How to Stay Alive!
An Activity based on the book Alive!
by Piers Paul Read
Introduction |
Task |
Process |
Resources |
Evaluation |
You and two friends are on a plane flying towards a journey to see parts of
the world that you have never seen. This is a journey that you and your two
friends have been planning for a long time and you are excited to finally be
living out the experience. All of a sudden you hear noise outside the plane
and see that it is storming; you feel the plane dip and hear the pilot
address the passengers in the plane, “we are flying through a stormy section
and we might encounter some turbulence, but it will not last long. Please
buckle in to your seats and bear with us during these difficulties.” All of a
sudden you feel the plane lurch and chaos breaks out. You can feel the plane
descending rapidly and notice that a mask has popped out of the overhead
carriage and is dangling in front of you. You vaguely see the words flashing
in little red letters, EMERGENCY, EMERGENCY,
EMERGENCY.
You are stranded in the Andes Mountains and must figure out a way to survive.
Upon realizing that you are stranded you go from being calm to very scared
and excited. A few minutes later you become calm again and start to think of
things that you will need to find, use and do in order to survive in the
hostile conditions of the cold snow covered mountain range that you are now
stranded in. You and your two friends are together and survived the plane
crash. It seems a as though a miracle has occurred to allow the three of you
to survive. There are no signs that anyone else has survived.
The more prepared people are, the better off they'll be when having to
survive in a hostile environment. Most experts suggest bringing a few things
along to help when things get tough, but the main idea is to know and
understand what to do (and when to do it) when you have to survive on your
own.
This activity will ask you to find information on the World Wide Web and
develop a survival manual that displays the results of your research for the
rest of the class. Imagine you are faced with the above survival problem --
being stranded in the Andes Mountains with limited resources. What
equipment should you have? What steps should you take? What should you avoid?
Use the web links provided to gather the information; then use your
creativity and style to produce the project. You will be graded on both the
accuracy of the facts and the presentation.
You will have one class in the library to gather information and one block in
class to piece together your pamphlet. You will present your pamphlet on the
third day.
The objective of this activity is to develop a survival manual to help people
stranded in the mountains during cold winter conditions.
The Survival Manual describes essentials of survival in a foreign and hostile environment. Identify options for materials and strategies using information found on the Web. Create a step-by-step survival manual with the following:
 | A creative cover with clear titles, eye-catching picture (or drawing) and author's names. (Hint: Look at a book cover for layout ideas). |
| Table of contents listing all main concepts and topics. |
| Illustrations of necessary items with description of uses. |
| Clear, brief paragraphs about each element of survival. |
Consider designing your manual in a durable format appropriate for a traveler to carry along on a trip.
Use the Web sites listed below to gather information about the elements of survival:
| List supplies recommended to have with you. |
| Describe steps should you take. |
| Provide list of thing to avoid (dangers). |
Record the information on paper. Make sure you can read your notes!
Go to these sites to begin your search:
| Shelter |
Wilderness Survival: Free info covering all aspects of survival.
Use the notes that you have gathered to make a survival manual of your own. The key will be to find three to five main ideas for your manual (don't try to do too much or it will be hard to read). A basic manual would have the following chapters:
| supplies |
| steps |
| things to avoid |
You may want to use a Cluster diagram to help you organize the data.
Get the materials needed and begin laying out your manual. Be sure to organize the information in the order you will use it in reality. (For example: "find some smaller twigs to light before you put the larger branches on the fire"). Be sure to involve every member of your group and listen to their input. You may want to divide up the job into parts and put someone in charge of each element, either by chapters or by job (writing, drawing, cover, table of contents).
Assemble the parts into a finished version. Be sure to have all members read the manual to check for mistakes and readability. It is better to do the final work at school; don't rely on one person to do it at home! Keep it where everyone has the ability to work on it.
The manual, as a technical document, should:
| report and/or convey information logically and correctly |
| offer detailed and accurate specifications |
| include examples to aid comprehension (e.g., troubleshooting guide |
| anticipate readers' problems, mistakes, and misunderstandings |