27 Sep Lost at Sea Worksheet

Lost at Sea Worksheet

Name_____________________________________ 

The Situation: You are adrift on a private yacht in the South Pacific. As a consequence of a fire of unknown origin, much of the yacht and its contents have been destroyed. The yacht is now slowly sinking. Your location is unclear because of the destruction of critical navigational equipment and because you and the crew were distracted trying to bring the fire under control. Your best estimate is that you are approximately one thousand miles south-southwest of the nearest land.

Instructions: Below is a list of fifteen items that are intact and undamaged after the fire. In addition to these articles, you have a serviceable rubber life raft with oars which is large enough to carry yourself, the crew, and only some of the undamaged items. The total contents of the survivors’ pockets are a package of cigarettes, several books of matches, and five one-dollar bills.

Your task is to rank the 15 undamaged items in terms of their importance to your survival. Place the number 1 by the most important item, the number 2 by the second most important, and so on through number 15, the least important.

 Sextant

 Shaving mirror

 Five-gallon can of water

 Mosquito netting

 One case of U.S. Army C rations

 Maps of the Pacific Ocean

 Seat cushion (flotation device approved by the Coast Guard)

 Two-gallon can of oil-gas mixture

 Small transistor radio

 Shark repellent

 Twenty square feet of opaque plastic

 One quart of 160-proof Puerto Rican rum

 Fifteen feet of nylon rope

 Two boxes of chocolate bars

 Fishing kit