INSTRUCTIONS :  You are a member of a space crew originally scheduled to rendezvous with a mother ship on the lighted surface of the moon. Due to mechanical difficulties, however, your ship was forced to land at a spot some 200 miles from the rendezvous point. During landing, much of the equipment aboard was damaged, and, since survival depends on reaching the mother ship, the most critical items available must be chosen for the 200 mile trip. Below are listed the 15 items left intact and undamaged after landing. Your task is to rank order them in terms of their importance for your crew in allowing them to reach the rendezvous point. Place the number 1 by the most important item, the number 2 by the second most important, and so on, through number 15, the least important. The class must reach a consensus!

•   —  Box of matches
•   —  Food concentrate
•   —  50 feet of nylon rope
•   —  Parachute silk
•   —  Portable heating unit
•   —  Two .45 caliber pistols
•   —  One case of dehydrated pet milk
•   —  Two 100 lb tanks of oxygen
•   —  Stellar map
•   —  Life raft
•   —  Magnetic compass
•   —  5 gallons of water
•   —  Signal flares
•   —  First-aid kit containing injection needles
•   —  Solar-powered FM receiver-transmitter