Fourth graders examine the statistics when it comes to teens and drug and alcohol abuse. In groups, they research the side effects of four different drugs. Using the information, they perform a skit, or puppet show to share their data...

Young scholars investigate the importance of branding and messaging, especially as they relate to party products like alcohol.

Two activities ask high schoolers to consider the role of alcohol culture in their lives. First, groups analyze the types of appeals used in newspaper ads for alcoholic drinks and compare those images with what they have observed....

Legal and illegal. Use and misuse. Risks and consequences. Myths and facts. Class members investigate the effects on the body of various drugs, including cannabis, nicotine, and alcohol.

Introduce your class to alcohol content. In order to become aware of the varying strengths of alcoholic drinks, class members complete a chart and plot a bar chart with the results. They make observations about the results.

Students explore messages about alcohol that are promoted, the consequences of drinking, and the alcohol industry's motivation in promoting drinking.

February is Marijuana Awareness Month, and a set of interdisciplinary activities can make your class aware of the social, medical, legal, and psychological effects of marijuana. With writing prompts, research opportunities, and...

Students create a diagram showing the effects of alcohol on the brain and then create a lesson plan to teach this information to middle school students. They contact middle school teachers and make arrangements for students to actually...

Students identify the effects and consequences of using and abusing alcohol and drugs. In this drug education lesson, students watch a video about underage drinking. Students research an assigned drug and compose a PowerPoint...

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...

By way of group discussion, reading, and role-play a series of six activities encourage scholars to make responsible decisions. Following an online introduction, pupils review the concept of volition and answer questions. Middle...

Pupils study the basic disease concept of alcoholism. The determine that alcoholism is progressive and explore the levels of progression. They name the three factors contributing to the cause of alcoholism and explain each one with...

Following a brief survey about tobacco, scholars examine a fact sheet to answer questions about the substance. A practice page challenges the class to determine the cost of the habit using money math. Pupils discuss their findings...

Telling young people to just say no can be difficult in a world that inundates them with messages to just say yes. A instructional activity on media messages encourages teenagers to analyze song lyrics and advertisements that...

Get your high schoolers thinking about the factors that lead to birth defects. They examine how environmental factors and personal choices can cause birth defects in unborn children. They discover the effects of various handicaps such as...

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...

Students develop an awareness of the behaviors signaling that a friend may be in trouble with alcohol or drugs of abuse. They practice ways to encourage a friend to seek out adult help by viewing a video, role-playing situations, writing...

Learners use skills that are directly related to alcohol, tobacco and other drug choices (e.g., refusal skills, decision making, stress reduction skills)

Students identify the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse. In this drug and alcohol abuse lesson, students research the dangers of drugs and alcohol and prepare a presentation for the information. Students write a paper on their presentation.

Students read a comic about a teen drug overdose that leads to death. In this drug awareness lesson, students role play characters in the story that react to the death of their friend due to drug use in an online forum. Students evaluate...

"Understanding Influences," a richly detailed, carefully scaffolded unit, asks middle and high school scholars to examine how internal and external factors like friends, media, and society influence their attitudes and...

Learners predict what might happen to their pulse rates after physical exertion and then make conclusions about the effects of physical activity on pulse rates.

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...

Sixth graders listen to a story titled "Thin Ice!" then partake in a whole-class discussion asking and answering questions about what was read. Scholars brainstorm risky behaviors in preparation for a game of RISKO—a game similar to...