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...
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...
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...
National Association of School Nurses
Learn to Be Smart and Safe with Medicine
The stated purpose of a school tool kit is to help schools implement teen prescription drug abuse awareness programs. The kit includes actions that groups can take in the school, with parents, and in the community at large.
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...
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...
Discovery Education
The Science of Addiction: The Story of Teens
Users of Discovery Education's interactive on the biology of addiction examine common misconceptions about opioids and learn about the factors that cause addiction. Additionally, they listen to the stories of three teens and their...
The New York Times
Investigating the Heroin and Prescription Opioid Epidemic
How bad is the opioid crisis in America? Has it gotten worse in the last few decades? Why? High schoolers delve into these questions with a thorough and thoughtful lesson from The New York Times on heroin prescription opioids. Starting...
University of Minnesota
What's the Deal? Addiction Card Game
Addiction is a big deal! Playing a game of cards helps learners understand the concept of addiction. Through their analysis, they examine the potential for addiction and how it varies for each individual.
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 4, Unit 1, Lesson 18
As first-year students continue to investigate how sugar changed the world, the focus shifts to a consideration of why people with limited job options take on dangerous or subjugating work. Class members read an opinion piece by Nicholas...
Los Angeles County Office of Education
Assessment for the California Mathematics Standards Grade 1
Here is an assessment designed to test mathematicians' knowledge of writing numbers, comparing numbers, skip counting, solving addition and subtraction problems; along with measuring objects, telling time, identifying shapes, reading...
Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment
Drugs Awareness
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.
Discovery Education
The Cycle of Addiction
Learners examine how families and peers influence their decision making. For this addiction lesson middle schoolers study the cycle of addiction to drugs and what can be done to prevent it.
Curated OER
Addiction
Young scholars warn others about the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse. In this personal health lesson, students research the effects of addiction and share their findings with their classmates. Young scholars then create posters or...
Curated OER
Talk About the Passion
Students think critically about artistic freedom and evaluate the aims and effectiveness of censorship and education. They begin an investigation of the ongoing controversy surrounding Mel Gibson's "The Passion of Christ" by reading "New...
Curated OER
The Drug Dope Show
In small groups, students research an assigned drug category including its physical effects, addiction treatments and the societal, academic and economic impacts of drug abuse. They engage in a "talk show" and discussion about drug...
Curated OER
Redefining Addiction
Students study about how addiction can have both physiological and behavioral effects. They synthesize their knowledge by creating a sensitivity training session for counselors working with teenagers who are addicted to drugs.
Curated OER
Someone in the Class - Children of Alcoholics
Students analyze addiction in families. In this children of alcoholics lesson students answer questions, complete an activity and play a game.
Curated OER
The Effects of Drugs
In this drugs activity, students learn about how drugs act on the body, their medicinal uses, and the abuse of drugs. Students classify a list of drugs as either a stimulant or a depressant. This activity has 5 short answer and 8...
Curated OER
Addiction
In this health worksheet, students find the words that are related to the concept of addiction to different things. The answers are found at the bottom of the page.
Curated OER
Making Choices about Tobacco Use
Students examine the dangers associated with smoking. In groups, they discuss what it means to be addicted to a drug and how the media influences our decisions. After watching excerpts of films, they identify the use of smoking and the...
Curated OER
Substance Abuse/Addiction
Middle schoolers examine addictions and the effects on people around them. They identify the characteristics of addition and indicators of alcohol abuse. They complete a worksheet for homework.
Curated OER
Effects of Drugs and Alcohol
Students examine how drugs and alcohol impair athletic performance They discuss the reduction in aerobic activity through drug use and discover what is most affected by abuse. In their journals they write about how maintaining...
Curated OER
Drug Abuse and Addiction
Students examine data from animal experiments. They watch a Web site mini-documentary to explore how drugs cause long-term changes in the brain.