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2025 Beaver Computing Challenge
(Grade 7 & 8)

Questions

Part A

Merging Cars

Story

Cars waiting to enter Main Street are shown. The cars take turns coming from Spruce Street and Oak Street.

From first to last, the five cars lined up on Spruce Street are green, orange, light blue, purple, and then red, and the six cars lined up on Oak Street are grey, white, dark blue, brown, yellow, and pink.

Question

If the first car comes from Spruce Street, which car will enter Main Street immediately after the purple car that is fourth in line on Spruce Street.?

  1. Red car that is fifth in line on Spruce Street.
  2. Light blue car that is third in line on Spruce Street.
  3. Dark blue car that is third in line on Oak Street.
  4. Brown car that is fourth in line on Oak Street.

Robot Assembly

Story

Six animals work on a robot assembly line in order to make toy robots. Each animal has a job attaching certain pieces to certain locations of the robot.

The following image shows what a robot is supposed to look like after each animal does its job.

The bear creates the body and attaches two legs.

The bull attaches two arms.

The kangaroo attaches the head.

The monkey puts three buttons across the body.

The possum gives puts two eyes on the head.

The boar puts a mouth on the head.

At the end of the assembly line the toy robots are supposed to look like this: A robot with a body with three buttons across it, two legs, two arms, and  head with two eyes and a mouth.

However, the toy robots actually look like this: A robot with a body, two legs with one leg having three buttons along it, two arms, and head with two eyes and a mouth.

Question

Which animal is not doing their job correctly?

  1. The bear.
  2. The boar.
  3. The monkey.
  4. The possum.

Scoreboard

Story

Two teams are playing baseball. To keep track of their score, each team uses helmets and a row of hooks. The rightmost hook represents a score of 1 and each other hook represents twice the value of the hook to its right, as shown.

Six hooks in row. Starting at the rightmost hook and moving left, the hooks are labelled with the numbers 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32.

Each hook can have at most 1 helmet, and the total score for a team is the sum of all the scores on the hooks with helmets. For example, the following row of hooks would represent a score of \(16+4=20\).

Starting at the rightmost hook and moving to the left, there is a blue helmet on the third and fifth hooks. The other four hooks are empty.

Question

The final scores for the two teams are shown.

Starting at the rightmost hook and moving to the left, there is a blue helmet on the second, third, and fourth hooks. The other three hooks are empty.

Starting at the rightmost hook and moving to the left, there is an orange helmet on the first and second hooks. The other four hooks are empty.

What is the difference between the two scores?

  1. \(11\)
  2. \(9\)
  3. \(13\)
  4. \(7\)

Snack Time

Story

Every afternoon, Lala eats one of four snacks:
apple , pear , cookie , or cheese .

She follows two nutritional guidelines:

  1. She never eats cookies two days in a row.

  2. If she eats cheese one day, then the next day she eats either an apple or a pear.

Lala is planning the snacks that she will eat on five consecutive days.

Question

Which of the following plans matches Lala's guidelines?

  1. Day 1 2 3 4 5
    Snack cheese cheese apple pear cookie
  2. Day 1 2 3 4 5
    Snack cheese cookie apple cheese pear
  3. Day 1 2 3 4 5
    Snack cookie cheese apple cookie cheese
  4. Day 1 2 3 4 5
    Snack cheese apple cookie cookie cheese

Sewing Buttons

Story

A programmable machine is used to sew decorative buttons on a blanket. Each hole in the button is assigned a number, and when the machine is sent a sequence of numbers, it sews thread along the holes in the order given in the sequence.

For example, if the machine receives the sequence 2 1 4 3, the thread will start at hole 2, then move to 1, then 4, and finish at 3, as shown.

Four button holes arranged into two rows of two. From left to right, the holes in the top row are labelled 1 and 2 and the holes in the bottom row are labelled 3 and 4. Thread connects 2 to 1, 1 to 4, and 4 to 3.

Question

Which of the following sequences of numbers can be sent to the machine so that it sews thread as shown?

Six button holes arranged into three rows of two. From left to right, the holes in the top row are 1 and 2, the holes in the middle row are 3 and 4, and the holes in the bottom row are 5 and 6. Thread connects 1 to 2, 2 to 3, 3 to 6, 6 to 5, 5 to 4, and 4 to 1.

  1. 3 4 2 1 6 5 3
  2. 5 4 1 2 3 6 5
  3. 2 3 6 5 1 4 2
  4. 4 1 2 4 3 6 5

Part B

Elevator

Story

Biwako and Kai live on different floors of the same apartment building.

They each have several boxes being delivered. Biwako's boxes are labeled B, and Kai's boxes are labeled K. However the boxes were mixed up and stacked in the elevator as shown.

A vertical tower of 8 boxes. From top to bottom, the boxes are labelled K, B, B, K, B, K, K, B.

Biwako and Kai each stay on their own floor. When the elevator arrives on their floor, they take all of their boxes that are on the top of the stack. Then the elevator moves directly to the other person's floor. The elevator continues to move back and forth between Biwako and Kai's floors until all the boxes have been taken.

The elevator first stops on Kai's floor.

Question

In total, how many times does the elevator stop before all the boxes have been taken?

  1. 2
  2. 3
  3. 5
  4. 6

Beaver Timber

Story

Emil's friends have each recorded different data about all the tree species in a forest. When Emil has a question while hiking in the forest, he knows he can call these friends to find the answer to his question.

Question

Emil has found a leaf. He wants to know if it belongs to a tree species whose wood is suitable for building a beaver lodge. Which of his friends must he call?

  1. Only Ladina
  2. Only Severin and Quirina
  3. Only Severin and Ladina
  4. Severin, Quirina and Ladina

T-shirt Sorting

Story

Baasu works at a t-shirt factory. The t-shirts come in 3 different patterns: plain, dotted, or striped. For each pattern, there are 3 different colours: blue, yellow, or green. In total, there are 9 different t-shirt choices, as shown:

Plain

Plain blue, plain yellow, and plain green.

Dotted

Dotted blue, dotted yellow, and dotted green.

Striped

Striped blue, striped yellow, and striped green.

Baasu has a machine that sorts t-shirts into three different boxes based on his daily instructions. For example, on Monday, he gave the following instructions:

If the pattern is plain or striped put it in Box 2. Otherwise, if the colour is green, put it in Box 3. Put any other t-shirts in Box 1.

The machine put the t-shirts into boxes as shown:

Question

On Tuesday, Baasu wanted the t-shirts to be sorted as follows:

Which of the following instructions would give Baasu the desired result?

  1. If the colour is yellow, put it in Box 1. Otherwise, if the pattern is plain, put it in Box 3. Put any other t-shirts in Box 2.

  2. If the pattern is plain, put it in Box 3. Otherwise, if the colour is yellow, put it in Box 1. Put any other t-shirts in Box 2.

  3. If the colour is blue or green, put it in Box 2. Otherwise, if the pattern is plain, put it in Box 3. Put any other t-shirts in Box 1.

  4. If the pattern is not plain and the colour is yellow, put it in Box 1. Otherwise, if the colour is not yellow, put it in Box 2. Put any other t-shirts in Box 3.

Beaver Gates

Story

Gates are placed on two types of platforms.

A gate on a circle platform will only open if there are at least two beavers standing on the circle platform.

A gate on a square platform will only open if there is at least one beaver standing on the square platform.

Beavers walk along marked paths until they reach a platform. If the gate doesn't open, they wait on the platform. If the gate opens, then all beavers standing on the platform go through the gate and continue walking along the marked paths.

Question

In which situation will the gate labelled \(G\) stay closed?

  1. One beaver walks along a top path that passes through a gate on a circle platform. One beaver walks along a bottom path that passes through a gate on a square platform. Beyond these gates, the top and bottom paths merge at a gate labelled G on a square platform.
  2. One beaver walks along a top path that passes through a gate on a circle platform. One beaver walks along a bottom path that passes through a gate on a square platform. Beyond these gates, the top and bottom paths merge at a gate labelled G on a circle platform.
  3. No beavers walk along a top path that passes through a gate on a square platform. Two beavers walk along a bottom path that passes through a gate on a circle platform. Beyond these gates, the top and bottom paths merge at a gate labelled G on a circle platform.
  4. One beaver walks along a top path that passes through a gate on a square platform. One beaver walks along a bottom path that passes through a gate on a square platform. Beyond these gates, the top and bottom paths merge at a gate labelled G on a circle platform.

Inner Tubes

Story

After being used on a water slide, inner tubes float in a lazy river and gather in a line as shown.

Eight inner tubes lined up in a narrow river near the exit of the slide. Starting from the end of the river, at the inner tube that is farthest from the slide, the inner tubes in the line are labelled A through H.

When an inner tube is pulled out of the water for someone's next ride, each inner tube behind it floats one position downstream (farther from the slide) to fill the gap.

For example, if someone pulls out inner tube F, the two inner tubes G and H float one position downstream. If someone pulls out inner tube A after this, then all six remaining inner tubes will float one position downstream. In this case, the total number of positions that the inner tubes float downstream is \(2+6=8\).

Question

Eight inner tubes gather as shown above. Then five inner tubes are pulled out of the water in the order B, G, E, D, H. What is the total number of positions that the inner tubes float downstream?

  1. 10
  2. 11
  3. 12
  4. 13

Part C

Flower Pots

Story

A beaver places a row of flower pots by their front door. They hide a key for their friend under one of the pots and then plant one flower in some of the pots so that their friend can find the key using the following instructions:

"If the total number of flowers is even, the key is hidden in the left half of the pots; otherwise, it is hidden in the right half of the pots. Now consider only the half of the pots where the key is hidden. Repeat these steps until you look at only one pot. That's where the key is hidden."

For example, if there are four pots as shown and the key is hidden in pot B, this is how a friend can find the key:

From left to right the pots are labelled A, B, C, and D. Pots A and D have a flower and Pot B has a key.

Look at pots A, B, C and D. They contain 2 flowers. Since 2 is even, the key is hidden in the left half: pots A and B.

Look at pots A and B. They contain 1 flower. Since 1 is odd, the key is hidden in the right half: pot B.

Question

If there are eight pots labelled A to H and the beaver hides the key under pot C, which of the following rows of pots would guide their friend to find the key?

  1. Pots A, C, D, E, F, and H each have a flower; Pots B and G do not.
  2. Pots A, B, D, E, F, and H each have a flower; Pots C and G do not.
  3. Pots C and F each have a flower; the other six pots do not.
  4. Pots D and G each have a flower; the other six pots do not.

Foggy Day

Story

It is a very foggy day on Bebrasland and the fog coverage is expanding. The map of Bebrasland is divided into a grid of squares. Some squares contain mountains or houses . The fog starts in certain squares and each hour the fog expands to cover the four neighbouring squares (to the left, right, above, and below), except for any neighbouring squares that contain mountains. When the fog covers a house it can no longer be seen.

For example, the following maps show how the fog expands in an area of Bebrasland over 2 hours.

fog
fog house mountain fog mountain
mountain house
mountain
mountain fog fog house
Start
fog fog fog
fog fog mountain fog mountain
fog mountain house
fog mountain
mountain fog fog fog house
After 1 hour
fog fog fog fog fog
fog fog mountain fog mountain
fog fog mountain house
fog fog mountain fog
mountain fog fog fog fog
After 2 hours

Question

The following area of Bebrasland shows the starting positions of the fog. How many hours will it take for the fog to cover all of the houses in the area?

fog mountain mountain fog
fog house
mountain mountain mountain
mountain house mountain house mountain
house mountain mountain
mountain mountain house
fog fog fog mountain
  1. 6
  2. 7
  3. 8
  4. 9

Apple Classification

Story

At Beaver Orchard, a machine sorts apples into eight weight-based grades, with apples of the same grade sent to the same packaging area.

Apples are fed into the top of the machine, move through different chutes, and land in one of 8 bins at the bottom of the machine. As each apple moves through the machine, it passes weight sensors that determine its path through the chutes. If the weight of an apple is greater than or equal to the sensor's value, then the apple will drop through the right chute; otherwise, it will drop through the left chute.

For example, the given diagram shows the result when apples of weights 9, 12, and 13 pass through a sensor of value 12. The apple of weight 9 will drop through the left chute, while the apples of weights 12 and 13 will drop through the right chute.

The machine has already sorted some apples and the results are shown in the following diagram. The displays on the weight sensors labelled X, Y, and Z are broken and so do not show these sensors' values.

The machine has 7 sensors: 1 on the top level, 2 in the middle level, and 4 in the bottom level. There is a right chute and a left chute from each sensor and a bin below each chute from the bottom level sensors. Apples with weights ranging from 1 to 20 are in the eight bins. A complete description of the machine follows.

Question

Which of the following are possible values for the weight sensors labelled X, Y, and Z?

  1. X with value 10, Y with value 5, and Z with value 18.
  2. X with value 11, Y with value 6, and Z with value 17.
  3. X with value 12, Y with value 7, and Z with value 20.
  4. X with value 13, Y with value 8, and Z with value 19.

Masked Coordinates

Story

Gemma draws each of the digits \(0\) through \(9\) on separate \(5 \times 3\) grids as shown:

An alternative format for the digit grids follows.

Gemma then invents a way to represent two-digit numbers. She combines the grids for each of the digits in a two-digit number into one new \(5 \times 3\) grid following this rule:

A square in the new grid is black when exactly one of the two corresponding squares in the original grids is black. Otherwise the square is white.

For example, Gemma's representation of her favourite two-digit number, 42, is shown.

The grids for the digits 4 and 2 combine to create a grid with the following black squares: rightmost two squares in the top row, leftmost two squares in the third row from the top, rightmost two squares in the fourth row, and leftmost two squares in the bottom row.

Question

Gemma represented a different two-digit number in the same way and produced the following:

A 5 by 3 grid with the following black squares: rightmost square in each of the top two rows, all squares in third and fourth rows, and leftmost and rightmost squares in the bottom row.

Which of the following two-digit numbers could Gemma have represented?

  1. 20
  2. 35
  3. 59
  4. 62

Sand Painting

Story

Beavers Andy, Bora, Ciel, and Dona are each making a sand painting. They share eleven numbered jars, each containing a different colour of sand. In the picture, each beaver is holding one of the jars they need for their sand painting, and the clouds above their heads show the other jars they need.

Andy is holding jar 2 and also needs jars 1 and 9. Bora is holding jar 8 and also needs 4, 5, and 7. Ciel is holding jar 5 and also needs 2 and 4. Dona is holding jar 11 and also needs 8, 9, and 10.

Two beavers cannot use the same jar at the same time. Also a beaver cannot start their sand painting until they have all the jars they need. Each beaver waits until all the jars they need are available, then they take them all and do their sand painting. When they are finished they return all their jars so others can use them.

Question

Which beaver does their sand painting last?

  1. Andy
  2. Bora
  3. Ciel
  4. Dona