Media Smarts
Kids, Alcohol and Advertising - Interpreting Media Messages
Young scholars investigate the importance of branding and messaging, especially as they relate to party products like alcohol.
University of the Desert
Why Is Cultural Diversity a Positive Thing?
From more empathetic individuals to greater tolerance in government, learners explore the benefits of a culturally diverse world through a series of collaborative, discussion-based activities.
Nemours KidsHealth
Alcohol: Grades 9-12
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....
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.
Curated OER
Making Good Decisions: Drug and Alcohol Reports
Students identify the effects and consequences of using and abusing alcohol and drugs. In this drug education lesson plan, students watch a video about underage drinking. Students research an assigned drug and compose a PowerPoint...
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...
Healthy Native Youth
Chapter 3: Decision Making
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...
Missouri Department of Elementary
How Much Does Smoking Really Cost?
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...
Scholastic
Analyzing Media Messages
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 mention...
Curated OER
TE Activity: Yeast Cells Respire, Too (But Not Like Me and You)
Student observe and quantify the respiration that occurs in yeast-molasses cultures. They complete an effective experiment in order to examine how to think critically about the results.
Curated OER
Environmental Causes of Birth Defects
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...
NOAA
Watch the Screen!
Can a sponge cure cancer? Life science pupils visit the drugstore under the sea in the fifth lesson of six. Working groups research the topic then get hands-on experience by testing the inhibiting effects of several plant extracts on E....
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
Red Ribbon Week
Young scholars 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. Young scholars write a paper on...
Department of Education (Ireland)
Understanding Influences
"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 behaviors.
The New York Times
Super Brand
Children can recognize popular brands from an early age, but these images symbolize much more than what they advertise. Take a journey through the design of a logo with a lesson that focuses on the history and ubiquity of the Super Bowl...
Institute for Humane Education
In Your Face: Reclaiming Billboards
Ads here, ads there, ads everywhere—but what do they communicate? Pupils discuss this topic and develop a list of personal values. They then work as creative directors at an advertising firm to create billboards that reflect community...
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...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Caution: Thin Ice!
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...
Orlando Shakes
Hamlet: Study Guide
Hopefully, learners do not sleep during a performance of Shakespeare's Hamlet. A helpful study guide introduces theater goers to the popular Shakespearean tragedy and includes activities to accompany a production of the play. Activities...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Safe and Healthy Life Choices (Part 2)
Scholars listen to a presentation by a health care professional and then submit three questions they would like the speaker to discuss further.
Missouri Department of Elementary
Fatal Accident
While there may not be any ghostbusters in the neighborhood, there are plenty of emergency response agencies ready to give support if something is amiss. To that end, instructors invite a member of an emergency response agency to address...
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...
Healthy Native Youth
Chapter 6: Making Choices
A lesson looks closely at risky behavior such as teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Middle schoolers use a question box to ask questions anonymously. They role-play what life would be like if they became pregnant then...