The national epidemic of opioid addiction is making its way into high school populations. Educate the students in your class about the ways prescription opioids can both block pain and deliver large amounts of dopamine that make it very easy to become addicted to them. Learners also compare the number of deaths from opioid overdose to the number of opioid prescriptions over a 22-year period.

Concepts

drugs, prescription drugs, opioids, addiction, drug addiction, anatomy, the brain, the central nervous system, reading nonfiction, informational texts

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Additional Tags

health

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Instructional Ideas

• Create a cross-curricular lesson between science, health, social studies, and math when reviewing the different aspects of opioid addiction
• Have learners review the digital versions of the reading at home and come to class ready for discussion
• Prompt class members to choose one of the prompts to initiate a research writing assignment

Classroom Considerations

• Discussion questions are differentiated into grade levels (6-8, 9-10, 11-12)
• Information covers years 1991-2013; provide additional numbers for subsequent years or have groups conduct research for more recent data

Pros

• Designed for both Common Core and Next Generation Science standards
• Provides both digital and PDF versions of the text
• Links to additional assessment tools on the publisher's website

Cons

• None

Common Core

W.6.9.a W.7.9.a W.8.9.a W.9-10.9.a W.11-12.9.a RST.6-8.7 RST.9-10.7 RST.11-12.7