The situation

After seven days of sailing in horrible weather, the ship you are a passenger on is about to sink
somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. The captain has lost all contact with the outside world, but he
hopes and believes that the ship is not far from some uninhabited Pacific islands.

The captain informs you that the ship will go down within few minutes. He orders you to wake
up five of the sleeping passengers, because the lifeboat unfortunately only has room for five out
of the ten passengers, in addition of you and the captain. While handing you the passenger list,
the captain says:

- Let the other passengers sleep peacefully as long as possible, be careful not to wake them.
At worst it can come to fights, and that would do no good.

Mary (30). Priest, member of a church
choir and former orienteer.
----------
Thánh (53). Very skilful nurse from
Vietnam, but also very racist and spiteful.
----------
Laura (18). Swedish language nerd.
Speaks 12 languages fluently and never
keeps her mouth shut. Sings ABBA-songs
when nobody wants to talk with her.
----------
Ryan Giggs (38). Very skilful football
player on Manchester United. Discreet
and loyal.
----------
Roderick (44). Police officer and ex-
military specialist. He is guilty of domestic
violence and numerous sexual assaults.
N.N (28). Jack-of-all-trades and a master
of survival. Suspected for having
connections to Al Qaida.
----------
Nelson Mandela (95). Winner of the
Nobel Peace Prize and highly respected
former head of state.
----------
Samantha (20). Supermodel with blond
hair. Amazingly pretty, but also amazingly
stupid.
----------
Tom (9). Smart, cheerful and always
helpful. Can make anyone happy by his
presence.
----------
Sheryl (35). Tom’s mother and his only
living relative. She is infected with a
terminal illness, and probably only has
three months left to live.

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SUGGESTIONSFOR THE TEACHER

Problem solving – The Sinking Ship

Make the students do the following.

Individually: Look at the passenger list. Rank the passengers from 1 to 10 which shows who deserves a seat in
the lifeboat. Give the number 1 to the one you think deserves it the most. The one you think deserves it least,
you give the number 10.

In groups: Present your list and discuss till you have made a mutual list in the group. Everyone on the group
needs to argue for their choices.

The whole class: Let every group present their list of who they believe deserves a seat in the lifeboat. The
teacher decides if one group needs to present their first five, the next group their last five, etc.

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