2021
Beaver
Computing
Challenge
(Grades 5 & 6)
Questions
Part A
2
Strawberry
Story
Anja makes a design on the ground using the following four types of objects.
She then places sticks in her design according to her very important rule:
Sticks cannot be placed between objects that are the same type.
Here is Anja’s completed design:
Suddenly a bird swoops in and eats the ! Anja would like to avoid having this happen again.
Question
If possible, Anja would like to replace the with a di↵erent type of object, and without moving any
sticks. Without breaking her very important rule, which object can Anja replace the with?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D) It is not possible. Only a could go there.
3
Overlapping Coins
Story
Emil has six di↵erent coins.
Emil placed the six coins on a table, one at a time. Some coins were placed on top of other coins so
that they overlap as shown.
Question
Which coin was the fourth coin that Emil placed on the table?
(A) (B) (C) (D)
4
Robot Arm
Story
There are three bins, two balls, and a robot arm that can pick up the balls. Originally, one ball is in
bin A and another is in bin B. Bin C is empty.
Then the robot arm completes the following steps in the order given:
1. Pick up the ball in bin A and put it in bin C.
2. Pick up the ball in bin B and put it in bin A.
3. Pick up the ball in bin C and put it in bin B.
Question
When the robot arm is finished, which of the following statements is true?
(A) The ball originally in bin A is now in bin B, and the ball originally in bin B is now in bin A.
(B) Both balls are in bin A.
(C) Bin A is empty.
(D) Nothing has changed. Each ball is back in its original bin.
5
Fruit Road
Story
A beaver wants to take a path to the river. Each path passes by three di↵erent types of fruit as shown.
The beaver must pass by a pineapple which is its favourite fruit.
The beaver must not pass by an orange which it is allergic to.
Question
How many of the eight possible paths can the beaver take?
(A) 2
(B) 3
(C) 4
(D) 5
6
Part B
7
Picking Up Carrots
Story
There are 5 animal homes connected by paths with a carrot on each path, as shown.
Rina Rabbit lives in house R. It takes Rina 1 minute to walk on any path between two homes.
Question
Which of the following routes allows Rina to pick up all the carrots and return home in the shortest
amount of time?
(A) R ! S ! T ! P ! Q ! S ! P ! R
(B) R ! P ! Q ! S ! R ! P ! T ! S ! P ! R
(C) R ! S ! P ! Q ! P ! T ! S ! R
(D) R ! P ! Q ! S ! T ! P ! R
8
Presents
Story
Friends give presents to one another according to the following two rules.
1. Each friend must give exactly one present.
2. Each friend must receive exactly one present.
Here is an example where Cat gives a present to Mouse, and Mouse gives a present to Cat:
Question
Cow, Cat, Dog and Mouse give presents to each other. Which of the following options does not follow
the rules?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
9
Coin Bag
Story
In Saoirse’s country there are four di↵erent types of coins. Some coins are the same on both sides, and
some are not. The images below show both sides of each type of coin.
Saoirse has the following bag of coins:
Then the bag is shaken and the coins in the bag move around.
Question
Which of the following could be Saoirse’s bag of coins after it was shaken?
(A) (B) (C) (D)
10
Necklaces
Story
A jeweller makes necklaces with hidden messages by replacing each letter of the alphabet with a bead
pattern. Bead patterns are made using heart and diamond beads, and the same bead pattern
always represents the same letter. Letters in a message are separated by oval beads and messages
are read from left to right.
Here are two of the necklaces the jeweller has made along with their hidden messages.
Necklace Hidden Message
TRUTH
CARE
Question
Which of the following necklaces has the hidden message ART?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
11
Part C
12
Do They Meet?
Story
On Lake Castor, lilypads are arranged in a grid, where rows are numbered from 1 to 5, and columns are
labelled from A to H. Beaver Bob starts on pad A1 (in the bottom-left corner), and Beaver Nora starts
on pad H3.
The beavers can move from one lilypad to another lilypad only if they are following an arrow. The
beavers do not necessarily move at the same speed.
Question
Which of the following statements is true?
(A) The beavers will never meet.
(B) The beavers could meet on pad C2.
(C) The beavers could meet on pad F4.
(D) The beavers could meet on pad C5.
13
Paintings
Story
Paintings are brought to a warehouse for inspection before they are delivered to museums. The paintings
are stacked on top of each other. When a painting arrives at the warehouse, it is put on top of the stack.
When a delivery person departs with a painting, they take the painting from the top of the stack.
Records are kept of all paintings arriving at the warehouse and departing from the warehouse:
Arrivals Departures
Time Painting Time Delivery Person
11:40 Beavers on the Grass 12:25 Pia
12:15 Happy Beaver 13:35 Raz
12:55 Sun and Moon 14:35 Stu
13:30 Enchanted Forest 14:40 Quy
14:18 Oak and Birch 15:20 Raz
Question
Which delivery person took “Sun and Moon” to a museum?
(A) Pia
(B) Quy
(C) Raz
(D) Stu
14
Shapes
Story
Here is a line of shapes.
The line has a run of stars of length 2. A run is an unbroken chain of identical shapes.
Ali likes to create long runs by changing shapes. For example, if Ali changes the middle square to a star
in the line above, then he can create a longer run of length 4.
Question
Suppose Ali chooses and changes exactly 3 of the 16 shapes in the following line:
What is the length of the longest possible run that Ali can create?
(A) 4
(B) 5
(C) 6
(D) 7
15
Upcycling
Story
Doreen uses old things as supplies to make new items; this is called upcycling. Doreen upcycles her
supplies into wheels, bicycles, and tricycles, then sells her new items at the market. The supplies needed
to make each new item are shown in the table.
Supplies Needed New Item
+
Tire Iron Bar Wheel
+
2 Wheels Iron Bar Bicycle
+
Bicycle Wheel Tricycle
Question
Doreen has 9 tires and 11 iron bars. What is the maximum number of tricycles she can make?
(A) 1
(B) 2
(C) 3
(D) 4
16