Lesson Plan:

Survivor Island
 Lesson Plan: Survivor Island
Lesson Authors: Megan Docherty, Kristin Lewis, Mya Kellum-Merrill, Kristen
Jenkins, Golda Silverman
Grade level: 9-12
Estimated Completion: 2-60 minute lessons
Subject Area: Civics/Government

Prior Knowledge: Students learned about the various forms of government that
exist. Additionally, students have previously examined individual rights afforded by
the US Constitution and those acquired as a result of rights’ movements (civil
rights, human rights, women's rights, etc). Students were tasked with constructing
their own government system, rules, and regulations for their own islands.

Lesson Purpose: Students will understand the effects social, economic, and
cultural capital have on the society of a make believe island.
Objectives
At the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

● Explain how governments use their power to dictate which individuals

attain certain rights, privileges, and power in society

● Examine how cultural, social, and economic cultures impact a society

● Identify examples of how people struggle for social justice

Survivor Island
Essential Questions:

● How do governments use power?

● What is social justice?

● Why and how do people struggle for social justice?

● How does society control you?

● What roles do race and ethnicity play in social inequality?

● What is the relationship between social class and inequality?

Survivor Island
Lesson Overview:

1. Students will be divided in groups; each group will be given different

descriptions of their roles and identities in a make believe
government/society.

2. Each group will receive their identity which details their jobs, how much
money they make, whether they have access to: food, education, and
resources, as well as, the rules of how they may interact with other groups.
a. It will be a 5-tiered group system (ivory, bronze, silver, gold, and diamond): one group will hold
the most power and resources. Others will have limited resources, and one will have almost no
resources available to them.
b. Only certain groups are allowed to compromise and trade with each other in order to obtain
resources needed to thrive in the society.
Survivor Island
Lesson Overview Continued:

3. Throughout the lesson, the groups (staying in character) must interact with one
another in order to achieve and maintain a certain social and economic status.
Those with the most power will have the most resources, and the group with the
least amount of power will have limited resources.

4. At the end of the simulation, all groups will reveal their status and what factors
had an impact on their change or lack of change in status (their initial status level,
access to resources, etc.).
Survivor Island Life’s Moments:
Requirements to Survive:
During each round of the simulation, students
Using the resources given to each player when they were will draw a “Life’s Moments” card from the pile.
assigned their identity, students must make choices about how to They must respond to these unplanned life
live their lives for 45 minutes according to the parameters set by circumstances while following their social
their social status. constraints or advantages.
Examples of Life’s Moments:
Examples: -Pay taxes (certain percent of monthly income,
with individuals from the highest income
● Pay monthly rent or mortgage brackets paying less)
-Car accident (pay lower amount if insured,
● Pay for transportation
higher amount if uninsured)
● Pay for food (options based on quality and quantity of food)
-Get a work bonus equal to 10% of monthly
● Pay for insurance (health, car, rental or home, etc) income

To survive:
To successfully complete the simulation, individuals must try to work within their own and among other social
groups in order to achieve the resources needed to pay for “Life’s Moments.” However, only elite status
groups will be able exchange resources with one another. Participants who are unable to pay off the monetary
value will fail to thrive in this society. Students will experience how certain social groups are naturally put at a
disadvantage due to their cultural capital.
Survivor Island
Expected Outcome: Through this activity, students will see the differences
between the class groups: how they are treated, what kind of access they have to
basic rights, and the overall inequality present in society.

Assessment: Students will complete a reflection detailing their own experience.

The reflection will include: what their group had to endure, how it impacted them
personally, and a comparison of their own experiences to those encountered by
other groups.

Follow Up Lesson: In the next class period, students will form small groups of 5
students (1 representative from each of the 5 assigned identities). They will share
from the reflections they’ve written and then, working together, answer the essential
questions identified for this lesson.