Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to sign-up and participate in the inaugural FSHU Geosciences Scavenger Hunt. This is a scavenger hunt with an Earth Science Week theme inspired by the world famous University of Chicago Scavenger Hunt. We hope those who participate will have fun working with teammates or alone to solve geopuzzles and acquire the geologic- and geograhic-themed items that make up this year's list. The experience should be fun, competitive, and (dare we say it?) educational - but mostly fun. This website will self-destruct in 5 seconds...
 
Clerical
Teams of 1-3 FHSU students, no more than 2 Geoscience majors per team. Entry forms will be available in the department office beginning on Monday, 10/12/09. All team entries must be complete and submitted to the Geosciences Departmental office by Noon on 10/14/09. Competition will begin when the Initial List is posted at 5:00pm on Wednesday, 10/14/09. Competition continues until Monday, 10/26/09 at 5:00pm. Winners will be announced at the Geosciences Halloween Party on Friday, October 30, 2009. Dr. Ron Schott will serve as the Grand Poo-Bah of the Geosciences Scav Hunt. Direct all questions or item submissions to him (e-mail: rschott@fhsu.edu) or the Department Office. The Official Website for the Geosciences Scavenger Hunt is: http://hays.outcrop.org/GeoScavHunt/

Rules

1. Teams will consist of no more than 3 individual members. All team members must be currently enrolled students of Fort Hays State University. No more than two Geology or Geography majors are allowed on a team. All team members must be listed on the Team's official entry form at the beginning of the Hunt. Teams must designate a captain, a team name, and an e-mail address that will serve as an official point of contact.
2. The winning team is the one that acquires the most points over the course of the competition. Sabotage or interference with another team's efforts is against the spirit of the Hunt. Likewise, collusion between teams or enlisting significant assistance from people not registered on your team is right out. Be fiercely competitive, but play fairly.
3. All items on the list can be obtained legally. It may involve smooth-talking, or it may involve something else, but it's all possible. As a result, it all has to be done so. Team members are responsible for their own actions. Any actions that reflect poorly on the Geosciences Scav Hunt, the Geosciences Department, and/or Fort Hays State University may be grounds for docking of points, team disqualification, or worse.
4. Points: Points will be assigned for each item completed from the List. The Judges give out points for living the spirit of the item in its presentation. In some places, bonus points are also awarded for going above and beyond the Judges' concept of the Call of Duty. Don't complain about point values and don't ask for bonus points. If you want a degree in accounting or justice studies, you're in the wrong department. Whining and complaining will not endear you to the judges. Bribery is an entirely different matter...
5. The List: The Initial List will be presented to each team captain and posted on the Geosciences Scav Hunt website at the start of the Hunt. Additional items may be added daily throughout the competition - the List of items and point values on the Geosciences Scav Hunt website will be the official list. No additional items will be added after the last Friday of the Hunt.
6. Judging: All teams must have a representative at the Sternberg Geosciences Club meeting on Monday the 26th at 5:00pm to present their completed items for scoring. Completed items (including photo and/or video documentation thereof) may be submitted to the Geosciences Department Office or the Grand Poo-bah (Dr. Schott) at any time during the competition and a running point tally for each team will be posted on the website. The FHSU Geosciences Faculty & Staff, or a subset thereof, will serve as judges and will be the final arbiters of points. Their decisions are final. Get used to it.
7. The Hunt is intended to be enjoyable and educational. If you're not having fun and learning things, you're doing it wrong. If you're doing it right, participation is its own reward. That doesn't mean there won't be other rewards...

The List
The Official List - Expect this List to be augmented as the competition progresses.

1. Submit an entry in the Geosciences Earth Science Week Photo Contest (5 pts per team member who enters) - win a category (+10 pts) or the grand prize (+25 pts).
2. Interview a professional geologist or geographer (other than your professors) about careers in geology (present a recording of the interview - minimum 15 minutes - as proof) (40 pts) - publish it with their permission (+10pts).
3. FHSU Rocks! And not just the Geosciences Department, either. Display a banner to that effect at an FHSU Sporting Event (20 pts.) - the bigger the better.
4. Visit the highest point in Kansas (20 pts.) or the lowest point in Kansas (30 pts.) - we're gonna need proof on a GPS receiver!
5. Prepare an authentic ethnic meal (non-North American) for 5 classmates and a faculty member and serve it in the Student Lounge (0-60 points based on the reviews of the students and faculty who eat it).
6. Team photo in front of the Fish Within a Fish (10 pts) - Display your own fossil of a fish within a fish (25 pts).
7. Geochaching is fun. It's even more fun when there are more caches to find. Establish and officially register a Geocache somewhere around Hays, KS (10 pts). Load it with departmental recruiting swag (+5 pts).
8. There's a volcano erupting in the FHSU Quad! Document it in video. (12 pts. + 5x the height of the volcano in feet + 3x the duration of the eruption in minutes - 10x the number of deaths, injuries, or complaints)
9. Google Earth Placemarks of locations of the childhood homes of each of the Geosciences Faculty and Staff members (5 pts. per faculty member) - include an authentic childhood photo of the faculty/staff member (+20 pts each).
10. Officially declare a Geology or Geography major (100 pts.) or recruit someone else who declares a Geology or Geography major (50 pts. each)
11. I have visions of The Big Chart (ask Dr. Schott if you need a copy) chalked on sidewalks all across campus (25 pts) - or perhaps you'd prefer the cladogram of Victor E. Tiger.
12. Coal trains pass thru Hays every day. Do they leave any of their cargo as they pass? Collect a piece of coal along the UPRR in town and identify what rank it is. (5 pts.) Don't get hit by a train.
13. Photograph a team member at a Kansas waterfall. (Pts. = 5x the height of the waterfall in feet if its a natural fall, or 2x the height in feet if its man-made).
14. Find a Kansas Meteorite and donate it to the Geosciences Department (15x its weight in pounds pts.)
15. Build your own Weather Rock. Record daily measurements from it for a week. Plot them against weather data from the FHSU weather station. Which is more accurate? (7 pts)
16. Observe the changing seasons by raking the leaves from your professor's yard. (3x the number of large garbage bags filled pts. + 2 pts. for each species of leaf identified).
17. Labeled samples of each of the geologic map units on the Geologic Map of Ellis County, Kansas (Neuhauser & Pool, 1988) (5 pts per map unit) - include a geotagged photo of a team member collecting it (+3 points per unit).
18. Identify the geological features and localities of the postcards on Dr. Schott's office door (DO NOT remove the postcards from the door). (Team with the most correct ID's - 30 pts, 2nd place - 20 pts, 3rd place 10 pts.)
19. First team to reach 250 points (+25 bonus points).
20. Give Blood. (10 pts/pint)