Challenges

Students, put on your CSI thinking caps and be ready to solve a murder mystery of the popular Biology Professor. Each team will receive a complete case file including the police report, coroner’s report, victim profile, crime scene photos, crime scene evidence (possible blood sample, hair, finger and shoe prints etc.) and a list of suspect profiles. 

As detectives on the case, your job is to evaluate all the evidence, interpret lab results, identify who the evidence belongs to and match it to the guilty suspect. Use of electronic devices, cell phone and/or camera is prohibited. Pens, writing paper and a calculator will be provided. Can your team identify the killer with the evidence found in the given time? (Review Grade 10, Math and Science curiculum)

For any inquiries about this challenge, please contact Dr. Philomena Kaan, the captain of the challenge and a professor at the Biology Department, at philomena.kaan@kpu.ca

The determination of acid content in consumer beverages through titration.

Advance preparation:

•    Titration techniques and related calculations
•    Familiar with balancing chemical equations (including redox balancing)
•    Familiar with acids found in consumer beverages

Students will be given a periodic table to used in the activity. Teams should bring a scientific calculator to use (no graphing calculators). All personal electronics (including smartphones, wearable devices, etc...) are strictly forbidden. There is going to be only 4 students competing in the chemistry challenge.

For any inquiries about this challenge, please contact Dr. Richard Popoff, the captain of the challenge and a professor at the Chemistry Department, at richard.popoff@kpu.ca

Teams will design, build and bring to the competition, a car to be powered by two AA batteries.  The car must carry four (4) standard 355 mL cans of Coca Cola down a 1.5 m wide course, to the finish line 7 m from the start line. More design information can be found in the attached file.

For any inquiries about this challenge, please contact Dr. Takashi Sato, the captain of the challenge and a professor at the Physics Department, at takashi.sato@kpu.ca

Frequently Asked Questions - compiled from questions from KSC entrants and updated as they come in.  Please return and check for updates from time to time.

Do you watch Jeopardy religiously? Are you the go-to guy during Trivial Pursuit get togethers? Then compete in our Science version of Jeopardy!  Work with your team mates to come up with the correct response.  There will be one buzzer per team.

Advance preparation: review the Grade 11/12 Math and Science curriculum. Calculators, PDAs, and other electronic devices are not allowed. Notes - electronic, written, or otherwise - are not allowed. Pens and blank paper will be provided.

For any inquiries about this challenge, please contact Dr. Mike Coombes, the captain of the challenge and a professor at the Physics Department, at mike.coombes@kpu.ca

Students will perform an experiment involving density, buoyancy, and the Archimedean principle. Students should bring a calculator. Students should also prepare and bring a list of relevant formulae on a single sheet of 8.5" by 11" paper.

 Advanced preparation: Students should: 

1. Review the concept of density.   
2. Review the formulas for the volumes and surface areas of (the most) common solids.   
3. Study the theory of buoyancy (at the level of the former physics 12 special topic).
4. Explore experimental techniques for the measurement of density and buoyancy. 
5. Practice using a caliper. 
6. Be able to propagate uncertainty through calculations involving basic arithmetic operations () 
7. Understand that if a quantity x is very small, then a common approximation is to ignore higher orders of '' such as

For any inquiries about this challenge, please contact Don Mathewson, the captain of the challenge and a professor at the Physics Department, at don.mathewson@kpu.ca

Due to the avoidance of harmful chemicals to combat pests in organic food production systems, farmers must be creative when developing sustainable practices for preventing crop damage. Healthy agroecosystems that promote biodiversity require that agricultural scientists have a deep understanding of the breadth of species present in order to know if they are going to be problematic or beneficial to their crop system. While problematic crop pests can come in all different shapes and sizes, this challenge will ask students to put on their entomologist hats and learn how to identify between different insects and explore scientific classification systems.

For any inquiries about this challenge, please contact Alex Bisset, the captain of the challenge at the Sustainable Agriculture Department, at alex.bisset@kpu.ca

Students will build a boat that uses a provided propeller to race down an artificial pond against another team in a double-elimination tournament. Winners of each group will compete at the end of the day in a championship tournament. 

Advance preparation: The boat must always fit into a 50 cm sizing cube during the event. The hull of the boat must be student-made using common hobby materials such as paper, metal foil, thin plastic, or wood. It is not acceptable to use a ready-made toy or a kit for this challenge. A 3-D printed hull is allowed provided teams provide photos to verify that they did the work themselves. The judges reserve the right to veto any design that they deem counter to the spirit of the rules. Check in advance if you are unsure. The boat is to be powered by a small battery powered propeller. The boat must have a flag placed at the front of the boat that extends above the water to break the timing laser beams. 

For details, please look at this attachment: 

For any inquiries about this challenge, please contact Dr. Tyron Tsui, the captain of the challenge and a professor at the Physics Department, at tyron.tsui@kpu.ca

Advanced preparation: Students will be given population data from the most recent Canadian census (2021) and other sources, and answer questions regarding this data from a geographic perspective. Students should bring pens, (colored) pencils, a ruler and a calculator to the event.

1. Students should review population pyramids, what they represent, how to construct one (given the data) and what their shape (e.g. triangle) tells us about the represented population. The following website may help as a starting point: https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/population-pyramid/
2. Students should review and know how to calculate simple population parameters like (crude) birth rate (B), (crude) death rate (D), doubling time, population density and growth rate from B and D. Be sure to note the connection between these terms and population pyramids. The following website may help as a starting point: https://www.prb.org/resources/human-population/
3. Students should know how to calculate the growth rate (r %) from populations at two different times (Population 2 = recent; Population 1 = older) using the following formula: 

For any inquiries about this challenge, please contact John Martin, the captain of the challenge and a professor at the Geography Department, at john.martin@kpu.ca

Do you watch Jeopardy religiously? Are you the go-to guy during Trivial Pursuit get-togethers? Then compete in our Science version of Jeopardy!  Work with your teammates to come up with the correct response.  There will be one buzzer per team.

Advance preparation: review the Grade 8/9/10 Math and Science curriculum. Calculators, PDAs, and other electronic devices are not allowed. Notes - electronic, written, or otherwise - are not allowed. Pens and blank paper will be provided.

For any inquiries about this challenge, please contact Laura Flinn, the captain of the challenge and a professor at the Physics Department, at laura.flinn@kpu.ca

Advanced Preparation: Students will use different methods to measure the height of objects. They should review triangles and using similar triangles to find missing lengths. They should also review calculating percent error.

Supplies to bring: calculator

For any inquiries about this challenge, please contact Judy Bicep, the captain of the challenge and a professor in the Mathematics Department, at judy.bicep@kpu.ca 

Students will work in teams to analyze an experiment that demonstrates the concepts of momentum, energy and conservation laws.  Students can use paper, pencil and a calculator, but no other outside resources or help.

For any inquiries about this challenge, please contact Dr. Michael Poon, the captain of the challenge and a professor at the Physics Department, at michael.poon@kpu.ca