Listed below are a series of challenges to be done as a patrol.
One idea is to have a challenge at bases and each patrol moves around from one base to another after a set amount of time on each base.
Challenge 1:
Problem
There are three glasses on the table - 3, 5, and 8 oz. The first two are empty, the last contains 8 oz of water. By pouring water from one glass to another make at least one of them contain exactly 4 oz of water.
(online version at http://www.cut-the-knot.com/water.html)
Problem
Starting with the configuration shown below, can you move exactly two toothpicks to form four 1x1 squares? You must use all the toothpicks, without any overlap. The final product will consist of exactly four squares, all the same size as the five in the original configuration.
Solution
Challenge 3
Problem
Can you connect 9 dots laid out 3x3 using 4 straight lines, without lifting your pencil from the paper?
(click here for a PDF of printable sheets of dots)
Solution
Challenge 4
Problem
Can you construct nine triangles by drawing three straight lines through a capital M?
(click here for a PDF of printable sheets of M's)
Solution
Challenge 5
Problem
Pick a number between 1 and 10 (including 1 or 10).
Multiply your number by 9.
Add the digits of the number created in step two.
Subtract 5 from the number created in step three.
Find the letter in the alphabet that corresponds to the number created in step 4.
eg: 1=A, 2=B, 3=C,...
Pick a country in Europe that starts with the letter you found in step five.
Pick an animal that starts with the last letter of your country.
Pick a color that starts with the last letter of your animal.
Let me guess what you got!
Solution
orange kangaroo in Denmark
In the first step, you picked a number between 1 and 10...
If you picked 1, you got 9.
If you picked 2, you got 18.
If you picked 3, you got 27.
If you picked 4, you got 36...
If you picked 10, you got 90.
No matter what number you started with, when you do step two (adding the digits of your number created in step one) you get 9!
Then you get 4 for step three, and then D. There's only one country in Europe that starts with D! (If you didn't get Denmark, you need to work on your geography! And no fair saying, "Dutchland!") Most people think of a kangaroo, then orange!
Challenge 6
Problem
For each team, place a table at each end of your hall.
The centre of the hall (between the tables) is now a deep (preferably bottomless) pit.
You have 2 magic floating chairs (neatly supported by the floor in real life).
Stand each team on their table at one end of the hall.
Their task is to get your whole team from the starting table to the table at the other end without any member of the team touching the floor.
Anyone who touches the floor must go back to the start table.
Solution
2 go in tandem then 1 back to pick up the next team member.
Challenge 7
Problem
Add all numbers from 1 to 8 in the table. No 2 consecutive numbers may touch side by side or diagonally.
