LESSON PLAN - The Survival Game
Theme – Managing Plans
CAREER SKILLS – Career Management
KEY SKILLS – Communication, Problem Solving, Improving Own Learning and Performance
WORK RELATED LEARNING – Learning For Work
COMPETENCIES – *ai, *aii, *aiii, *bi, *ci, *cii, *di, **eii, **eiii, **eiv, **evi, ***fiv, ***kiv, ****li, ****mi
SUGGESTED SUBJECT AREA – Social Studies, Personal Development, English
Learning Outcomes
By completing this task students will be able to:
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Stretch their imaginations as they plan a survival game that includes both dangers and opportunities for
survival.
Preparation and Material
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Miscellaneous board games. Ask the students to bring in their favourite board game from home.
Reference sources on different environments, such as the desert, mountains, rain forests, the Arctic, and
oceans.
Poster board or other fairly rigid material for the game board
Index cards or oak tag for the decks of cards
Drawing materials, including colored inks or felt-tip markers
Recyclable objects (such as buttons, bottle caps, etc.) for markers
Dice and/or spinners
Copies of Activity Sheet “The Survival Game” for each student.
Method
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Display some board games and ask students to comment on the similarities and differences among the
games’. Similarities would include a beginning position, a path along which the players move their pieces,
some means of moving ahead (dice, spinner), and various challenges and chances as the players move their
pieces. The differences would lie in the nature of those challenges and chances.
Divide children into four groups and distribute copies of Activity Sheet “The Survival Game” to each
student. Read the Activity Sheet with students and then ask each group to choose an environment (land,
dessert, forest, sea etc) as the setting for their game. Suggest that each group choose a different
environment.
Suggest that students brainstorm what they will include in their game and make a preliminary version of it
using scrap paper. Each team should also agree on and make an official set of rules so that others can play
the game.
Encourage students to play through the game a few times to test it, making any necessary changes and
improvements.
Students are now ready to create the actual game board and accompanying decks of cards.
Teaching Options
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To make the games even more challenging, suggest that each student try his or her survival skills in all four
environments. Post a chart with all the students' names and a column for each game. Whenever students
successfully survive an environment, they check it off on the list and go on to another one.
Learning Outcomes: By completing this task you will be able to:
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Work with others to design a board game.
Stretch your imaginations as you plan a survival game that includes both dangers and
opportunities for survival.
ACTIVITY SHEET – The Survival Game
Creating the game:
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Choose a specific environment for your board game. Include a clear beginning and an
obvious ending. In between, along the path on which the players move their pieces,
create a number of spaces called danger zones. The danger zones should be
characteristic of that environment. For example a rain forest might have a crocodile
infested river and a mountainous region may have an icy peak. An underwater
environment might be inhibited by sharks. The game should also include safety
zones. Any player landing on a safety zone is free to rest until his/her next turn.
2. Survival is the object of the game, and chances are , players will need some help
surviving the danger zones. This help comes in the form of three decks of cards
that you’ll create as a class. One set will be labeled Outside Help, another Personal
Characteristics, and the third Equipment. Here are some examples:
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Outside Help cards: A nearby group of hikers, a rescue helicopter overhead, a
change in the weather.
Personal Characteristics cards: courage, physical strength, special training, skills
and experience in a certain area.
Equipment cards: This includes supplies, clothing, rope, compass, sharp knife, diving
suit etc.
How the game is played
1.
When a players marker lands on a danger zone, the player draws one card
from each deck (as above). The player studies the cards and the situation on
the board game and then applies his/her ingenuity to devise an escape plan
that uses any or all of the things listed on the cards.
2. The other players consider the plan and decide if it is plausible. If they
accept it, the player survives and can move on. If not the player will miss a
turn and be asked to modify the plan during his or her next turn. At this
time that player has the option to return any one card to the bottom of the
pile and draw a different one.
Sample game play
Elisha is playing a game set in a rain forest. She lands on a danger zone that says she must cross a
river. The floating logs in the river are actually crocodile. Elisha draws one card from each deck.
Her are the cards she drew:
Outside Help
There’s a team
of scientists
exploring in the
area.
Personal
Characteristics
You were a circus
aerialist for six
years
Equipment
You have a 30 –
foot nylon rope in
your back pack
Elisha announces her plan: “ I climb a tree, tie the rope to the overhanging branch, and begin a
pendulum swing over the river, gradually going wider until I’m over to the opposite bank. As the
crocodile watch open mouthed, I release the rope and flip over so that I land on my feet.
One player questions whether the back-pack would throw off her balance. Elisha convinces the
player that with her experience she would take that into account. The players agree: Elisha has the
ability to succeed. Her ingenious plan is accepted. Elisha survives and moves on.