Download Sandy Beach Park - Agents of Discovery

Teachers Information Package:
Sandy Beach
About Agents of Discovery
Agents of Discovery is the move to learn game that uses mobile technology to get kids outside,
moving and connecting with their environment. To play Agents of Discovery, simply download
the app for free from Google Play or the Apple App store, and then download your mission site.
Once you have downloaded your mission site the game works completely offline!
After you have downloaded your mission site simply go to the corresponding park and play!
The more you move, the more challenges you unlock, and the more points you earn.
Challenges are designed to help youth interact with their surroundings and connect with their
environment.
Agents of Discovery is proven to work! A 2013 study by the University of British Columbia
showed kids playing Agents of Discovery had more fun, learned more, and felt more
connected to nature than kids who took self-guided or interpreter-led tours of parks.
Finally, there are no in-app purchases or ads in the Agents of Discovery game, as the focus is
100 % on learning, moving, and having fun!
About this Mission Site
Location: The mission runs along the Elbow River Pathway of Sandy Beach Park.
Approximate time to complete mission: 1 ¾ hours
Mission length: 1.87 km
Parking: There are two parking lots for Elbow River Pathway. The larger main parking lot is
located on 50 Ave SW, (cross-street 14 St SW), and will easily fit a bus. A second smaller
parking lot is located off Riverdale Ave SW.
Bathrooms: Yes—seasonal call and check before you go (403-268-2300).
Picnic spots: Multiple picnic locations throughout the park.
Other Information about Sandy Beach
There are lots of picnic tables and shelters that can accommodate large groups. There are also
fire pits and BBQ stands. There is a playground that is open year round, and access to the Bow
River… so bring your swimsuit on a hot day.
Sandy Beach Mission Questions and Answers:
The Sandy Beach mission has 23 questions. Below is a list of all the questions and answers
organized by question type. Answers are indicated:
Text Riddle
1. Challenge: For the Picking
Question: You are entering a riparian
habitat. What do you think this means?
- Wet area between dry land and a river
or stream (ANSWER)
- A habitat that never changes
- A zone with no influence over the ocean
currents
- An area where fruit ripens 48% faster
than normal
2. Challenge: Meanderings
Question:
The river washes away gravel and dirt
from the river's banks and deposits it at
the inside bends because the river:
- Slows down at inside bends (ANSWER)
- Deepens at the bends
- Speeds up at the inside bends
- Likes the nice, bendy shape
3. Challenge: Natural Filters
Question: Each day, 430 million litres of
water from things like toilets, sewers, and
watering lawns is treated by the City
before returning to the river. That would
fill the Saddledome:
- 0.5 times
- Two times (ANSWER)
- Four hundred times
- Twelve times
4. Challenge: Welcome Home
(Plantitarium)
Question: Many of these grasses are
native to Calgary. This means that they:
- Were planted by humans
- Do not photosynthesize
- Only sprout in the spring and summer
- Grow naturally (ANSWER)
Image Match
5. Challenge: Conflicting Smells
Question: Find wolf willow, with its ghostly
green leaves, dull yellow flowers, and pale
silver berries. Smells like:
- (IMAGE) skunk deodorant (ANSWER)
- (IMAGE) black spruce needles
- (IMAGE) orange
- (IMAGE) apple
6. Challenge: Embronic Adventures
Question: Being a fish egg is dangerous
work. They are often destroyed by:
- (IMAGE) dog swimming
- (IMAGE) all of these (ANSWER)
- (IMAGE) dancing river
- (IMAGE) rainstorm
7. Challenge: Leaf with Teeth
Question: Find a river birch tree. Its leaves
look like:
- (IMAGE) buffalo head leaf
- (IMAGE) river birch leaf (ANSWER)
- (IMAGE) ponderosa pine needles
- (IMAGE) black spruce needles
8. Challenge: More of a Brunette
Question: Which of these common birds do
NOT have males with red heads?
- (IMAGE) common redpoll
- (IMAGE) red winged blackbird (ANSWER)
- (IMAGE) crossbill
- (IMAGE) purple finch
9. Challenge: Muddy Materials
Question: Where does the magpie find mud
for its nest in the winter?
- (IMAGE) mud depot
- (IMAGE) mud river bank (ANSWER)
- (IMAGE) animal dung
10. Challenge: Pass the Oxygen
Question: Fast-moving Calgary water
carries lots of oxygen, which is good news
for:
- (IMAGE) axolotl
- (IMAGE) fish embryo (ANSWER)
- (IMAGE) spruce cone
- (IMAGE) black bear
11. Challenge: Pop(u)lar
Question: Find the common balsam poplar.
They look like:
- (IMAGE) blowing wind
- (IMAGE) balsam poplar (ANSWER)
- (IMAGE) black spruce tree
- (IMAGE) brome grass
12. Challenge: Rocky Evidence
Question:
What can you spot nearby that proves the
river once flowed where you stand?
- (IMAGE) little stones silt mud (ANSWER)
- (IMAGE) blue oatgrass
- (IMAGE) ponderosa pine needles
- (IMAGE) boreal chorus frog
13. Challenge: The Fish List
Question: Which fish is NOT found in this
river:
- (IMAGE) rainbow trout
- (IMAGE) largemouth bass (ANSWER)
- (IMAGE) brown trout
- (IMAGE) mountain whitefish
Color Picker
14. Challenge: Flickering Polychromasia
Question: Colour in the Northern Flicker!
- Northern flicker face: tan
- Northern flicker chest: black
- Northern flicker spots: black
15. Challenge: Guess The Eye Colour!
Question: Colour in the Common
Goldeneye!
- Goldeneye eye: yellow/orange
- Goldeneye wing: grey
- Goldeneye head: green
Detective/ fill in the blank
16. Challenge: A Human Lever
Question: Hinge joint river doesn't have the
same ring as _____ River.
- elbow
17. Challenge: Beam Me Up(stream)
Question: When trout are ready to mate,
they return upstream to where they hatched.
This is called s_____ing!
- spawning
18. Challenge: Ebbs and Goes
Question: Calgary was named after a very
moist nearby feature. Clear running _____
- water
19. Challenge: Lend me a Spade, Friend
Question: Female brown trout bury their
eggs in gravel nests called redds. But they
don't use a shovel! They use their:
- tail
20. Challenge: Something Fishy About that
Cow
Question: This endangered river species is
more FISH than COW. ____ trout
- bull
Audio Match
21. Challenge: A Real Good Quacking
Question: Female Mallard
Dial 1: (IMAGE)
- Female mallard (ANSWER)
- Red winged blackbird
- Red tailed hawk
- Black billed magpie
Dial 2: (AUDIO FILE)
- Black billed magpie
- Red tailed hawk
- Red winged blackbird
- Female mallard (ANSWER)
22. Challenge: Noisy Pies
Question: Black-billed Magpie
Dial 1: (IMAGE)
- Female mallard
- American crow
- Common raven
- Black billed magpie (ANSWER)
Dial 2: (AUDIO FILE)
- Black billed magpie (ANSWER)
- Common raven
- American crow
- Female mallard
23. Challenge: Utterance of Wizards
Question: Merlin
Dial 1: (IMAGE)
- Red winged blackbird
- Merlin (ANSWER)
- Canada goose
- Great blue heron
Dial 2: (AUDIO FILE)
- Great blue heron
- Canada goose
- Merlin (ANSWER)
- Red winged blackbird