You find an ostrich egg, travel to Canada, star in a movie, struggle to identify various songs and answer a question every six minutes — it’s Kaleidoquiz.

Trevin Ward, one of the organizers of Kaleidoquiz, said one of the keys to success in running the competition is having a monitor that everyone on the team can see. The pace for KQ can be fast so making sure everyone can see a screen helps keep the team organized.

As leaders for the Lyon Harwood team, Rick Hanton, senior in computer engineering, and Tessa Brow, senior in mathematics and literature, are working to transform their residence hall floor into a headquarters for the event. Many rooms are designated for a different purpose — computer lab, sleeping, scavenger hunt, etc.

Toward the beginning of the semester, Hanton and Brow said they started organizing and contacting people.

About a month prior, Hanton said he ensured the team will have a projector, sound system and possibly a video camera.

Adam Boesenberg and Ben Rattle, graduates in materials science and engineering, said they rely a lot on word of mouth and networking to spread the knowledge of their Kaleidoquiz team.

Boesenberg and Rattle said organized their team into shifts in an attempt to make sure there are always people present.

Hanton said his team will prepare the night before Kaleidoquiz begins while, Rattle said his team, which is based in a computer lab, sets up the day of the event since a lot of the preparation is already completed.

However, there will always be complications.

“You are never perfectly prepared,” Boesenberg said. “You have to just do it. Have fun with it, and hope.”

Rattle said that a large team won’t guarantee success.

“The most people doesn’t help you,” he said. “It takes dedication to do it all.”

Ward said some teams collect items such as copies of campus publications that may be valuable for a question.

Adam Reineke, junior in computer science suggested stocking up on energy drinks because sleeping shouldn’t always be expected.

Several teams coordinate a schedule that the team will operate on — when people will sleep, setting up shifts and who has vehicles to travel.

Team leaders said to really get involved, members just have to participate and the event should grow on them.

“I didn’t know much about KQ when I first participated,” Boesenberg said. “Give it time and it will grow on you. Dedication, too.”

If you think your ready for the questions, check out the quiz below. Read more about Kaleidoquiz here and here and here.

Kaleidoquiz events:

• Questions: Every six minutes a question is asked and over the past few years, those questions have become more riddles than questions because search engines make it hard to make traditional questions difficult. Take the quiz below.
• Traveling question: Teams are given obscure clues that in the end allow them to figure out their final destination. Past destinations have included Toronto, Canada, Chicago, Madison, Wisc., Rochester, Minn.
• Montages: These are 10 to 20 second sound clips from songs or movies for teams must identify. The task is not easy since the movie clips are usually non-quotable lines and the music montages usually contain clips with no lyrics. Some notable music montages included one that was only guitar riffs by the band Pavement and another that was only clips of Led Zeppelin saying “baby.” Teams had to identify the songs. Some notable movie montages included one that teams had to identify the movie and who died next and another that was only special effects sounds.
• Scavenger list: These lists can include the most bizarre items that are likely impossible to find. Some 2009 items include a snuggie, stunna shades, the “Indiana Jones” trilogy on VHS, vampire hunting kit and a blank check with a pre-printed 19 in the year.
• Movies: This recent addition requires teams to quickly go out and create a movie. The final product is uploaded to YouTube. Last year, teams made “swede” movies like in “Be Kind Rewind.”
• Other tasks from last year included the physically-natured rock climb and the intellectually-natured lectures on metal and hip hop and then tested teams on those lectures.

Kaleidoquiz Quiz

These questions are selected questions from 2008 and 2009. Can you answer one every six minutes? Answers are here.

10 points

1. Farm House is the oldest building on campus. What are the second and third oldest?

2. How many stars are on the Allied States of America?

3. Which state produces 90 percent of the disco balls in the United States?

4. From the CBS reality show “Survivor,” who is the composer of the tribal council theme?

5. How many coins are displayed on the desk in “Desktop Tower Defense” version 1.5?

20 points

1. What movie star lived in Ames as a child in the late 1940s?

2. What band is named after a calamity at a shopping area or video game boutique?

3. What U.S. Senator shares a last name with a football player whose name sounds like a petrochemical product?

4. An Olympic games has been moved only one time due to a volcano. Name the year, the city and the location it was moved to.

5. In “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game” for the Nintendo Entertainment System, what order from left to right are the turtles standing before they leap into the burning building?

30 points

1. On average, how many gallons of sewage were generated per hour by the Iowa State Utility Enterprise in the 2008 fiscal year?

2. What size font did Karen use to type “Death and Taxes?“

3. What electronic device was released on a palindromic date in the late 20th Century?

4. What color is the human statue? He’s a British menace!

5. On what page of the D&D 3.5 PHB is the full spell description of “Magic Missle” located?

40 points

1. In the TV show “Arrested Development,” what was GOB’s original, unaired response when Michael tells him not to attack the man marta has fallen in love with?

2. When Secretary Roslin finds out her bad news for the first time, a craft, very much out of place, flys overhead. What is the name of this craft?

3. What is the whole number value for the equation “W times Z squared plus 2X times Z times Y equals zero” where W is equal to the closest whole number of hectameters of rushing yards recorded by Troy Davis in his ISU career, X is the number of wins in Ken Jennings record-setting jeopardy career and Y is the number of hours the trivia marathon held each April in Stevens Point, Wis.?

4. In “Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers” for Nintendo Entertainment System, how many apples are on the first screen of the first level if you play as Dale?

5. What now stands on the location of the first home in West Ames?

50 points

1. How much is a lifetime membership at Wheatsfield Grocery?

2. Which two children’s shows featured an animated series about a boy whose chalk drawings come to life?

3. A water wave group consists of waves with approximate wavelength 100 meters traveling in water of depth five meters. The group itself is 1,000 meters wide with a maximum amplitude of one meter. The wave group approaches a continental shelf where the ocean depth changes rapidly to 500 meters. Determine the wavenumber spread on the deep water side, report the result as a ratio or percent.

4. The now-closed Varsity Theater once had the same midnight showing the weekend of KQ two years in a row. What movie was played?

5. What is Billy’s full address in “The Polar Express?”