If you are going to the beach for the day with your family of five, which includes young children, determine whether the following items are either 'helpful', 'not helpful', or ' impractical'. The items are: sunscreen, bottles of water, 20 shovels, boots, snacks, towels, sand toys, 20 shovels, a parachute, and a grand piano.


Answer: A day at the beach is a great way to spend time with family! Since you'll be away from the comforts of home, bringing the right items is essential to fully enjoying the day. With young children, it's important to bring water and food to keep them happy throughout the day, also having a few toys is not a bad idea. In that case, having water bottles, snacks, and sand toys would all be useful. If you're at the beach all day, it's also likely you'll swim in ocean or lay in the sand, so having towels and sunscreen at the ready is incredibly useful. 

On the other hand, there are a few items that seem unnecessary, or just not helpful for a day at the beach. Why would anyone ever require 20 shovels? A shovel by itself might be helpful, but 20 is way too many, and certainly not useful. Also, if one is at the beach, then boots are likely overkill and not useful, since most beach-goers tend to be barefoot or wear sandals. Lastly, the list contains two items which are impractical for any beach trip: a parachute and a grand piano. In my entire life, I've never seen a grand piano at the beach. They're beautiful instruments, but very heavy and would take a ton of effort to get on the beach, not to mention the possible damage to the piano. A parachute is also similarly impractical. The family trip is exclusively on the ground, so bringing an item that helps people jump from planes seems entirely impractical.