Poison Alert!

Subjects

Arts & Humanities
--Language Arts
Health
--Environmental
--Substance Abuse

Grade

K-2 (with adaptations)
3-5
6-8
9-12

Brief Description

Students research, write, and illustrate a report about a toxic substance and present their reports to the class.

Objectives

Students will

work as a group to research the assigned topic using print and/or online resources;
prepare an illustrated report about what they learned;
present the information to the class.

Keywords

drug abuse, toxic substances, poisonous insects

Materials Needed

Internet access
access to Poisonous Bugs and/or Stinging or Venomous Insects
access to Drugs of Abuse and commonly abused drug
Oral Report Rubrik (optional)

Lesson Plan

Help students understand how various toxic substances affect the human body.

Arrange younger students into groups or pairs, and provide each group with a list of Poisonous Bugs or Stinging or Venomous Insects. Invite each group to select one bug from the list. Have students use classroom, library, and online resources to learn more about the bug they selected. Then have each group prepare an illustrated report about its chosen bug, including information about how the bug administers its poison. Each group then should present a brief presentation to the class about what they learned. You also might create a bulletin board to display students reports.

Invite older students to learn how such drugs as tobacco, marijuana, and cocaine affect the human body. Encourage student to explore Drugs of Abuse a site from the United Kingdom that provides basic information about drugs in a highly accessible format. Then arrange students into groups, and assign one commonly abused drug or class of drugs to each group. Invite groups to create a diagram showing how their assigned drugs affect the human body. Have each group present its findings to their classmates. Older students might present their report as a Web page or as a PowerPoint presentation.

Assessment

Assess students based on the quality of their reports. You might use a Oral Report Rubrik to assess student work.

Lesson Plan Source

EducationWorld.com

Submitted By

Linda Starr

National Standards

LANGUAGE ARTS: English
GRADES K - 12
NL-ENG.K-12.1 Reading for Perspective
NL-ENG.K-12.2 Reading for Understanding
NL-ENG.K-12.3 Evaluation Strategies
NL-ENG.K-12.4 Communication Skills
NL-ENG.K-12.5 Communication Strategies
NL-ENG.K-12.6 Applying Knowledge
NL-ENG.K-12.7 Evaluating Data
NL-ENG.K-12.8 Developing Research Skills
NL-ENG.K-12.11 Participating in Society
NL-ENG.K-12.12 Applying Language Skills

PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND HEALTH: Health
GRADES K - 4
NPH-H.K-4.1 Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
NPH-H.K-4.2 Health Information, Products and Services
NPH-H.K-4.3 Reducing Health Risks
NPH-H.K-4.5 Using Communication Skills to Promote Health
NPH-H.K-4.6 Setting Goals for Good Health
GRADES 5 - 8
NPH-H.5-8.1 Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
NPH-H.5-8.2 Health Information, Products and Services
NPH-H.5-8.3 Reducing Health Risks
NPH-H.5-8.4 Health Influences
NPH-H.5-8.5 Using Communication Skills to Promote Health
NPH-H.5-8.6 Setting Goals for Good Health
GRADES 9 - 12
NPH-H.9-12.1 Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
NPH-H.9-12.2 Health Information, Products and Services
NPH-H.9-12.3 Reducing Health Risks
NPH-H.9-12.4 Health Influences
NPH-H.9-12.5 Using Communication Skills to Promote Health
NPH-H.9-12.6 Setting Goals for Good Health