A d i s c u s s i o n G u i d e
Buried Alive!
How 33 Miners Survived 69 Days Deep Under the Chilean Desert
by Elaine Scott
978-0-547-70778-5 $17.99 Rnf. / $22.50 CAN
Book Summary
Elaine Scott’s account of the ordeal of the thirty-
three miners trapped 2,300 feet below the Chilean
desert in the San José mine collapse is riveting,
moving, and informative. Weaving the chronological
narrative of the miners’ story with technical
information about how they were rescued, this
incredible book offers many entry points for all
kinds of learners. Scott seems to anticipate what
readers will be curious about and has stocked
the book with information not only about the
technology used to free the miners but also about
the details of their daily lives underground. Buried
Alive! is a wonderful tribute to the thirty-three men
whose plight captured the attention of the world.
Discussion Questions
These questions might also be used as essay topics.
• There had been concerns about the safety
of the San José mine for years before the
collapse in August 2010. Why did the
owners do nothing to address these issues?
Explain.
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• Mining is a collaborative effort between all
the members of a team. How do you think
this helped the miners survive their ordeal?
• Luis Urzúa, “Don Lucho” to his team and
“Bossy Boots” to his mother, is credited with
keeping the men going during their many
days underground. One of the ways he did
this was by insisting that the men eat all of
their meals together even though they were
each given only “two spoonfuls of tuna, a sip
of milk, a bite of cracker, and a tiny morsel
of canned peach a day”(p. 20). Why did he
do this?
• Why did the men continue to organize their
days into work shifts in the mine when they
were trapped?
• One of the miners, Edison Peña, ran and
exercised while trapped in the mine, he
said, “to be an active participant in my
own salvation” (p 23). How did running
contribute to his struggle to be rescued?
• When Mario Sepúlveda cried in the mine, he
walked away from all of the others. Why?
• What would you miss most, if you were
trapped with the miners?
• Just as the miners had to cooperate,
collaborate, and rely on one another, so did
the people working on getting them out.
What strengths did different people bring to
the project?
• The tubes used to send and receive
messages and supplies are called palomas,
or doves. The rescue capsule was named
the Phoenix, after a bird that is reborn from
ashes. Why do you think these names are
meaningful?
• What setbacks did the teams experience
while drilling? How did they overcome
them?
 A d i s c u s s i o n
Buried Alive!
How 33 Miners Survived 69 Days Deep Under the Chilean Desert
by Elaine Scott
• Camp Hope, where the families of miners
lived while they were waiting for the miners
to be rescued, was full of children—how
were they supported during this difficult
time? How did they participate?
• What challenges do the miners face post-
rescue? Why?
• Can you imagine what it would be like to
talk to only thirty-three people—say, your
classmates—for months? What kinds of
challenges would you face?
• In her afterword, Scott says that this
story has helped her appreciate her own
freedoms. How does it help you appreciate
yours?
Teaching Ideas
Language Arts:
• In the author’s note at the back of the book,
Elaine Scott describes the process she went
through to research and collect accurate
information about the San José mine
disaster. In the context of a research project
of their own, discuss with your students the
different sources of information she used
and the importance of both finding and
becoming a reliable source. As your students
research, ask them to use a variety of
sources, as Scott did, in order to provide the
most complete picture possible.
• Ask your students to pick a local news event
to research and write about. Ask them to
include primary source interviews, as Scott
was able to do with Greg Hall.
• Buried Alive! is a wonderful mentor text to
use within a study of nonfiction narrative.
Study the book with your students from a
writer’s perspective. What do they notice?
How does she make it exciting? What
different nonfiction features does the book
include that students could try out in their
own writing?
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G u i d e
• Essay topic: Ask students to compare and
contrast rescue plans A, B, and C in their
own words. What were the benefits and
drawbacks of each?
Science: Buried Alive!, and especially the
diagram of pulleys on p. 59, provides wonderful
context for engaging in a study of pulleys. Either
with a science kit or with simple found supplies
such as string and spools, ask your students to
work in teams (just as the miners did) to explore
how pulleys allow us to easily raise and lower
heavy objects.
Math: Buried Alive! is a great source of real-life
context for word problems. Using situations
in the book, create word problems for your
students that demonstrate ways that math is
used in the real world. The problems’ content
will depend on your students’ math needs. You
might, for example, create problems that ask
students to determine how much tuna each
miner would get if they have (x) cans for (x)
days. You might ask students to determine how
much cable would be needed to lower a rescue
capsule (x) feet underground, etc.
Social Studies: Mining is an ancient profession
that has taken place nearly everywhere in the
world. With your students, research the history
of mining in your area.
This guide for discussion and classroom use
was written by Zoe Ryder White.