PBS
Stories of Painkiller Addiction: Prescription Drug Abuse Awareness Campaign
The I-STOP law was designed to regulate the distribution and tracking of prescription drugs. After reading an article about its signing and implementation, middle and high schoolers work together to come up with their own ideas for an...
Scholastic
Recovery From Drug Addiction
Are there factors that put some individuals at a higher risk for drug addiction than others? Learn more about the risk factors that may make some people more susceptible to addiction, as well as protective factors that help prevent...
Baylor College
Drugs, Risks and the Nervous System
In cooperative groups, middle schoolers contemplate the probability of 18 different situations occurring. After they make predictions, they compare them to the actual risk factors. This eye-opening exercise demonstrates that the odds of...
US National Library of Medicine
Drug Use and Abuse: Past and Present
Pick your poison: tobacco, alcohol, opiates, cocaine, or marijuana. An online exhibition launches a research project that asks groups to select one of the five drugs and gather information on how the use of the drug and the regulations...
Nemours KidsHealth
Drugs: Grades 9-12
What do drugs do to the body and to the mind? What are the dangers of using drugs? How can teens respond to the pressure to use drugs? After reading a series of articles related to drug use and abuse, class members prepare a skit to...
PBS
Stories of Painkiller Addiction: Decisions and Consequences
Teach young learners that most drug addictions end in one of three outcomes: treatment, jail, or death. After watching a short video segment on the consequences of drug abuse, class members discuss what they viewed and consider what...
Curated OER
Latest Trend in Drug Abuse: Youths Risk Death for Cough-Remedy High
Students explore over-the-counter drug abuse. In this health journalism lesson, students read the USA Today article titled "Latest Trend in Drug Abuse: Youths Risk Death for Cough-Remedy High", respond to discussion questions regarding...
PBS
Stories of Painkiller Addiction: Contemplating Nature vs. Nurture
Does having an addict in your family make it more likely to become one yourself? Explore the genetic risk factors, as well as the prominent environmental influences, for substance addiction in a lesson that encourages awareness and open...
PBS
Stories of Painkiller Addiction: The Cycle of Addiction
Drug addiction, including prescription drug addiction, begins with a reason that's different for every user. High schoolers learn more about the reasons people begin abusing drugs with a set of videos and worksheets that discuss four...
Nemours KidsHealth
Drugs
Young scholars investigate drugs by identifying which ones are illegal and potentially harmful. In this medicine lesson, students complete worksheets in which they role play situations where they have found or ingested drugs and decide...
Scholastic
Opioids and the Overdose Epidemic
Learn about the opioid and overdose epidemic in America with an article that explains what opioids are, how they are used, and how they are abused. Learners discover the death rates associated with opioid overdoses and other factors that...
PBS
Stories of Painkiller Addiction: The Brain on Autopilot
For some people, the force of addiction can be as biologically compelling as the drive for food or water. High schoolers watch a video segment about Ryan, a recovering addict, and learn more about how opioids and other drugs can affect...
Curated OER
Science In Society
Fifth graders study diseases that are related to the use of alcohol, tobacco, and drugs, both prescription and illegal. They determine illnesses that can occur as a direct result of the use of or inappropriate use of these substances....
Curated OER
The Hijacked Brain
Students define drug addiction by identifying these four key features. They identify risk factors and protective factors in their own lives related to drug abuse and addiction by filling out a self assessment. Students use the Web to...
Curated OER
Acting Out
Sixth graders investigate peer pressure, gangs, drinking, and using drugs. In small groups, they conduct research, develop, edit, and write a three-minute script, and perform the script for the class.
Scholastic
Prescription Pain Medications
Students study different pain medications and their side effects. In this drug usage activity students read articles and complete a worksheet.
Curated OER
The Science of Addition
Students examine the science of drug addition. In this health related lesson, students take a pre-assessment about drug addiction, then read and discuss an article about how some drugs affect the brain to cause addition. They will...
Curated OER
Three Factors Threaten Teens
Students explore alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use. In this health journalism lesson, students read the USA Today article titled "Three Factors Threaten Teens", respond to discussion questions regarding the article, and complete an...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Risk Taking Behaviors
Sophomores can be sometimes wise and sometimes foolish. The same can be said for their behaviors. After watching a presentation about risk taking behaviors, class members discuss the presentation in small groups, and then complete a...
Curated OER
On Trial - Juvenile or Adult?
High schoolers compare and contrast juvenile and adult courts in the United States. For this judicial system lesson, students read and discuss articles and statistics in order to determine why juveniles may be tried as adults and examine...
Curated OER
Children of Alcoholics Group
Ninth graders identify characteristics of alcoholism, resources available to them and their family within the community and school, and look at strategies to help them increase safety and anger management strategies too.
Curated OER
Identifying an Author's Purpose
Learners read, "Research Shows TV PSAs Effective In Reducing Teen Marijuana Use", discuss the article with questions imbedded in the lesson and write their own PSA.
Curated OER
Jimmy Carter: Civic Action, Lesson 1
Inspired by the humanitarian work of President Jimmy Carter after he left office, high schoolers explore the history of civic action in the United States and generate ideas about problems at the local, national, and international levels....