Lesson 1: Go It Alone or Use a Little Help from Your Friends

Making decisions in life can be a challenging task, especially when those decisions involve life and death dilemmas. Do you think that you can make the right decisions when faced with difficult situations? Do you think the quality of your choices makes a difference whether you use help from others or make your decisions individually?

Doing the science

1. Start the Survivor Simulation by clicking on the "Sim" tab.
2. Review the on-screen background information and instructions.
3. Click on the paper at the right-bottom of the screen to begin ordering the survival items.
4. Click and drag an item up or down to change its position in the order. Remember that items placed near the top of the list are considered to be the most important, while items placed near the bottom of the list are least important.
5. When you are satisfied with the order of your list, click the "Done" button.
6. Record your score and rating in Table 1 below in the "Individual Ordering" section.
7. Find and record five of your classmates’ "Individual Ordering" scores and ratings for the data they collected.
8. Follow the on-screen instructions to continue the activity. This time, before you begin ordering the list, click on the people at the crash for help. You can click on each person multiple times to receive more suggestions and ideas from each person.
9. Once you have reviewed the ideas from the group, reorder the list of survival items. Click on the "Done" button when you’re satisfied with your list’s order.
10. Record your score and rating in Table 1 below in the "Group Ordering" section.
11. Find and record five of your classmates’ "Group Ordering" scores and ratings for the data they collected.
12. Calculate and record the average of the "Individual Ordering" and "Group Ordering" scores in Table 1.