Survival Lesson Plan

IV. Survival Discussion Questions

1. How would you define a survivor?
2. Whitney has had extensive survival training.  Does this automatically make her a survivor or is she a survivor for other reasons?
3. Discuss whether Helga, Mr. Parks and Vlad are survivors and why.  What other characters would you consider survivors?
4. Reid and Whitney are living with a nut allergy that requires constant diligence on their part.  Are people with food allergies survivors?
5. What psychological and physical characteristics does it take to survive?  Is survival an issue of mind over matter?  Does luck play a role?
6. The Japanese have a saying “Get knocked down seven times, get up eight.” What does this mean in terms of survival?

Exercise

1. History is full of great survival stories.  Pick one and describe how these people prevailed?   What physical and mental conditions were they faced with?  What do the survival stories have in common?  How are they different?

Students can pick their own events or pick an example below:

1. Prisoners of War (i.e., John McCain)
2. Holocaust / genocide  (Armenia, Cambodia, Bosnia)
3. Poon Lim
4. Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571
5. Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctic expedition