Be Prepared!

Be Prepared!
Create an all-purpose survival kit to keep in your family car or at home.

http://www.reachoutmichigan.org/funexperiments/agesubject/lessons/newton/jungle.html

What situations might leave you and your family temporarily stranded without electricity, food, and shelter? How would you survive if you were stranded outdoors? In this activity, you'll decide what you'd need in a survival kit to help you stay safe and healthy.

Materials

• waterproof container(backpack or plastic box)
  
• chart paper
  
• markers
  
• scale

1. Make a chart with columns for water, food, shelter, fire, and other needs.
2. Break up into small groups. Choose a season of the year. Then brainstorm with your group to list whatever each person thinks you might need in each column to survive for at least a week in the outdoors during that season. (Remember that a brainstorming session is not the time to criticize ideas-just write them down.)
3. For each item in your list, assign a number to indicate its priority. For example, "1" could mean that the item is essential on a scale of 1 to 5, with a "5" meaning that the item is probably not important. Allow time for discussion.
4. Decide on the volume and weight of the survival kit. Estimate the weight of each item that you want to include in your kit, and decide whether you can include it. Would several people have to share carrying the weight?
5. Make a list of items to include in the kit.
6. If possible, gather or purchase the materials you selected, and make a sample survival kit. Weigh the kit and make a note of how much space the kit will take up. Where will you store it?
7. If you live where severe weather (hurricanes, snowstorms, flooding) could cut you off from electricity, water, and food, put together a list of basic supplies to keep on hand in case of emergency. Think about the little things, too, such as a can opener and a good supply of batteries for your radio and flashlight.

Collect water by building a simple solar still. Dig a hole about 1/2 meter (20") deep and 1 meter (40") wide. Place a clean cup at the bottom of the hole. Sprinkle grass clippings or leaves on the side of the hole. Cover the hole with plastic wrap (you may have to tape several lengths together to cover the hole completely). Use rocks or sticks to hold the plastic wrap in place. Place a marble-sized stone on top of the plastic. It should be heavy enough to create a point where the condensation can collect and drip into the cup. Now let the sun do its work. How long does it take to form condensation on the plastic? Where is the water coming from? How long does it take to get 2 cm (3/4") of water?

Humans develop survival skills for different environments. List the skills needed by the following: a baby, a soldier, a person in a wheelchair, a person who is blind, a person who can't read, a prisoner of war, a person who is homeless, a person living near the Arctic Circle, members of a tribe living in the Amazon jungle, a member of that tribe forced to move to the city, a person forced to move to a new country. Choose one of these people and write a story about survival from that person's perspective. Read the story to your class.

Any sailor, backpacker, or person who spends time outdoors will attest to the importance of knowing how to tie different kinds of knots. Find a book on knots. Get a meter of thin and thick rope for each person in the group. Practice making at least five different knots. What is each one used for? Which one should you use to tie two different kinds of rope together? Which is easiest to pull apart? Which would you use to build a rope bridge?

---

Tapes of this episode of Newton's Apple and others are available from GPN for only $24.95.
Please call 1-800-228-4630.
For information on other Newton's Apple resources for home and school,
please call 1-800-588-NEWTON!