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 of it have changed over time. The teams then present their findings to the class.

Concepts

drugs, prescription drugs, drug abuse, drug addiction, opioids, marijuana, tobacco, alcohol abuse, addiction

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Additional Tags

health

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Instructional Ideas

• Hook the lessons to a resource that explains the chemistry behind addiction

Classroom Considerations

• The online exhibition, providing only a very general overview of the history of each drug, is best used to stimulate the research project

Pros

• The handouts are available in both PDF and Word formats
• Includes a group evaluation rubric
• Also included are detailed plans for the three lessons and extension activities

Cons

• Although designed to discourage the use of drugs, the resource provides very little attention to addiction; ask groups to include this information in their presentations

Common Core

RI.9-10.7 RI.11-12.1 RI.11-12.7 W.9-10.1.a W.9-10.2.a W.11-12.2.a SL.9-10.1.a SL.11-12.1.a RH.9-10.2 RH.11-12.2