Geographic and trivia puzzle

Abstract

A geographic and trivia puzzle system designed to teach individuals the name and location of the counties or municipalities of a given geographic region as well as providing general information about the particular county or municipality. The geographic and trivia puzzle system includes a plurality of county or municipality puzzle pieces that conform to or represent the shape of the respective counties or municipalities constituting the particular geographic region. In addition, the geographic and trivia puzzle system comprises a plurality of cards having an indicia or drawing on one side and a question related to the indicia or drawing on the other side of the card, related to facts or trivia about the particular county or municipality. The geographic and trivia puzzle system also includes a plurality of icons or figures representing people, things or places to be placed on the corresponding to the particular county or municipality to which the people, thing or place is from or located.

What is claimed is: 
     
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         10 . A method of using a geographic and trivia puzzle system that comprises a puzzle having a shape that conforms to a particular geographic region; a plurality of county puzzle pieces wherein each piece of the plurality of county puzzle pieces has a shape corresponding to the geographical shape of one county from a plurality of counties that form part of the particular geographic region; at least one chance element having one or more faces, wherein each face of the at least one chance element includes an indicia that represents a category of people, things or places from the geographic region; one or more miniature figures, wherein each of the miniature figures fall into one of the categories of people, things or places; one or more cards having a first side and a second side, wherein the first side of each card includes an image corresponding to a historical figure born in one of the counties of the particular geographic region and the second side of the one or more cards includes a brief description of the life of the historical figure depicted on the first side of each card; and wherein at least one edge of each of the county puzzle pieces includes attaching means for securing the county puzzle pieces to each other, the method comprising the steps of:
 step 1: identifying one or more cardinal points on a surface, wherein the cardinal points correspond to a north, a south, an east and a west;   step 2: selecting one or more county puzzle pieces from the plurality of county puzzle pieces;   step 3: identifying cardinal points on a surface;   step 4: rearranging the selected county puzzle pieces on the surface, taking into account the cardinal points, until the puzzle having the shape that conforms to the particular geographic region is complete or until the selected county puzzle piece is incorrectly placed in the puzzle;   step 5: awarding a point to a user of the geographic and trivia puzzle system for each county puzzle piece correctly placed in the puzzle;   step 6: wherein upon the selected county puzzle piece being incorrectly placed in the puzzle, allowing another user to perform steps 2 to 4;   step 7: awarding a point to the other user for each county puzzle piece correctly placed in the puzzle;   step 8: wherein upon the county puzzle piece selected by the other user being incorrectly placed, allowing the user to continue performing steps 2 to 4;   step 9: wherein upon completion of the puzzle:   tossing the at least one chance to determine which face of the at least one chance element faces upwards;   wherein if the face of the chance element that faces upwards corresponds to a place or thing, selecting one miniature figure from the plurality of miniature figures that corresponds to the category of the place or thing that appears on the face of the chance element that faces upwards;   placing the selected miniature figure on top of the county puzzle piece corresponding to the county the particular place or thing belongs to until all miniature figures in the particular category have been selected;   wherein if the face of the chance element that faces upward corresponds to a person, selecting one card from the plurality of cards depicting historical figures or persons from the counties that constitute the particular geographical region;   identifying on the puzzle the county in which the historical figure or person depicted in the selected card was born;   placing the selected card on a stack of used cards once the historical figure or person on the card has been identified;   awarding a point to the user for each correct identification of the historical figure or person on the card or for each correct placement of the miniature figure;   keeping track of the awarded points;   allowing the other user to perform the process in step 9 once the user finishes placing one of the miniature figures on top of the county puzzle piece corresponding to the county the particular place or thing belongs to or identifying on the puzzle the county in which the historical figure or person depicted in the selected card was born; and   repeating the process in step 9 until all cards have been selected.   
     
     
         11 . The method of using a geographic and trivia puzzle system as in  claim 10 , further comprising the step of: verifying the answer of the question that appears on the selected card via an answer book. 
     
     
         12 . The method of using a geographic and trivia puzzle system as in  claim 10 , wherein the step of keeping track of awarded points is done via a score sheet. 
     
     
         13 . The method of using a geographic and trivia puzzle system as in  claim 10 , wherein each of the plurality of miniature figures have one of the following shapes: a baseball cap shape, a head shape, a river shape, a tree shape, a lighthouse shape and a flag shape. 
     
     
         14 . The method of using a geographic and trivia puzzle system as in  claim 10 , wherein the indicia in one face of the at least one chance element depicts an image of a baseball cap, the indicia in another face of the at least one chance element depicts an image a head, the indicia in another face of the at least one chance element depicts an image of a river, the indicia in another face of the at least one chance element depicts an image of a tree, and the indicia in another face of the at least one chance element depicts an image of a lighthouse and the indicia in another face of the at least one chance element depicts an image of a flag. 
     
     
         15 . The method of using a geographic and trivia puzzle system as in  claim 10 , wherein the image of the historical figure or person that is depicted on a first side of each card. 
     
     
         16 . The method of using a geographic and trivia puzzle system as in  claim 15 , wherein a second side of each card in the plurality of cards includes a description of the life of the historical figure or person depicted on the first side of the card. 
     
     
         17 . The method of using a geographic and trivia puzzle system as in  claim 10 , wherein the north on the surface is opposite to the south and perpendicular to the east and west. 
     
     
         18 . The method of using a geographic and trivia puzzle system as in  claim 10 , wherein each puzzle piece includes the name of the county in braille on a second side of the puzzle piece. 
     
     
         19 . The method of using a geographic and trivia puzzle system as in  claim 10 , wherein each one of the one or more miniature figures has a generic shape representing the category in which the miniature figure falls into. 
     
     
         20 . The method of using a geographic and trivia puzzle system as in  claim 10 , wherein the one or more miniature figures has a shape that is an actual representation of the category the miniature figure falls into. 
     
     
         21 . The method of using a geographic and trivia puzzle system as in  claim 10 , wherein the means for securing the county puzzle pieces to each other are magnets. 
     
     
         22 . The method of using a geographic and trivia puzzle system as in  claim 10 , wherein the at least one chance element is a dice.