Though, the ability to think in the water would suffice. I always found it interesting that those who struggle the most to avoid drowning often are the ones who end up doing so.

If you want to survive in the water, simply floating and breathing when you need to can keep you alive well beyond the amount of time it takes for something else to kill you (dehydration, hypothermia, Poseidon, etc.).

Teach the girls (I know, SEXIST) to say “NO” … or just teach them BIRTH CONTROL … in my area I see way too many “kids” pushing kids in strollers.

And … that it’s OK to wait until you’re over 30 to get married … go out and have fun with your life when you’re in your 20′s … so many of my high school classmates went out and got married right after they graduated and had children right away … they’d look at me with envy at our reunions because they became “adults” too quickly.

Come the zombie revolution and all that…

- Jumper Cables
- Dewey Decimal, or card catalog system (my favorite to use)
- Microfiche/Microreels
- How to start a fire without matches (it’s a pain in the ass!)
- Just about any “old” technology, like typewriters, etc – I find it’s amazingly important to know how to use these things, as you never know when you may need to – plus, sometimes it’s fun to do it the “old fashioned” way.

So anyway, I was telling my algebra students my well-rehearsed opinion about classic rate problems (like “a train leaves Chicago going 60 miles per hour…”). These are the kinds of problems that so many adults cite as evidence of how stupid high school math is, because they’re so useless. To the surprise of my students, I actually agree with that. So I tell them that I’ll give them a real problem that’s not stupid: “Design a new kind of airplane that won’t crash and kill everyone on board.” They become silent. “Too hard a problem?” They nod. “Well let’s start with something easier…a train leaves Chicago going 60 miles per hour….” That usually gets a laugh and a recognition that you have to start with easy mathematical modeling problems before you try the hard ones. And I proceed with an example. And about halfway through the example, one of my quieter and more talented students starts folding up a piece of paper. I let it go for a minute, but it soon becomes clear he’s folding a paper airplane. I get a little bit annoyed. “Are you folding a paper airplane?” And he comes back with “I’m designing a new kind of plane that won’t crash and kill people.”

how often to change the oil in your car and what kind of oil to use

bring in your car owners manual and read it to them.

using a spreadsheet application like Excel to determine compound interest, house payments, and all around money management!!!!!