 points)

    Answer: Oscharwasha
    Source:
    Source:
  12. Everybody makes mistakes. Check out the “Android Demo” on YouTube. Watch Sergey and Steve do the demo. What name does Steve call Erin instead of Erin? (I will accept a YouTube page as documentation.) (1 point)

    Answer: Karen (or Karin)
    Source:
    Source:
  13. Angeleno Heights is famous for its Victorian houses. It’s also famous for its Halloween nights. What’s the name (F, L) of the man who says on tape he had 2,500 kids visit his house last year on Halloween night? (If you find the tape, I will accept the web page it appears on as documentation even though the page itself does not show the name of the man.) (2 points)

    Answer: David Goldsboro
    Source:
    Source:
  14. What books by Joseph Bruchac can you download for free from JCLS? (2 points)

    Answer:
    a. Jim Thorpe, Original All –American
    b. Sacajawea
    Source:
    Source:
  15. Cheap plastic dust brooms. You can find children selling them in the streets of San Jose. You can also find their bristles floating nearby from January through March. What are the bristles used for? (2 points)

    Answer: Fly fishing flies!
    Source:
    Source:
  16. 'See that kid,’ I remember him telling me that day. 'You're going to be watching him for a long time.' Who was the (a.) kid (F, L) and who was (b.) “him” (F, L)? (2 points!)

    Answer:
    a. Hank Aaron
    b. Jackie Robinson
    Source:
    Source:

Part III: Bring Ins

Bring Ins must be delivered to the Hunt organizers as soon as your team arrives at SOU. Bring Ins will not be accepted once the adjudication begins.

  1. Bring in either a McCain-Palin or Obama-Biden yard sign. (3 points)
  2. Bring in the oldest United States Presidential campaign button/badge you can find. You may not buy the button. Bring a signed note from the owner who has loaned the button to you without a fee or deposit or collateral of any kind. (3, 2, 1 points awarded to 1, 2, 3 oldest.)
  3. Bring in a hard copy of the magazine that our dedicatee contributed to regularly from 1918 until 1932. (3 points)
  4. Bring in a photograph of a team member (the team member must be present at the adjudication!) holding one of our dedicatee’s books while simultaneously fishing in one of the rivers our dedicatee made famous. (3 points)
  5. Bring in a photograph of your team captain with your favorite Oregon state senator from southern Oregon. (You must have proof [newspaper article, not online version] that she or he has been elected or reelected to the Oregon State Senate in 2008.) (3 points)

Part IV: Music Identification

There are four music selections in the files each school was sent. You willneed two sources to challenge the Hunt Director's answer.

  1. Audio Track One
    Title of piece in original language (2 points): Dome Epais le Jasmin
    Novel opera is based on (original language): (2 points):Rarahu ou Le Mariage de Loti
  2. Audio Track Two
    Title: (1 point): Headwaters
    Artist: (F, L) (1 point):John Nilsen
  3. Audio Track Three
    Title (1 point): Highway Blues
    Composer (1 point):Marc Seales
  4. Audio Track Four
    Guitar: (F, L) (1 point): Billy Bragg
    Words! : (F, L) (1 point): Woody Guthrie
    Vocals! : (F, L) (1 point): Natalie Merchant

Part V: Art Image Identification

There are four art images to be identified in the files each school was sent. You will need two sources to challenge the Hunt Director's answer.

1.
Illustrator (F, Middle Initial, L) (2 points): Frank B. Hoffman

2.
Title (2 points): Sword Excalibur Rises from the Lake
Illustrator (First initial, Middle initial, L) (2 points): N. C. Wyeth

3.
Title (1 point): Bow Wow Queen
Artist (F, L) (2 points): Sherry Markovitz

4.
Location (Two Words) (1 point): West Bank
Artist (F) (1 point): Banksy

Part VI: Where in the world are you?

There are also four photographs in the hunt that were sent to each school. You need to identify the location. You will need two sources to challenge the Hunt Director’s answer.

1.
Name of building (1 point): Alnwick Castle
How many species of poisonous plants are housed here? (1 point): 90

2.
National Park (2 points): Death Valley National Park

3.
Name of lighthouse (2 points): Cape Blanco

4.
Major river this water will flow into (Tip: The river is sometimes dry when it reaches the sea.) (2 points): Colorado River
The trout’s Latin name: (F, M, L) (2 points): Oncorhynchus clarki pleuriticus

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