Survival of the Fittest

Programme and Unit outline
  Survival is the theme of this unit and being a survivor is the focus.   You will complete two individual assessment activities for this unit, based on information collected, selected, recorded, interrogated and presented by you through  

·	group and class discussion 
·	individual research 
·	individual reading of a survival novel 
  Firstly, you will explore what it means to be a survivor through brainstorming, class and group discussion.  You will individually research a different true-life survival story; this research will be used in-group discussion and in your second individual assessment activity. You will help to construct a class profile of an Archetypal Survivor, as a result of your research and group discussions.  This profile will identify the traits of, and strategies commonly used by, survivors.   Secondly, you will read a fictional novel of survival, Hatchet, and log the experiences of its main character, Brian Robeson, as a survivor.  You will share your log with the members of your group, and collectively, you will construct a profile of Brian as a survivor which you will share with the class.    Comparing the profile of an Archetypal Survivor with the profile of Brian as a survivor, you will complete your first individual assessment activity (see assessment_activity1.rtf), which is a piece of transactional writing in response to the question "How successful was Brian as a survivor?"  You will be given guidance and help with this activity.   Your second individual assessment activity (see assessment_activity2.rtf) will be to produce a poster to show the comparison between Brian's survival experiences and strategies with that of the survivor you have researched.   You will be given a set of key performance indicators prior to the commencement of each assessment activity as a marking guide and checklist for your work.   Lastly, you will have the chance to evaluate your performance, and this unit.   This unit will last approximately four weeks of class and homework time. 

© Ministry of Education, Wellington, New Zealand (First published 1998)