Help Students Apply Science to Real Life

As the school year winds down for many teachers and students alike, NIDA is here to help you finish strong with an exercise to drive home an important message.

Before the break, help solidify for your students the facts about brain development, drug use, and addiction with our Drugs & Health Blog Teacher’s Guide.

The blog takes the science behind how drug use affects the brain and body and applies it to real life. Each week, new posts can help you make connections for your students between what they see and hear and what the science has to say on the subject. Posts will also help you incorporate recent research into STEM lessons on a range of topics like brain science, e-cigarettes, marijuana use, and peer pressure. Classroom activities could include:

Discussions. In small groups or as a class, invite students to read a post and discuss the information using the provided questions to guide the conversation.
Research/Presentation Project. Ask students to select a drug and research how it affects the brain and body. Students should prepare a 10-minute presentation, including a visual, summarizing their research and whether their view of the drug changed based on their findings.
Multimedia Project. Offer students several posts to read, then ask them to develop a storyboard (scene outline) and script for a podcast, public service announcement (PSA), or video that shares the information learned. If time allows, teens could break into groups and record the podcasts, PSAs, or videos they developed.

Check out the Drugs & Health Blog Teacher’s Guide for other activity ideas, discussion questions, and more information on how to use the guide in your classroom.

Check out the Drugs and Health Blog Teacher's Guide

You can help provide other educators and parents with free lessons and activities on teens and drugs, based on science and educational standards. Check out and share our Lesson Plan and Activity Finder video.

Are you looking for information about specific drug topics or resources to use in your classroom? NIDA offers relevant drug education resources through a featured Lesson of the Month. Check out our Lesson Plan and Activity Finder for this month’s featured lesson plan and to search for additional free resources.

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