Survivors

Social Studies Review, Spring 2002 by Sabato, George

Middle School Review

In teaching world history, I have found it most valuable to begin our year's studies of civilization by first examining the basic needs of man. I often use the "Desert Island" model to create a situation through which participants can gain insight into the most basic of their human needs.

Each of us is a survivor. We are the children of survivors, generation after generation of survivors. Across the planet our ancestors first formed tribes that evolved into complex social systems designed to ensure their survival. While individual cultures may vary in their strategies to meet survival needs, the fundamental needs of humanity have been a virtual constant over time.

The television show, Survivor, has captured the interest of millions of viewers. The program provides insights into our own humanity, the good and the bad. As strangers are placed into primitive setting the original setting being a desert island and the following an encampment in the Australian Outback, viewers watched as a social system evolved. Individuals came together into two tribal organizations. Interpersonal relationships were built and each sought to exploit individual talents essential to survival in their foreign environment.

In teaching world history, I have found it most valuable to begin our year's studies of civilization by first examining the basic needs of man. I often use the "Desert Island" model to create a situation through which participants can gain insight into the most basic of their human needs. Students are divided into small groups of four to six each. They are then given a scenario that leaves them stranded on a desert island. Maybe they were on a cruise and their ship sank, or perhaps they were victims of a plane crash. As a group, each is asked to meet and generate a list of basic needs required for survival until rescue. For each need, they are to outline a method by which they could expect to satisfy such needs. For example, if they identify the need for water, they would need to come up with a plan to find fresh water in a stream, spring, dig a well, etc. As students progress through the activity, each becomes conscious of their need to develop personal survival skills.

Next we come together as a class with each group sharing their list of needs and plans. We build a master chart that synthesizes a list of common concerns and strategies. We then rank the needs from the most to the least essential. This can create some interesting debate. Which is more important, food or water, clothing or shelter, law or trade? Our master list of basic needs would look something like the following:

Water

Food

Shelter

Clothing

Fire/Energy

Communication

Social Organization

Tools/Technology

Health/Sanitation

Trade

Transportation

Spiritual

Law/Justice

Entertainment

As I typed up this list, I moved the order around a few times. In what order would you place items? What would you add to the list? Would you combine any items into one category?

The master list of basic human needs then becomes the standard for viewing civilizations we investigate over the course of the year. I would suggest you make a wall chart that can be referred to throughout the year. You may even want to duplicate the list with a grid for students to log how diverse civilizations meet specific needs. This creates a valuable tool for students in making cultural comparisons.

Students can easily view similarities, speculate on how one culture may have borrowed strategies from another, or how one culture abandons less effective strategies for new innovations. Students can inquire into reasons why one civilization uses one strategy while others do not. They can hypothesize why some civilizations failed as systems designed to meet basic needs collapsed while others survived by adapting to change.

The grids can be a valuable tool in mapping out the cultural evolution of mankind. Students can chart how our modem culture meets their needs and trace the roots of our system's solutions.

Students can examine people today who are bound by culture and tradition as they strive to meet the needs of their people using age-old methods, such as nomads in the North African desert. They then could compare them to modern societies built on a tradition of innovation. In so doing they should gain insight into why some cultures remain stagnant while others continually evolve. Students could investigate the needs of Afghanistan as it struggles to rebuild its infrastructure to meet the needs of its millions of people in the post-war era.

Ultimately, students have the opportunity to examine the role they intend to play in modem society. Each is a member of our greater tribe. This is an opportunity for each to examine his or her personal "survival skills", those skills needed to raise a family, build a career, and participate in the sustenance of our culture. What skills do they need in our fast moving, ever changing, technological world?

What are the hands-on skills, communication skills, the critical thinking skills, and inter-personal skills necessary to survive? And what value system will they need to weave together the collection of individuals into a unified civilization? This classroom task provides a basis for the next generation to discover and plan the innovations of the future that will guarantee mankind's survival.