New Frontier Explorer February 19, 2009 (Return to Top)
Reward:
Computer Badge requirement met #5

Parental Help Level: 2

The Challenge
Computer Badge #5 states that the Cub must explain the function of five commands in any computer application. For the challenge, you must explain how the following functions of Internet Explorer work (it is the program you are most likely using to view this page):

Aboriginal Sharing! January 22, 2009 (Return to Top)
Reward:
Aboriginal Awareness Badge #4
Computer Badge requirement met #4b

The Challenge
Aboriginal Awareness Badge #4 states that the Cub must learn an aboriginal game, song, dance or story and share it with your six or pack. Use the Internet to learn on of these artforms to share with the pack when your ready.

Comments
This is the 4th Aboriginal Awareness badge requirements posted in the challenges. Anyone completing all 4 challenges will earn the badge. The Cub will also complete World Citizen Award requirement #2b. This time I will not be the judge, the other leaders will be.

Good Luck!

Future Shop Job Application! January 8, 2009 (Return to Top)
Reward:
Computer Badge requirement met #1
Parental Help Level: 1

The Challenge:
From the following list identify three input devices, three output devices, two storage devices and one processing device. Briefly explain the function of each and send it in a e-mail to .

The List:

Beat Bagheera 2: Detour December 25, 2008 (Return to Top)
Reward:
Dues paid by Bagheera for 1 week!
Braggin' rights!
Parental Help Level: 2

The Challenge:
This is the second, extra special, Beat Bagheera challenge of the year. This time you have a choice of 2 games to try. You must either jump higher than Bagheera in the hand-eye coordination game - Polar Jump:

Or you must complete every level of the puzzle game Snow Line, as Bagheera did:

In order to prove that you have beaten Bagheera, you must send him a screenshot of your high score. To do this neat trick (which works on any Windows program) while you are looking at your high score on Internet Explorer, hold down [Alt] and then press the [Print Screen] key (which should be next to the [F12] button). Then open a program you can paste into like Microsoft Word, or Photoshop, or Paint (which is available on every Windows computer). Paste ([Ctrl] and [V] keys together) the picture into whatever you opened and save it. Then send the file you saved to . If you can't get the screenshot to work, then print a copy of your score and bring it in on Cubs night for Bagheera. Parents may help as much as they like in order to improve their Cub's score. To play the games, click here:

Bagheera's highest jump is 4836, as can be seen here:

And that Bagheera completed Snow Line can be seen here:

Even if you don't win, the top ten scores received will be posted here (for braggin' rights):

Good Luck!

Aboriginal Welcome! December 18, 2008 (Return to Top)
Reward:
Aboriginal Awareness Badge #6
Computer Badge requirement met #4b
Tawny Star requirement met: #A3 (If your submission has 44 words which you typed yourself)
Parental Help Level: 2

Comments:
Aboriginal Awareness Badge #6 states that the Cub must discover and tell how Aboriginal people helped early explorers and pioneers to settle in Canada.

The Challenge:
Use the Internet to discover how Aboriginal people helped early explorers and pioneers to settle in Canada including at least 2 different ways they helped, and send the information to .

Hint:
Try starting here.

Aboriginal Names! December 11, 2008 (Return to Top)
Reward:
Aboriginal Awareness Badge #2
Computer Badge requirement met #4b
Tawny Star requirement met: #A3 (If your submission has 44 words which you typed yourself)
Parental Help Level: 2

Comments:
Aboriginal Awareness Badge #2 states that the Cub must make a list of Aboriginal words that are used as names of places such as provinces, territories, cities, towns, parks, roads and waterways and discover the original meanings of these words.

The Challenge:
Make a list of at least 7 place names that come from Aborignal words along with the meanings of those words and send it to Bagheera .

Example:
Ottawa (City, Valley, River): named after the Odawa, an Algonquin people who lived in the region.

OMG! December 4, 2008 (Return to Top)
Reward:
World Religion Badge #2
World Religion Badge #3
Computer Badge requirement met #4b
Tawny Star requirement met: #A3 (If your submission has 44 words which you typed yourself)
Parental Help Level: 2

Comments:
World Religion Badge #2 states that the Cub must find out about a religion other than his own and tell a leader about any of it's sacred books, holy places, religious customs and special festivals or holidays. World Religion Badge #3 states that the Cub must discuss with a leader what values many of the world's religions have in common.

The Challenge:
Using information from at least 2 different websites, send an e-mail which includes:
1. The name of the religion you have chosen to study. (e.g. Roman Catholicism)
2. The name the religion uses for their God or Gods (e.g. Jesus Christ, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost)
3. The scared books of the religion. (The Bible: Old Testament & New Testament)
4. The location of the holy center for the religion (e.g The Vatican, a country located inside the city of Rome)
5. The names and dates of at least 3 different Holy Days celebrated by the religion
(e.g Christmas on December 25th, Easter on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after March 21, Ash Wednesday forty days before Easter)
6. A description of at least 1 ritual practiced by the religion.
(e.g. Baptism is the ritual act, with the use of water, by which one is admitted as a full member of the Roman Catholic Church)
7. A description in your own words of what values many of the worlds religions have in common.

Suggested Religions:
Islam
Hinduism
Taoism
Buddhism
Sikhism
Shinto

Aboriginal Creativity! November 27, 2008 (Return to Top)
Reward:
Aboriginal Awareness Badge #1
Computer Badge requirement met #4b
Parental Help Level: 1

Comments:
Aboriginal Awareness Badge #3 states that the cub must tell about or show four or more items that were invented by Aboriginal people and which we still use today. Computer Badge #4b states that the Cub must use the World Wide Web to find a site that helps complete the requirements for another badge.

The Challenge:
Between you and your parents, find 4 items (or ideas, like the game of lacrosse) that were invented by aborignal people and are still used today. Send an e-mail with a link describing each of the items (so... 4 links total). See The Spice of Life example for information on how to send links.

Resources:
Google
Wikipedia

Hint:
Try starting here.

Hidden Gem! November 20, 2008 (Return to Top)
Reward:
International Trade Badge #3
Parental Help Level: 1

Comments:
International Trade Badge requirement #3 states the cubs must identify at least 2 different gemstones and determine where they come from and how they've been traded through history.

The Challenge:
This one is pretty straightforward. Send an e-mail with the answers to the questions.

Land Ho! November 13, 2008 (Return to Top)
Reward:
International Trade Badge #9
Canadian Heritage Badge #2
Computer Badge #7a
Bonus:
Computer Badge requirement met #4b (If you use the Internet to find your information)
Tawny Star requirement met: #A3 (If your submission has 44 words which you typed yourself)
Parental Help Level: 2

Comments:
International Trade Badge #9 states that the cub must learn the story of one explorer and share with his leader what they were looking for and what they discovered. Canadian Heritage Badge #2 states that the Cub must make a scrapbook about a famous Canadian, telling where he or she lived and what their accomplishments were. Computer Badge #7a states that the Cub must write a report using a word processor program, doing all revisions on the computer and print it.
Note: This is the fifth International Trade Badge requirement which has been given in the weekly challenges. For those Cubs who have completed all the other challenges to date, this means you will have earned your International Trade Badge on completion of this challenge.

The Challenge:
You must create a scrapbook/report using a word processing program (like Microsoft Word) about a Canadian explorer. The report must include:
- at least 2 pages (like a title page and body page)
- at least 2 pictures (like of the explorer and a map) and at least 88 words explaining...
- who the explorer was
- where the explorer came from and where they went in Canada
- when the explorer was exploring
- what the explorer found
Print the report and give it to Bagheera.

Explorer suggestions:
Samuel de Champlain
Jacques Cartier
Leif Eriksson
Simon Frasier
Martin Frobisher
Henry Hudson
Alexander Mackenzie

Cub Parents:
Help your Cub as much as they need to use your word processor program to the best of your abilities.

Cubs
You can find some starter information here: Canadian Explorers and then try searching the explorer's name using Google or Wikipedia.

Note:
For those Cubs, like myself, who don't have a printer, you can find a free PDF print program here:
PDF reDirect. This allows you to print directly to a PDF from any program. I use it all the time. You can then e-mail the PDF to .

Ship, Ship, Hurray! November 6, 2008 (Return to Top)
Reward:
International Trade Badge #5
International Trade Badge #6
Parental Help Level: 1

Comments:
International Trade Badge #5 states that the Cub must find out how airplanes carry both cargo and passengers at the same time and explain why there are special rules for shipping dangerous goods. International Trade Badge #6 states that the Cub must identify four different types of Cargo ship and what each was specially designed to carry.

The Challenge:
Pretty straightforward. Find the answers to the questions and send them to .

Try starting here:
http://www.geocities.com/freighterman.geo/types.html
and here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_aircraft

Beat Bagheera 1 October 30, 2008 (Return to Top)
Reward:
Dues paid by Bagheera for 1 week!
Braggin' rights!
Parental Help Level: 2

The Challenge:
This is the first, extra special, Beat Bagheera challenge of the year. The challenge is simple...
you must beat Bagheera's high score on a game. If you do, Bagheera will pay your dues for 1 week. For Halloween, the following game from Miniclip.com has been chosen:

In order to prove that you have beaten Bagheera, you must send him a screenshot of your high score. To do this neat trick (which works on any Windows program) while you are looking at your high score on Internet Explorer, hold down [Alt] and then press the [Print Screen] key (which should be next to the [F12] button). Then open a program you can paste into like Microsoft Word, or Photoshop, or Paint (which is available on every Windows computer). Paste ([Ctrl] and [V] keys together) the picture into whatever you opened and save it. Then send the file you saved to . If you can't get the screenshot to work, then print a copy of your score and bring it in on Cubs night for Bagheera. Parents may help as much as they like in order to improve their Cub's score. To play the game, click here:

Numbskull

Bagheera's high score is 21220, as can be seen here:

Even if you don't win, the top ten scores received will be posted here (for braggin' rights):

#	Name	Score
1	Tiny T.J.	26900
2	Cupid Chris	24410
3	Fightin' Foster	23120
4	Coca Cola Colin	21280
5
6
7
8
9
10

Good Luck!

Hint: Cubs, if you're parents normally pay your dues and you beat Bagheera's score on your own, you have a pretty good arguement to get them to pay for something from Dollarama since Bagheera will be covering your dues for a week.

P.S. This score came from the first and only time Bagheera played Numbskull. :O)~

The Spice of Life October 23, 2008
Reward:
International Trade Badge requirement met: #2
Computer Badge requirement met #4b
Computer Badge requirement met #4a
Parental Help Level: 1

Opening Comments:
International Trade Badge #2 states that the Cub must pick any five spices and find out where they came from, their history, and how they first arrived in other parts of the world. Computer Badge #4b states that the Cub must use the World Wide Web to find a site that helps complete the requirements for another badge. Computer Badge #4a says to briefly explain what the World Wide Web is.

The Challenge:
Pick any 5 spices that you might have in your kitchen cupboards. Search Wikipedia for information on each spice. Send an e-mail with the links to each of the 5 spices you chose to search. Also include a brief explanation of what the World Wide Web is. You can find the main page of Wikipedia here:

Wikipedia

Example:
If you had chose paprika as one of your spices, then you would click on the link above and...
1. Enter "paprika" in the search box on the left.
2. Click the "Go" button.

3. Copy the link from the URL bar on the page to send to .

4. Repeat this process for 4 more spices.
5. Briefly explain (like by including a link to a longer explanation) the World Wide Web.

Hints:
1. Use [Ctrl]+[C] to copy and [Ctrl]+[V] to paste into an e-mail.
2. Look closely at the 2nd picture for a clue.

World Trade 1 October 16, 2008 (Return to Top)
Reward:
World Citizen Award requirement met: #3
International Trade Badge requirement met: #8
Parental Help Level: 2

Opening comments:
Given that this challenge will be going towards an award (which you can continue to wear when you advance to Scouts), it is certainly the hardest challenge to date, this time involving much more parental input. International Trade Badge requirement #8 states that you need to learn about the currencies of at least 2 other countries and compare their value to Canadian currency. The World Citizen Award Requirement #3 says you must follow a current affairs topic in the news for at least 1 week. Report on what happened and how people were involved. The value of the Canadian dollar against the American dollar is always a current affair, especially over the last year.

Cub Parents:
Your part in this challenge is to...
1. Explain, to the best of your knowledge, the meaning of currency values to your Cub.
You can check here, if you would like some help:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currency
2. Aid your Cub in understanding how to use their Exchange Rates link, in order to do their part of this challenge.
3. Explain, to the best of your ability, how the value of the Canadian dollar affects your family.

Cubs:
Your part in this challenge is to follow the value of the Canadian Dollar against the American Dollar, as well as 1 other currency of your choice, on at least 5 different days. You can find a table showing these daily currency values here:

Exchange Rates

Make sure you note both currency values (for the 2 different countries) as well as the date of the values, for the 5 different days.

Example:
If you had chose to follow Mexican pesos along with the US dollar, then from the chart below, you would mark down:
10/10/08 Mexican Peso 10.93 and 10/12/08 US Dollar 0.88

Do this on 5 different days. Weekends probably won't change the date, this is more of a schoolday project.

When you are done, e-mail all the values and in your submission answer the questions:
- Did the changes in the dollar value help your family, make things worse, or cause no noticable change?
- Why?

Bonus:
Cubs, if you type all the submission out yourself in the e-mail, you will also pass the Dear Bagheera challenge, earning Tawny Star requirement #A3. Let me know if this was the case when you send in your submission.

The Jungle Code September 25th, 2008 (Return to Top)
Reward: Tawny Star badge requirement met: #A10
Parental Help Level: 1

Tawny Star requirement #A10 says each Cub is to send and receive a message in code. We'll reverse that order a bit. First you'll receive a coded message from Bagheera, which you will have to translate back into English, where you'll find a question. You must answer the question, then recode the answer, and send it back to Bagheera.

The cypher system we will be using is what is known as a "one time pad" code. Without what is known as the "key", which historically for this type of code was a pad of paper filled with random letters, this type of code is actually the hardest type of code to decipher on earth. To help you decode this cypher, there is a website you can use here:

One Time Pad

Instructions: To decrypt Bagheera's message, change the default setting of the One Time Pad page from "Encrypt" to "Decrypt". Enter Bagheera's message into the box titled "Your Message" and enter "The Key" into the box titled "The Pad". The decoded message will appear in the blue box below on that page. (Hint: you can cut and paste (highlight the message/key with the mouse and use [Ctrl]+[C] to copy and [Ctrl]+[V] to paste) the data into the boxes using your computer to eliminate any entry errors)

Without further ado, here we go...

Bagheera's message:
jvwk wnf rvyb abpmp vnsw mwdwm umtpz?

The Key:
This challenge would be really easy given the link I gave you, if I just gave you the key right here. And that wouldn't make it much of a challenge would it? So the key is this: you must use the first line from The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling, in the chapter titled "Mowgli's Brothers". You can find this book for free online, in PDF form, here:

The Jungle Book

Once you have decyphered the question, change the "One Time Pad" page setting from "Decrypt" to "Encrypt" and type your answer into the box titled "Your Message". The coded version will appear in the blue box at the bottom of that page. This is the answer you must send to or bring in on cubs night. (Hint: don't worry if you don't know the answer to the question, the important thing is that whatever answer you send can be decoded by Bagheera.)

Good Luck!

Alternate challenge:
Using the Dragon Alphabet send a secret message to Bagheera, decode his answer, and send it back to him in English.

International Trade Badge #3
Aboriginal Awareness Badge #6
Aboriginal Awareness Badge #2
Aboriginal Awareness Badge #1
World Religion Badge #2
World Religion Badge #3
World Citizen Award #2c
International Trade Badge!
International Trade Badge #9
Canadian Heritage Badge #2
Computer Badge #7a
International Trade Badge #5
International Trade Badge #6
Tawny Star requirement #A10
International Trade Badge #2
Computer Badge #4a
Computer Badge #4b
World Citizen Award #3
International Trade Badge #8
Tawny Star requirement #A9
Tawny Star requirement #A3