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...
Scholastic
Drugs + Your Body—It Isn’t Pretty
Drugs can affect all parts of the body including teeth, skin, heart, brain, and lungs. Use an interactive that explores topics like addiction and the brain, steroid use and skin breakouts, methamphetamine use and rotting teeth, smoking...
Foundation for a Drug-Free World
The Truth About Drugs
Teenagers hear many messages about drugs from advertisements, their peers, their teachers, and their parents. But who is lying? What is the truth? A thorough, thoughtful unit takes a purposeful look at drug education, drug culture, and...
ProCon
Drug Use in Sports
The ancient Greeks used performance enhancing drugs, such as opium juice, when they participated in the original Olympic Games. Pupils research a website with debate topics to decide if athletes' use of such drugs in modern sports is...
Carfleo
Substance Use and Abuse
What is substance abuse? What is the difference between a depressant and a stimulant? Here is a comprehensive unit on drug use, including three lessons with such activities as categorizing and defining key terms, identifying issues...
Florida Department of Health
Understanding the Risk of Substance Abuse Unit
Teenage brains are different! Understanding that the teenage brain is still developing and thus more impacted by substance abuse is the key concept in a three-lesson high school health unit. Participants learn about how the brain and...
Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment
Drugs Awareness
Peer pressure can lead to dangerous activities for the eighth graders in your class. Prepare them for the tough conversations in the years ahead with a set of lessons about drugs and their consequences on users' lives.
Curated OER
Drugs
Students explore peer pressure by completing worksheets. In this drug awareness lesson, students define a long list of illegal and prescription drugs while viewing images of each drug. Students complete a word match worksheet and conduct...
National Institute on Drug Abuse
The Brain's Response to Drugs
Marijuana affects the brain differently than inhalants, which have a different effect than opioids. Elementary and middle school classes read about these drugs as well as nicotine, methamphetamine, hallucinogens, and steroids before...
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
What You Need to Know about Marijuana Use and Driving
Research indicates that marijuana can negatively affect coordination and judgment, making it dangerous to drive while under the influence. But does it increase the risk of car crashes? An informative fact sheet describes the ways...
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...
Curated OER
Dangers of drugs, lying
Students read articles and write an essay about three college students who wanted to see what it felt like to get high. Students discuss legal and ethical questions of illegal drug use, and stealing medication from someone else. Students...
Nemours KidsHealth
Drugs: Grades 6-8
What happens to your body when you use drugs? What do you do if your friend wants you to start using? Learn about the signs of addiction and the ways to withstand peer pressure with two classroom activities. After storyboarding the...
Curated OER
Just Say No to Drugs
Students explore the dangers of drugs, drug awareness and abuse and different types of drugs. They demonstrate reading comprehension sills including inference, literal meaning and critical analysis.
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
Heads Up: Real News About Drugs and Your Body
What's the difference between medical marijuana and marijuana bought on the street? Not much. High schoolers learn more about marijuana with an informational booklet that focuses on the medical uses of THC, how marijuana affects the...
Scholastic
Marijuana: Perception of Harm vs. Use
Many teenagers don't believe that marijuana is harmful, but if they do, it affects whether they use it or not. Analyze the relationship between what high school seniors believe about marijuana and their tendency to use it with a reading...
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
What Parents Need to Know About Marijuana Use and Teens
The teenage years find adolescents yearning for independence—and often isolating their parents from their everyday lives. Educate parents on the warning signs of marijuana use, including its effects on the brain and the likelihood of...
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
What You Need to Know about Marijuana Use and Pregnancy
Some people believe that using marijuana during pregnancy is safer than smoking tobacco, but studies show several negative impacts on babies whose mothers used marijuana while they were pregnant. Use a fact sheet to educate learners...
Curated OER
Bush Plans Hit on Drug Use
Students explore the topic of drug abuse. In this health journalism lesson, students read the USA Today article titled "Bush Plans Hit on Drub Abuse," respond to discussion questions regarding the article, and complete an activity based...
Scholastic
Drug Abuse in Social Settings: A Serious Task for Teens
Students discuss why drug abuse risk is higher in social settings. In this health science lesson, students interpret real life statistics on teen drug use. They describe refusal and prevention strategies.
Curated OER
Information And Advice On Drugs
Young scholars identify and analyze a variety of sources for information and statistics on drugs. They map out why its important to know the facts about drugs. In addition, they show examples of what happens when you use drugs of any kind.