Ship Wreck Rescue

From Essentials of Classroom Teaching Elementary Social Studies by Thomas N. Turner, 1994, Allyn and Bacon Publishing, page 158

You are the commander of a sailing ship bringing new colonists and supplies to the New World in the seventeenth century. Your ship has been caught in a terrible storm as you approach the coast. You have been unable to keep the ship from going aground on the rocky shore. The storm still is raging all about and may at any moment either wash you out to sea or break the ship into pieces. The water rushing all around is only about six feet deep and you can see a solid beach perhaps a hundred yards away. Here are all the problems that you must handle. Number them according to the order which you think they need to be handled. Suggest a solution for each.

• ________ Sharp rocks can be seen dead ahead.
• ________ There is a gaping hole in the hull and some water is rushing in.
• ________ You fear that hostile natives may inhabit this area of the coast.
• ________ The food supplies are in the hold, which is fast filling with water.
• ________ The crew members are unhappy and are arguing among themselves.
• ________ One of the ship's cannons has broken loose and is careening across the deck.
• ________ A woman on board is about to give birth.
• ________ A small fire has broken out in the ship's kitchen.
• ________ One of the ship's masts has been broken by the storm and has fallen, pinning a crew member, perhaps breaking both of his legs.
• ________ Some of the colonists are trying to break into the powder magazine containing all of the ship's weapons and gunpowder.
• ________ A passenger is demanding that he and his scientific records put ashore in the ship's boat.
• ________ A crew member has somehow managed to get drunk and is singing in his hammock.