DA VINCI DECATHLON 2018 - CELEBRATING THE ACADEMIC GIFTS OF STUDENTS - GENERAL KNOWLEDGE
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Task developed by Lachlan Mitchell, University of Sydney, 2018
REGIONAL
DA VINCI DECATHLON 2018
CELEBRATING THE ACADEMIC GIFTS OF STUDENTS
IN YEARS 5 & 6
GENERAL KNOWLEDGE
TEAM NUMBER _____________
1
Task developed by Lachlan Mitchell, University of Sydney, 2018
ACTIVITY ONE: LEONARDO DA VINCI
Please select the best answer from the options provided. 10 Marks
1. What method of record keeping is da Vinci best known for?
a. Notebooks
b. Opinion articles in newspapers
c. Interviews with local media
d. Vlogs
2. Which of the following institutions has digitised da Vinci’s work?
a. National Library of Australia, Canberra, Australia
b. Central Library, New York, USA
c. Biblioteca Leonardiana, Vinci, Italy
d. British Library, London, England
3. Which of the following is da Vinci most widely regarded as?
a. Discophile – lover of sound recordings
b. Technophile – lover of technology
c. Hippophile – lover of horses
d. Francophile – lover of France and French culture
4. Did Leonardo ever publish his research findings?
a. Yes
b. No
5. In which decade is Leonardo da Vinci thought to have invented the helicopter?
a. 11th Century
b. 13th Century
c. 15th Century
d. 17th Century
2
Task developed by Lachlan Mitchell, University of Sydney, 2018
For Questions 6-10, match the invention with Leonardo’s sketch. Circle the
corresponding letter on the answer sheet.
Word bank:
a. Aerial screw
b. Armoured car
c. Self-propelled cart
d. Scuba diving gear
e. Robotic Knight
6.
7.
3
Task developed by Lachlan Mitchell, University of Sydney, 2018
8.
9.
10.
4
Task developed by Lachlan Mitchell, University of Sydney, 2018
ACTIVITY TWO: THE ARTS
Please select the best answer (A, B, C or D) from the options provided. 10 Marks
MATCH THE FOLLOWING AUTHORS WITH THEIR BOOK:
List of authors:
a. Maurice Sendak
b. Dr Seuss
c. E. B. White
d. C. S. Lewis
1. Charlotte’s Web
2. Where the Wild Things Are
3. The Magician’s Nephew
4. Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
MATCH THE FOLLOWING ARTISTS WITH THEIR PAINTINGS:
List of artists:
a. Claude Monet
b. Michelangelo
c. Pablo Picasso
d. Vincent van Gogh
5.
6.
5
Task developed by Lachlan Mitchell, University of Sydney, 2018
7.
8.
9. Leonardo da Vinci coined the term sfumato. What does it mean?
a. the technique of allowing tones and colours to shade gradually into one
another, producing softened outlines or hazy forms.
b. in the open air.
c. relating to or denoting art that does not attempt to represent external reality,
but rather seeks to achieve its effect using shapes, colours, and textures.
d. the process of ideation.
10. John Williams is a highly regarded composer. Which of the following film soundtracks
did he not compose?
a. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
b. Jaws
c. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
d. Avatar
6
Task developed by Lachlan Mitchell, University of Sydney, 2018
ACTIVITY THREE: SCIENCE & SOCIETY
Please select the best answer from the options provided. 10 Marks
1. What is an asteroid?
a. a small rocky body orbiting the sun.
b. a small body of matter from outer space that enters the earth's atmosphere,
becoming incandescent as a result of friction and appearing as a streak of light.
c. the natural satellite of the earth.
d. the star round which the earth orbits.
2. Which gas makes up most of the Earth’s atmosphere?
a. Nitrogen
b. Oxygen
c. Argon
d. Carbon Dioxide
3. Which organ is responsible for retaining memories?
a. Heart
b. Eyes
c. Head
d. Brain
4. What does IQ relate to?
a. a number representing a person's reasoning ability (measured using problem-
solving tests) as compared to the statistical norm or average for their age, taken
as 100.
b. the action of thinking about something in a logical, sensible way.
c. the level of a person's emotional intelligence, often as represented by a score in a
standardized test.
d. the state of being happy.
5. In which country was WiFi invented?
a. Germany
b. Mexico
c. Australia
d. China
7
Task developed by Lachlan Mitchell, University of Sydney, 2018
6. True or false: The Parkes Dish was involved in supporting the landing of man on the
moon in 1969.
On July 21st 1969, the world gathered around TV sets and collectively held their breath as
Neil Armstrong declared his famous words, "That's one small step for man. One giant leap
for mankind," and set foot on the lunar surface for the first time.
It's a moment in history that's etched in the memories of people who saw it.
It has since transcended the decades to still be a defining moment in the world's modern
history. (ABC News)
a. True
b. False
7. Which of the following is not a species of the family ‘Great Apes’?
a. Human
b. Gorilla
c. Panda bear
d. Orangutan
8. Which organisation is responsible for building the solution outlined in the paragraphs
below?
A 50-year storm damaged critical infrastructure in the state of South Australia, causing a
state-wide blackout and leaving 1.7 million residents without electricity. Further blackouts
occurred in the heat of the Australian summer in early 2017. In response, the South
Australian Government as a leader in renewable energy, looked for a sustainable solution to
ensure energy security for all residents, now and into the future, calling for expressions of
interest to deploy grid-scale energy storage options with at least 100 megawatts (MW) of
capacity.
Upon completion by December 2017, this system will be the largest lithium-ion battery
storage project in the world and will provide enough power for more than 30,000 homes,
approximately equal to the amount of homes that lost power during the blackout period.
Working in close collaboration with the South Australian Government and Neoen, this grid
scale energy storage project is not only sustainable, but will help solve power shortages,
reduce intermittencies, and manage summertime peak load to improve the reliability of
South Australia's electrical infrastructure.
a. South Australian Government
b. Tesla
c. Neoen
d. Atlassian
8
Task developed by Lachlan Mitchell, University of Sydney, 2018
9. What is the name of Qantas’ first Boeing 787 Dreamliner?
a. Longreach
b. Albany
c. Great Southern Land
d. Land Down Under
10. Where is this sign?
a. Cape Byron
b. Western Cape
c. Cape Leeuwin
d. Cape York
9
Task developed by Lachlan Mitchell, University of Sydney, 2018
ACTIVITY FOUR: PEOPLE
The following individuals have all been nominated as ‘Time Person of 10 marks
the Year’. Match the name with the face.
Part A
List of names:
a. Pope John Paul II
b. Pope Francis
c. Angela Merkel
d. Elizabeth II
1.
2.
10Task developed by Lachlan Mitchell, University of Sydney, 2018
3.
4.
Part B
List of names:
a. Vladimir Putin
b. Ted Turner
c. Mark Zuckerberg
d. George H. W. Bush
5.
11Task developed by Lachlan Mitchell, University of Sydney, 2018
6.
7.
8.
Part C
9. Who, of the following people, has not been the Time Person of the Year more than
once?
a. Barack Obama
b. Bill Clinton
c. George W. Bush
d. Donald Trump
12Task developed by Lachlan Mitchell, University of Sydney, 2018
10. Which group of people were named the Person of the Year in 2014?
a. The American people
b. Ebola fighters
c. da Vinci Decathletes
d. The Good Samaritans
13Task developed by Lachlan Mitchell, University of Sydney, 2018
ACTIVITY FIVE: GEOGRAPHY
Please select the best answer from the options provided. 10 Marks
1. What is the longest river in Australia?
a. Darling River
b. Murray River
c. Murrumbidgee River
d. Lachlan River
2. In which county is mainland Europe’s westernmost point?
a. Spain
b. United Kingdom
c. Portugal
d. Germany
3. What is the largest desert in the world?
a. Gobi Desert
b. Antarctic Desert
c. Great Victoria Desert
d. Namib Desert
4. What is latitude?
a. the angular distance of a place east or west of the Greenwich meridian, or west
of the standard meridian of a celestial object, usually expressed in degrees and
minutes.
b. an instrument containing a magnetized pointer which shows the direction of
magnetic north and bearings from it.
c. the angular distance of a place north or south of the earth's equator, or of the
equator of a celestial object, usually expressed in degrees and minutes.
d. a diagrammatic representation of an area of land or sea showing physical
features, cities, roads, etc.
5. Which of the following countries did James Cook not visit on his first voyage?
a. India
b. Australia
c. South Africa
d. New Zealand
14Task developed by Lachlan Mitchell, University of Sydney, 2018
6. Which of the following individuals was not involved in discovering parts of Australia?
a. George Bass
b. Charles Sturt
c. Lachlan Macquarie
d. Matthew Flinders
7. Select the city which correctly fills the gaps.
___________ is undergoing a second gold rush as advances in mining techniques allow a
new generation of miners to extract gold from the ground.
With gold first discovered in the regional Victorian city in 1851, miners from all over the world
rushed to ___________ to seek their fortune.
With 10 million ounces of gold found through alluvial deposits (deposited by water
movement), and two million ounces found in hard rock underground, gold made
___________ the richest city in the world during the 1850s. (Herald Sun)
a. Ballarat
b. Melbourne
c. Albury
d. Coober Pedy
8. How many countries are in the United Kingdom?
a. 1
b. 2
c. 4
d. 5
9. What am I?
I am a lock-type canal that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. My length from
shoreline to shoreline is about 40 miles (65 km) and from deep water in the Atlantic (more
specifically, the Caribbean Sea) to deep water in the Pacific about 50 miles (82 km). The
canal, which was completed in August 1914, is one of the two most-strategic artificial
waterways in the world, the other being the Suez Canal. Ships sailing between the east and
west coasts of the United States, which otherwise would be obliged to round Cape Horn in
South America, shorten their voyage by about 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km) by using the
canal. Savings of up to 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km) are also made on voyages between
one coast of North America and ports on the other side of South America.
a. Pacific Canal
b. Suez Canal
c. Danube-Black Sea Canal
d. Panama Canal
15Task developed by Lachlan Mitchell, University of Sydney, 2018
10. Which Australian state or territory is Jervis Bay in?
a. New South Wales
b. Victoria
c. Jervis Bay Territory
d. Northern Territory
16Task developed by Lachlan Mitchell, University of Sydney, 2018
ACTIVITY SIX: PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE
Please select the best answer from the options provided. 10 Marks
1. How many megabytes are there in a gigabyte?
a. 100
b. 987
c. 1000
d. 1024
2. Which answer best fills the gaps in the passage below?
On 22 August 1872, the construction of _______________________ between Adelaide and
Darwin was completed. It has been described as ‘the greatest engineering feat carried out in
nineteenth century Australia’.
Within months it was linked to the Java-to-Darwin submarine telegraph cable, and Australia’s
communication time with Europe was reduced from months to hours. Australia’s isolation
from the rest of the world was lessening.
________________ changed the way Australia related to the world and the country’s
extreme isolation was broken. Newspapers printed sections by-lined ‘by ____________’ and
businesses clamoured for news from the European markets. ______________ offices,
especially in rural areas, became centres of trade where information and banking were
transacted and orders placed.
__________________ also opened up the centre of the continent. Within a year of its
construction gold was being mined around Pine Creek (near Katherine) and within ten years
the cattle industry had been established in the Northern Territory.
Prospectors and graziers used the repeater stations as centres from which to explore and
stake claims on the land. Alice Springs, which was established as a repeater station,
became the administrative hub for central Australia. (Source: National Museum of Australia)
a. The NBN
b. The Trans-continental railway
c. Copper wire phone lines
d. The Australian Overland Telegraph Line
Hint: one of the following responses successfully fills ALL gaps in the passage.
3. Which Australian Prime Minister was lost at sea?
a. Gough Whitlam
b. Harold Holt
c. Winston Churchill
d. John Howard
17Task developed by Lachlan Mitchell, University of Sydney, 2018
18Task developed by Lachlan Mitchell, University of Sydney, 2018
4. Who gave this speech?
I move:
That today we honour the indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in
human history.
We reflect on their past mistreatment.
We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were stolen generations - this
blemished chapter in our nation's history.
The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the
wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.
We apologise for the laws and policies of successive parliaments and governments that
have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.
(Excerpt from the Parliament of Australia)
a. John Howard
b. Kevin Rudd
c. Tony Abbott
d. Malcolm Turnbull
5. Who was the Australian of the Year in 2016?
a. Lieutenant General David Morrison
b. Ita Buttrose
c. Dick Smith
d. General Sir Peter Gosgrove
6. When is the world’s population expected to reach 8 billion?
a. 2018
b. 2024
c. 2050
d. 2107
7. China has Artificial Intelligence-equipped surveillance cameras. How many is it
estimated to have installed throughout the country?
a. 500,000
b. 1 million
c. 20 million
d. 5 billion
19Task developed by Lachlan Mitchell, University of Sydney, 2018
8. What does this image depict?
Source: National Geographic
a. Australia in the wet-season
b. Artist’s impression of Australia 100 years ago
c. Australia today
d. Australia, if all the world’s ice melted
9. When will the UK leave the European Union?
a. It left in 2016
b. 2019
c. 2030
d. Never
20Task developed by Lachlan Mitchell, University of Sydney, 2018
10. What is the official name for what is depicted in the following diagram?
a. Auslan – Australian Sign Language
b. International Sign Language
c. The Non-verbal Communication Standards
d. Hand symbols
21You can also read
