Here is a classis stranded-on-a-desert-island scenario. You have to make some important choices in order to survive. You also have to give REASONS for your choices!

DIRECTIONS:

HURRY! Your ship is sinking and there will only be time to save ONE thing from each of the 20 pairs below. That's the BAD NEWS! The GOOD NEWS is that there is an island nearby. But nobody lives on the island and you'll probably be stuck there all alone for a long time.

So, tell which thing you would save and give a short reason why:

1. Shoes - Socks
2. Calendar - Clock
3. Shovel - Rake
4. Mirror - Compass
5. Cup - Pan
6. Ball - Yo-Yo
7. Coat - Blanket
8. Gloves - Hat
9. Toothbrush - Comb
10. Scissors - Pocket Knife
11. Soap - Toothpaste
12. Fork - Spoon
13. Screwdriver - Hammer
14. Rope - Chain
15. Envelope - Stamp
16. Dictionary - Encyclopedia
17. Raincoat - Umbrella
18. Fishhook - Fishing Pole
19. Matches - Flashlight
20. Crayon - Pencil

All of my answers are based on the premise that this is a warm island with access to fresh water.

1. socks-they can be used to carry things, strain things, cover things--tons of uses
2. Calendar-clock would be useless, who cares what the time is. We don't need clocks anyhow. At least with a calendar, you will be able to keep up with how much time has passed.
3. Shovel- necessary to build fire pits, dig bulbous plants to eat, you can always make a "rake" out of branches and other found items.
4. Mirror-because you can start fires with the heat created from the reflection, as well as possibility of signaling a ship or something.
5. Pan- cooking, boiling water, etc. You can make a cup out of a hollowed root or something similar.
6. Yo-Yo- more fun to play with by yourself.
7. Blanket- why would you want a coat, a blanket would be useful for making shelter
8. Gloves- this was a hard choice, but I am allergic to a bunch of things and the manual labor involved in building shelter my require gloves, though I am very fair, so I would have to make a hat
9. Toothbrush- um, I don't think this needs explaination.
10. Pocket Knife-far more useful than scissors
11. Soap- for cleaning, only in case of injury or possible infection.
12. Spoon- can be used as a tool and an eating utensil. Probably will be eating a lot of "soups"
13. Hammer- more useful for building. I won't have any screws to screw (heheh)
14. Chain- longer lasting, I can make rope out of fibers from plants and trees
15. Envelope - Stamp-- neither, or both, I could care less, both are useless.
16. Dictionary- you need a good vocabulary to talk to all the voices in your head.
17. Raincoat -far more useful tool wise and weather wise.
18. Fishhook- duh, you can make a pole.
19. Matches- far more reliable, what would i do with a flashlight with no batteries.
20. Pencil- probably more durable than the crayon (it could melt), but you can find other ways of making ink, so if you lose the pencil, it would be replaceable.

Lefty did all the work. I had two things different than she did. I took shoes because they are more protective, and the Encyclopedia because I figured it would be the only company I would have for a while.

Interesting test though.

And you Catherine?

I was up in the attic, scrounging through a box of materials I used when a colleague and I were teaching our area's substitute teachers how to be more effective in the classroom. I was rather surprised that the box had remained so organized! The folders were arranged alphabetically and each folder had at least one original page.

One thing my colleague and I did was put together a Bag of Tricks for each prospective sub who took our class. It was our gift to that person to carry along just in case the regular teacher had to leave before detailed lesson plans could be prepared. There were games, idea books, worksheets, pencils, pens, colored markers, puzzles, etc. This particular game came from that Bag of Tricks.

As to my answers, I would have also chosen the encyclopedia because it might have more information about how to survive on a desert island as well as lots of stuff to read that would be less boring than a dictionary would have.

I also chose shoes, as they are more protective and, if I was lucky enough to have shoes with strings, those strings could be utilized in a lot of different ways. I might have chosen a rope rather than a chain, but I can't think of one good reason why!

Otherwise, Lefty did a good job!