Lesson plan wild survival

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Merit Badge Requirements

1. Discuss first aid for and how to prevent injuries or illnesses likely to occur in backcountry settings: hypothermia, heat reactions, frostbite, dehydration, blisters, insect stings, tick bites, and snakebites.

2. List the Seven priorities for survival in a backcountry or wilderness location. Explain the importance of each one with your counselor.

3.Describe ways to avoid panic and maintain a high level of morale when lost, and explain why this is important.

4.Describe the steps you would take to survive in the following conditions: a. Cold and snowy b. Wet (forest) c. Hot and dry (desert) d. Windy (mountains or plains) e. Water (ocean, lake, or river) 5. Put together a personal survival kit and be able to explain how each item in it could be useful. 6. Using three different methods (other than matches), build and light three fires. 7. Do the following:

a. Show five different ways to attract attention when lost. b. Demonstrate how to use a signal mirror. c. Describe from memory five ground-to- air signals and tell what they mean.

8. Improvise a natural shelter. For the purpose of this demonstration, use techniques that have little negative impact on the environment. Spend a night in your shelter.

9. Explain how to protect yourself from insects, reptiles, and bears. 10. Demonstrate three ways to treat water found in the outdoors to prepare it for drinking. 11. Show that you know the proper clothing to wear in your area on an overnight in extremely hot weather and I

n extremely cold weather. 12. Explain why it usually is not wise to eat edible wild plants or wildlife in a wilderness survival situation.

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Survival First Aid

• Hypothermia:• Heatstroke:• Heat exhaustion:• Frostbite• Dehydration

• Sunburn:• Stings:• Tick bites:• Snakebite:• Blisters

The First Aid you learned for Tenderfoot, Second Class, & First Class provides for basic ways of

sizing up an emergency & providing treatment … study your Boy Scout Handbook prior to attending

this wilderness survival campout

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Survival Priorities

1. Stay put if you are lost2. Provide first aid3. Seek shelter4. Build a fire (warmth, morale, &

signaling)5. Prepare rescue signals6. Find water (can only live few days

without)7. Seek food (can live weeks without)

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Avoiding PanicPanic results from fear of the unknown, lack of confidence, or not

knowing what to do next … when you first realize you are disoriented or confused, STOP IMMEDIATELY!

• Stop– Sit … Relax … Wait 30 min to regain composure

• Think– Determine where you are … look around for terrain features– Think about last point of reference you positively identified– Do not make hasty judgments … plan to spend the night

• Observe– Assess immediate situation– First aid? Weather? Shelter?– Inventory pockets & pack … how can you improvise?– Move away from hazardous situations

• Plan– Adapt a plan that best suits your limited supply of energy– Move only to reach a safer or more sheltered area– Because you left a detail trip plan, your failure to return will trigger a search effort

to find you within 24 hrs.

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DO NOT eat the snow. It uses up vital energy and heat that your body needs.•A fatal error in cold weather shelter construction is making the shelter so large that it steals body heat rather than saving it. Keep shelter space small. •Never sleep directly on the ground. Lay down some pine boughs, grass, or other insulating material to keep the ground from absorbing your body heat. Heat is more easily lost through appendages than your trunk

Cold and snowy:

There are four basic principles to follow to keep warm. An easy way to remember these basic principles is to use the word COLD--C -Keep clothing clean. Clothes matted with dirt and grease lose much of their insulation value. O -Avoid overheating. When you get too hot, you sweat and your clothing absorbs the moisture. This affects your warmth in two ways: dampness decreases the insulation quality of clothing, and as sweat evaporates, your body cools. Adjust your clothing so that you do not sweat.L -Wear your clothing loose and in layers. Looseness increases the volume of air trapped between the layers, increasing its insulating value. Several layers of lightweight clothing add even more air pockets. Also, layers of clothing allow you to take off or add clothing layers to prevent excessive sweating or to increase warmth. D -Keep clothing dry. Wear water repellent/ wicking clothing, if available. It will shed most of the water collected from melting snow and frost.

Always remember to S.T.O.P. and activate your survival priorities.

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Wet (forest)•There is less likelihood of your rescue from beneath a dense jungle canopy than in other survival situations. You will probably have to have your ground to air signals in a nearby clearing. Look through the jungle, not at it.

•Wear long sleeves to avoid cuts and scratches. In wet areas, even the smallest scratch can quickly become infected. Promptly treat any wound, no matter how minor.

•Use a stick to part the vegetation. Using a stick will also help dislodge biting ants, spiders, or snakes.

•Animals can often lead you to water. Grazing animals such as deer, are usually never far from water and usually drink at dawn and dusk.

•Tying a clear plastic bag around a green leafy branch will cause water in the leaves to evaporate and condense in the bag. Placing cut vegetation in a plastic bag will also produce condensation.

•If you are weak, do not expend energy climbing or felling a tree for food. There are more easily obtained sources of food nearer the ground (berries, nuts, ect).


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Hot and dry (desert)In a desert area there are seven environmental factors that you must consider-

•Low rainfall- You cannot survive long without water in high desert temperatures. In a desert survival situation, you must consider "How much water do I have?" and "Where are other water sources?"

•Intense sunlight and heat- Air temperature can rise as high as 140 degrees F during the day. Heat gain results from direct sunlight, hot blowing winds, reflective heat (the sun's rays bouncing off the sand), and conductive heat from direct contact with the desert sand and rock . The temperature of desert sand and rock averages 30 to 40 degrees F more than that of the air. For instance, when the air temperature is 110 degrees F, the sand temperature may be 140 degrees F.

•Wide temperature range- Temperatures in arid areas may get as high as 140 degrees F during the day and as low as 50 degrees F during the night. The drop in temperature at night occurs rapidly and will chill a person who lacks warm clothing and is unable to move about.

•Sparse vegetation- Vegetation is sparse in arid areas. You will therefore have trouble finding shelter . Before moving, survey the area for sites that provide cover and concealment. Use the shadows cast from brush, rocks, or outcropping. The temperature in shaded areas will be 52 to 63 degrees F cooler than the air temperature.

•High mineral content near ground surface- All arid regions have areas where the surface soil has a high mineral content (borax, salt, alkali, and lime). Material in contact with this soil wears out quickly, and water in these areas is extremely hard and undrinkable. Wetting your uniform in such water to cool off may cause a skin rash.

•Sandstorms- The danger is getting lost in a swirling wall of sand. Wear goggles and cover your mouth and nose with cloth. If natural shelter is unavailable, mark your direction of travel, lie down, and sit out the storm.

•Mirages- Mirages are optical phenomena caused by the refraction of light through heated air rising from a sandy or stony surface. They occur in the interior of the desert about 10 kilometers from the coast. They make objects that are 1.5 kilometers or more away appear to move. This mirage effect makes it difficult for you to identify an object from a distance (things are 3 times as far away as they seem). You can survey the area at dawn, dusk, or by moonlight when there is little likelihood of mirage. Moonlit nights are usually crystal clear, winds die down, haze and glare disappear, and visibility is excellent.


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Windy (mountains or plains)Always remember to S.T.O.P. and activate your survival priorities.

Combine information from “Cold and Snowy” and “wet (forest)”

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Water (ocean, lake, or river)Always wear an approved personal flotation vest or jacket, even for short boat rides. If your boat capsizes, you should stay with it unless land is extremely close. Sometimes small boats can be righted, butunless you are sure you can right the boat and climb in, don't waste your energy. If the boat is upside down, perhaps you can climb on, getting yourself out of the cold water.

If you must stay in the water, your chances of survival are greater if you assume the HELP or huddle positions, as illustrated.

If your boat capsizes in a river, don't fight the current. Get on your back with your feet aimed downstream. This way, it will be your feet that strike against the rocks rather than your head. Use a backstroke to help maintain your position in the water and soon the current will carry you into shallow water.One of the most common causes of small boat accidents is overloading. Be sure you know what your boat can safely hold and never exceed the limit. To determine the weight capacity of a boat, multiply the length of the boat by the width (beam), then multiply by 10 (L x W x 10).


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Personal Survival Kit1. Pocket Knife or Leatherman Tool w/blade2. Personal First Aid Kit3. Flashlight with Extra Batteries 4. Compass 5. Signal Mirror 6. Bright Orange/Red Bandana 7. Water Purifying Tabs/ pump8. Fire Starter (Magnesium Flint/Flint & Steel/Magnifying Glass)9. Tinder in Sealed Bag (Dryer Lint)10. Whistle11. 35 -45 Gal Plastic Garbage Bag12. 50’ Nylon or Cotton Rope (1/8” to ¼” Diameter)13. Water Bottle (1 Qt.) or Camel back14. Small Candle15. Toilet Paper16. Insect Repellent

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Fire

1. Butane Lighter

2. Waterproof Matches

3. Metal Match or Spark Bar

4. Flint & Steel

5. Candles

6. Magnifying Glass

7. Chemical Fire Starters

8. Battery & Wire

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Attracting Attention1. Contrasting Colors

– Bright Orange Bandana Tied on a Stick

– Green Branches on White Snow

2. Contrasting Shapes– Any Geometric Shape (Large

X)– Stones, Strips of Cloth, etc.

3. Sound– Three Blasts, Shouts, Bangs

(Universal Distress Signal)4. Anything Out of Place

– Disturb the Natural Look– Few Continuous Straight Lines

or Angles in Nature5. Fire & Smoke

– Fire & Green Branches or Green Leaves

6. Lights or Reflections of Light– Signaling mirror– Flashlight

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Signal Mirror

• Reflection of sunlight can attract attention for up to 150 miles

• Key = must aim it! Requires practice.

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Ground-to-Air Signals

This code is actually five definite, meaningful symbols. Make these symbols a minimum of 1 meter wide and 6 meters long. If you make them larger, keep the same 1: 6 ratio. Ensure the signal contrasts greatly with the ground it is on. Place

it in an open area easily spotted from the air.

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Shelter

One-Man Shelter (poncho, tarp, or plastic bag)

Debris Hut

Below Ground Shelter

• Can protect you from the sun, insects, wind, rain, snow, & hot or cold temperatures, and enemy observation.• Can give you a feeling of well-being & maintain your will to survive.• Must take precedence over your need for food and possibly even your need for water.• Most common error in making a shelter is to make it too large … must be small enough to contain your body heat.• To reduce heat loss to the ground, place some type of insulating material (leaves or pine needles) inside your lean-to to prevent loss of 80% of your body heat to the ground.

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Shelter

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Protect Yourself

• Animals rarely are as threatening to the survivor as the rest of the environment

• Common sense tells the survivor to avoid encounters with lions, bears, and other large or dangerous animals.

• Move carefully through their environment.• Do not attract large predators by leaving food lying around your camp• Smaller animals actually present more of a threat to the survivor than large

animals (fangs & stingers)• Keep a level head … Do not let curiosity & carelessness kill or injure you. • Insects:

– Centipedes & millipedes– Scorpions– Spiders (Recluse, fiddlerback, & black widow)– Bees, wasps, & hornets– Ticks

• Reptiles:– Snakes (Copperhead, Coral snake, Cottonmouth, & Rattlesnake)

• Bears:– Brown or black bear

• Hogs & Boars

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Water1. Collect rainfall or morning dew 2. Strain water from mud3. Squeeze the center pulp from plants4. Mop dew from leaves & rocks5. Strain water from pond or stream &

treat– Boil water for 10 minutes– Chemical tabs (warning: iodine

caution)– Natural purification filter … let stand

for 45 minutes– Commercial purification filter

If none of the above … go ahead & drink! Better to suffer & survive an intestinal disorder than die of dehydration.

• Water is one of your most urgentneeds in a survival situation. You need a minimum of 2 liters of water each day.• More than three-fourths of your body is composed of fluids. Your body loses fluid as a result of heat, cold, stress, and exertion.• To function effectively, you must replace the fluid your body loses. So, one of your first goals is to obtain an adequate supply of water.

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Water

Dressing for Hot WeatherLightweight clothing that lets body heat out while slowing down the evaporation

of moisture is the best kind for hot-weather travel. A light color is best, as it reflects heat away from the body. This is why the light cotton khaki fabric has

been popular down through the years. Cotton cloth holds sweat for a while before it evaporates. This retention of body moisture for as long as possible helps

prevent dehydration and heat exhaustion.

Choose fairly loose-fitting clothing that fully covers you—and that means long-sleeve shirts and full trousers. You will stay cooler, and you will also avoid the

danger of severe sunburn.

Always wear a lightweight hat or cap when traveling in hot weather. Protecting the head from excessive heat will reduce the chances of heat stroke.

Hikers in the summertime, while wearing lightweight clothing, should not forget that temperatures can drop rapidly after the sun goes down, especially in the

desert. It makes sense to carry a jacket in your pack if there is a chance you will be out after sundown.

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Dressing for Cold Weather

During cold weather, wear clothes that hold in body heat, while allowing body moisture to escape. If you have ever worn a waterproof slicker while hiking, you know how you can quickly become soaked with sweat. Then, when you rest, the sweat

becomes cold and clammy and you begin to lose body heat. Under cold weather conditions, this can become serious.

Wool clothing generally has been considered the best for cold and wet conditions. It does what we need it to do; it lets our body moisture escape, while keeping our body heat in. Even when wet, wool does a better job keeping you warm than

cotton.

Layers of clothing usually are preferred for cold-weather activities. Several thinner garments insulate the body better than one bulky coat, trapping dead air between the layers. An advantage of layering is that you can remove a layer if the

weather warms and you become too hot. A set of fishnet-type long Johns, a wool shirt, a wool sweater, and a medium-weight wool jacket is effective layering for cold weather.

Even the best wool clothing alone will not protect you for long if the weather is wet, windy, and cold. A wind-resistant, water-repellent jacket has to be worn over the other clothing. On the market today are several kinds of rain gear that

actually breathe, allowing perspiration to evapo¬rate while still keeping the rain out. Jackets, pants, gloves, and head¬gear are made from this material. While fairly expensive, it is much better than old-fashioned slickers and plastic raincoats.

You can wear the best clothing money can buy, but if you don't have good head covering you could be in trouble. In cold weather, a great deal of body heat can be lost through the head, so always wear a hat, cap, or other head covering

appropriate to the weather and the activity.

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Food

• Can live several weeks without food• Without food your mental and physical capabilities will

deteriorate rapidly, and you will become weak• Food replenishes the substances that your body burns

and provides energy• Helps morale.• Two basic sources of food are plants and animals

(including fish)

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Edible Plants & Wildlife• You can, with relatively few exceptions, eat anything that crawls, swims, walks, or

flies. • Most abundant life-form on earth, insects, are easily caught … provide 65% to 80%

protein compared to 20% for beef.• Insects to avoid

– Those that sting or bite– Hairy or brightly colored insects– Caterpillars– Insects that have a pungent odor– Spiders and common disease carriers such as ticks, flies, and mosquitoes.

• Plants are valuable sources of food because they are widely available, easily procured, and, in the proper combinations, can meet all your nutritional needs.

• Critical factor in using plants for food is to avoid accidental poisoning• Eat only those plants you can positively identify and you know are safe to eat• Absolutely identify plants before using them as food.• To avoid potentially poisonous plants, stay away from any wild or unknown plants that

have--– Milky or discolored sap. – Beans, bulbs, or seeds inside pods. – Bitter or soapy taste. – Spines, fine hairs, or thorns. – "Almond" scent in woody parts and leaves. – Grain heads with pink, purplish, or black spurs. – Three-leaved growth pattern.

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Scenario

You are on a troop backpacking hike in a wooded area of North Georgia. After setting up camp, you wander off with your buddy to look for fire wood. It is late in the afternoon. Looking up, you notice the light is growing dimmer & realize you’d better hurry back to the base camp. Suddenly, you don’t recognize where you are. Your heart rate begins to pound as you realize your are lost. Sweat beads up on your forehead as you try to remember which way to go. The sun sets and the day fades away. You have a small back pack with only 15-16 small items in it. What are you going to do?

Education

Lesson plan wild survival