Lesson Plan and Other Activities
The 30-minute lesson plan may be used during your Teach-In event. It provides a structure and information for discussing what youth and parents need to know, do, and say about underage alcohol use. It also contains talking points and activities such as puzzles and quizzes. You may do one or more of these activities, depending on your time and comfort level with the content.
The plan has three objectives. At the end of the lesson students should be able to:
- Describe some of the effects of alcohol on the brain and body
- Identify effective alternatives to using alcohol
- Work in groups to develop an effective alcohol prevention message.
Download Lesson Plan (PDF - 420KB)
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Lesson Plan in Brief
What To Know | What To Do | What To Say
Children and parents need “to know” about alcohol and its effects to make good decisions about drinking.
They need to know “what to do” to help combat peer pressure and find alternatives to
underage drinking. And they need to know “what to say” to make sure the right message
comes through.
Enclosed you will find a complete 30-minute lesson plan that you may use during
your
Teach-In event.
The lesson plan has three objectives. Following the lesson, students
should be able to
explain:
- What To Know: Describe some of the effects of alcohol on the
brain and body.
- What To Do: Identify effective alternatives to using alcohol.
- What To Say: Work in groups
to develop an effective alcohol prevention message.
This lesson plan contains a number of different activities. You may
do one or more of these activities, depending on your time and comfort
level with the content. The suggested activities include:
Introduction: Brainstorm Alternatives to Drinking (10 minutes)
What To Do
- Guide a discussion on what to say or do if someone
pressures a student to take a drink.
- Ask students to complete the sentence “Why
drink when we could…”
Discussion (5 minutes)
- Ask students to share reasons why they believe young people drink.
- Have
students complete the student handout, What's Your Alcohol IQ? true/false quiz.
Presenting Facts/Evaluating Statements (10 minutes)
What To Know
- Distribute the enclosed handout and work as a group to determine
answers to the true/false quiz (from Introduction).
Getting the Message Out (5 minutes)
What To Say
- Brainstorm with students about the methods they could use to tell others about the risks
of underage alcohol use and alternative activities to drinking.
Additional materials (may be sent home for students to work on with
parents, or used by teachers in additional class periods)
What To Know | What To Do | What To Say
- Word-find puzzle, The Dangers of Alcohol
- Fill in the blanks/unscramble
the word-find puzzle, The Dangers of Alcohol
- Crossword puzzle, Too
Smart To Start
- Word find puzzle, Too Smart To Start
Alcohol: Why Drink When You Can…
A Guided Discussion on Underage Alcohol Consumption
What To Do
Introduction: Brainstorm Alternatives to Drinking (10 minutes)
(5 minutes) Guide a brief discussion in which students investigate
what to say or do if someone pressures them to take a drink. Use Talking Points for Leaders to help you.
Talking Points for Leaders
Suggested Questions |
Possible Responses |
Leader’s Points |
Why do you think some young people who don’t want to
drink feel pressured to drink?
What are some things to say if someone pressures you?
|
They want a certain person to like them.
They don’t want to be different.
They don’t want to create a big scene.
Students may suggest one or more of the ideas in the next column.
Be sure they get a chance to discuss all of them.
|
There are other things to do together that would
be fun and don’t
involve drinking. Try some of those.
You can choose not to drink—most young people don’t drink!
Sometimes it is easier to use a one-liner that allows you
to say no without making a big scene.
Some possible alternatives:
- No thanks.
- I don’t feel like it—do you have
any soda?
- Alcohol’s NOT my thing.
- Are you talking to me?
FORGET it.
- Why do you KEEP pressuring me when I’ve
said NO?
|
(5 minutes) Write the sentence starter “Why
drink when we could…” on
the chalkboard. Challenge students to suggest a wide variety of alternative
choices to complete the sentence, such as:
- “Why drink when we could play
soccer?”
- “Why drink when we could go
to the movies?”
Discussion
(3 minutes) In a brief discussion, ask students to share the reasons
they believe young people drink. Use Talking
Points for Leaders to help you with the discussion.
Talking Points for Leaders
Suggested
Questions |
Possible
Responses |
Leader’s
Points |
Why do you think young people start
to drink?
Why do you think someone you know would drink?
|
Peer pressure—some friends
and classmates want you to do it.
We see our parents or other
adults drinking.
We want to appear grown up.
We see older
teens drinking.
Alcohol is easy to get—someone
always brings it to a party.
Ads show
young people drinking.
We see ads everywhere
that make drinking look cool and a way to be popular
and have friends.
We want to see what
it tastes like.
|
Actually, many studies have shown
that a large majority of people your age—most of
them—DO NOT drink or get drunk! A recent study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) shows that more than 80 percent of youth aged 12 to 17 reported they had not drunk alcohol in the past month.
The media’s glamorous portrayal of
alcohol encourages many teens to believe that drinking will
make them popular,
attractive, happy, and cool.
To generate sales, alcohol
advertising makes products look appealing.
|
(2 minutes) Follow the discussion by having students
complete the true/false quiz, What’s Your Alcohol IQ?, to
check their alcohol knowledge. They should save their quizzes for
the next activity.
What To Know
Presenting Facts/Evaluating Statements: Effect of Alcohol on the
Brain (10 minutes)
Distribute Alcohol and Your Brain. Work with students to find
information on this student information sheet to assess the truth
of each statement
in the quiz, What’s Your Alcohol IQ? Make sure each of the
12 statements is addressed in the discussion. The answer key includes
information to help you guide this discussion.
What To Say
Getting the Message Out (5 minutes)
Brainstorm with students about the methods they could use to tell others about the risks of underage alcohol use and alternative activities to drinking. List their
ideas on the chalkboard for teachers to use in another class period.
Ideas might include:
- Create posters to put up in classrooms or on
community bulletin boards.
- Create brochures to place in the school
library.
- Create and perform skits in a school-wide assembly.
- Create
a school bulletin board.
- Create a message for a PTA newsletter
encouraging parents to talk about this topic with their children.
- Create a message that parents could have inserted into a company
newsletter or posted on a company bulletin board.
NOTE: Share these ideas with teachers to help students implement
some of them in school or at home.
What To Know | What To Do | What To Say
Share with Parents (2 minutes)
Distribute the Student Puzzle Pages and invite
students to work with their parents and family members to complete
the puzzle at
home. Tell students to use the information on the puzzles to share
what they learned today in class.
What’s Your Alcohol IQ?
What To Know
Directions: Below are a dozen statements about how alcohol affects
a person’s brain activities. Some of these are misconceptions,
or mistaken beliefs. Do you know which are true and which are false?
Circle TRUE or FALSE for each statement.
| 1. Alcohol is a stimulant. |
TRUE |
FALSE |
| 2. Under the influence of alcohol, everything
may appear to be fuzzy; drinkers may slur their words and have
difficulty hearing, tasting, and smelling. |
TRUE |
FALSE |
| 3. Under the influence of alcohol, a drinker’s
ability to think, speak, and move may slow way down. |
TRUE |
FALSE |
| 4. Under the influence of alcohol, drinkers are
usually calm, thoughtful, and easygoing. |
TRUE |
FALSE |
| 5. Drinking alcohol over a long period of time
may damage a person’s self-control and ability to plan,
think, and make decisions. |
TRUE |
FALSE |
| 6. Alcohol does not affect memory. |
TRUE |
FALSE |
| 7. Alcohol may make it difficult for drinkers
to keep their balance or hold on to things. |
TRUE |
FALSE |
| 8. Under the influence of alcohol, a drinker may
be emotional and weepy. |
TRUE |
FALSE |
| 9. Alcohol will help a person sleep. |
TRUE |
FALSE |
| 10. Drinking alcohol will help a person lose
weight. |
TRUE |
FALSE |
| 11. People attending a winter football game should
drink alcohol to keep warm. |
TRUE |
FALSE |
| 12. The more alcohol people drink, the hungrier
and thirstier they will become. |
TRUE |
FALSE |
Answer Key
What’s
Your Alcohol IQ?
What To Know
Directions: Below is the Answer Key to the student handout: What’s
Your Alcohol IQ? The answers are in bold type and underlined.
| 1. Alcohol is a stimulant. |
TRUE |
FALSE |
CEREBRAL CORTEX—Alcohol
is a central nervous system depressant. It can appear
to be a stimulant because, initially, it depresses
the part of the brain that controls inhibitions. |
|
| 2. Under the influence of alcohol, everything
may appear to be fuzzy; drinkers may slur their words and have
difficulty hearing, tasting and smelling. |
TRUE |
FALSE |
CEREBRAL CORTEX—Alcohol
slows down the cerebral cortex as it works with information
from your senses. |
|
| 3. Under the influence of alcohol, a drinker’s
ability to think, speak, and move may slow way down. |
TRUE |
FALSE |
CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM—When
you think of something you want your body to do, the
central nervous system—the brain and the spinal
cord—sends a signal to that part of the body.
Alcohol slows down the central nervous system, making
you think, speak, and move slower. |
|
| 4. Under the influence of alcohol, drinkers are
usually calm, thoughtful and easygoing. |
TRUE |
FALSE |
FRONTAL LOBES—When alcohol
affects the frontal lobes of the brain, you may find
it hard to control your emotions and urges. You may act without thinking
or even become violent. Drinking alcohol over a long
period of time can damage the frontal lobes forever. |
|
| 5. Drinking alcohol over a long period of time
may damage a person’s self-control and ability to plan,
think, and make decisions. |
TRUE |
FALSE |
FRONTAL LOBES—The brain’s
frontal lobes are important for planning, forming ideas,
making decisions, and using self-control. Drinking
alcohol over a long period of time can damage the frontal
lobes forever. |
|
| 6. Alcohol does not affect memory. |
TRUE |
FALSE |
HIPPOCAMPUS—The hippocampus
is the part of the brain where your memories are made.
- When alcohol reaches the hippocampus, you may
have trouble remembering something you just learned,
such as a name or a phone number. This can happen
after just one or two drinks.
- Drinking a lot of alcohol quickly can cause
a blackout—not being able to remember entire
events, such as what you did last night.
- If alcohol damages the hippocampus, you may
find it hard to learn and to hold on to knowledge.
|
|
| 7. Alcohol may make it difficult for drinkers
to keep their balance or hold on to things. |
TRUE |
FALSE |
CEREBELLUM—The cerebellum
is important for coordination, thinking, and being
aware. You may have trouble with these skills when
alcohol enters the cerebellum. After drinking alcohol,
your hands may be so shaky that you can’t touch
or grab things normally. You may lose your balance
and fall. |
|
| 8. Under the influence of alcohol, a drinker may
be emotional and weepy. |
TRUE |
FALSE |
FRONTAL LOBES—The brain’s
frontal lobes are important for planning, forming ideas,
making decisions, and using self-control. When alcohol
affects the frontal lobes of the brain, you may find
it hard to control your emotions and urges. You may act without thinking
or even become violent. Drinking alcohol over a long
period of time can damage the frontal lobes forever. |
|
| 9. Alcohol will help a person sleep. |
TRUE |
FALSE |
HYPOTHALAMUS—The hypothalamus
is a small part of the brain that does an amazing number
of your body’s housekeeping chores. Alcohol upsets
the work of the hypothalamus. After a person drinks alcohol,
blood pressure, hunger, thirst, and the urge to urinate
increase while body temperature and heart rate decrease. |
|
| 10. Drinking alcohol will help a person lose
weight. |
TRUE |
FALSE |
HYPOTHALAMUS—The hypothalamus
is a small part of the brain that does an amazing number
of your body’s housekeeping chores. Alcohol upsets
the work of the hypothalamus. After a person drinks alcohol,
blood pressure, hunger, thirst, and the urge to urinate
increase while body temperature and heart rate decrease. |
|
| 11. People attending a winter football game should
drink alcohol to keep warm. |
TRUE |
FALSE |
MEDULLA—The medulla controls
your body’s automatic actions, such as your heartbeat.
It also keeps your body at the right temperature. Alcohol actually chills the body. Drinking a lot
of alcohol outdoors in cold weather can cause your
body temperature to fall below normal. This dangerous
condition is called hypothermia.
|
|
| 12. The more alcohol people drink, the hungrier
and thirstier they will become. |
TRUE |
FALSE |
HYPOTHALAMUS—The hypothalamus
is a small part of the brain that does an amazing number
of your body’s housekeeping chores. Alcohol upsets
the work of the hypothalamus. After a person drinks alcohol,
blood pressure, hunger, thirst, and the urge to urinate
increase while body temperature and heart rate decrease. |
|
Student Information Sheet
Cerebral Cortex
The outer surface of the brain, the cerebral cortex, works with
information from your senses.
Your cerebral cortex on alcohol:
- Your inhibitions are lowered due to alcohol’s depressing
effect. A small amount may make you feel relaxed and confident, but before long you’re likely to talk too much, act
silly and stupid, or have impaired judgment.
- Your cerebral cortex performs more slowly.
- Your vision may get blurry, you may slur your words,
and you could have decreased hearing and trouble smelling
and tasting.
Central Nervous System
When you think of something you want your body to do, the central
nervous system—the brain and the spinal cord—sends
a signal to that part of the body.
Your central nervous system on alcohol:
- Alcohol slows down the central nervous system.
- You will
think, speak, and move slower.
Frontal Lobes
The brain’s frontal lobes are important for planning, forming
ideas, making decisions, and using self-control. Drinking alcohol
over a long period of time can damage the frontal lobes forever.
Your frontal lobes on alcohol:
- You may find it hard to control your emotions and urges.
- You may become violent
or act without thinking.
Hippocampus
Your memories are made in the hippocampus. A damaged hippocampus
makes it harder to learn and hold on to knowledge.
Your hippocampus
on alcohol:
- You may have trouble remembering something you just learned
(e.g., a name or phone number). This can happen after just one or
two drinks.
- You could experience a blackout—not being
able to remember entire events, such as what you did last night—from
drinking a lot of alcohol quickly.
Cerebellum
The cerebellum is important for coordination, thinking, and being
aware.
Your cerebellum on alcohol:
- Your hands
may be so shaky that you can’t touch or grab
things normally.
- You may lose your balance and fall.
- You may not know where
you are.
Hypothalamus
The hypothalamus is a small part of the brain that does an amazing
number of your body’s housekeeping chores. Alcohol upsets
the hypothalamus’s work.
Your hypothalamus on alcohol:
- Blood pressure, hunger, thirst, and the urge to urinate increase.
- Body temperature and heart rate decrease.
Medulla
The medulla is your body’s automatic pilot. It keeps your
heart beating, lets you breathe without thinking about it, and
keeps your body at the right temperature. People sometimes drink alcohol
in an effort to keep warm. Drinking alcohol can seem like
it makes you warmer, but alcohol actually chills the body. Drinking
a lot
of alcohol outdoors in cold weather can cause your body temperature
to fall below normal. This dangerous condition is called hypothermia.
Your medulla on alcohol:
- Breathing
and heart rate slow.
- Your body temperature lowers.
- Drinking a lot of alcohol in a short
time could shut down the medulla. You could go into a coma.
The Dangers of Alcohol
What To Know | What To Do | What To Say
Directions: The following words are hidden in this word search
puzzle. Find the words and then complete the sentences below
about the dangers of alcohol.
| alcohol |
black out |
brain |
communicate |
make decisions |
| impair |
depressant |
judgment |
media message |
solve problems |
In spite of the ________ ________ that ________
will make
life more fun, it actually is a________.
Just one drink can ________ your ________ 's ability
to ________ , ________
s and use good ________.
Alcohol can make you slur your speech, messing up your ability
to ________. If you drink a lot of alcohol, you might even ________.
Answer Key
The Dangers of Alcohol
What To Know | What To Do | What To Say |
Note: Arrows indicate the direction to
read the words. The highlighted letters are the first letters of
the hidden words.
| alcohol |
black out |
brain |
communicate |
make decisions |
| impair |
depressant |
judgment |
media message |
solve problems |
In spite of the MEDIA MESSAGE that ALCOHOL will make life more fun, it actually is
a DEPRESSANT.
Just one drink can IMPAIR your BRAIN's
ability to MAKE DECISIONS, SOLVE
PROBLEMS, and use good JUDGMENT.
Alcohol can make you slur your speech, messing up your ability
to COMMUNICATE. If you drink a lot of alcohol, you might even BLACK OUT.
The Dangers of Alcohol
What To Know | What To Do | What To Say
Directions: The typist who completed this message about the
dangers of alcohol made some funny errors. Some
important words were left out. When we asked to correct the message,
the typist scrambled the words left out and put them below the
message. See if you can correct the errors. Unscramble the words
and then
place them correctly in the message.
In spite of the ________________ that ________________
will make life more fun, it actually is a ________________.
Just one drink can ________________ your ________________’s
ability to ________________,________________
s and use good ________________.
Alcohol can make you slur your speech, messing up your ability
to ________________. If you drink a lot of alcohol, you might even ________ ________.
| hloaolc |
___________________________ |
| labck uot |
_____________ ______________ |
| ainrb |
___________________________ |
| otmuinemacc |
___________________________ |
| meak ssondciei |
___________________________ |
| riimap |
___________________________ |
| dsseepatrn |
___________________________ |
| tduemngj |
___________________________ |
| iaedm gesmesa |
___________________________ |
| losev opermslb |
___________________________ |
Answer Key
The Dangers of Alcohol
What To Know | What To Do | What To Say
In spite of the MEDIA MESSAGE that ALCOHOL will make life more fun, it actually is a DEPRESSANT.
Just one drink can IMPAIR your BRAIN'S ability to MAKE DECISIONS, SOLVE PROBLEMS, and use good JUDGMENT.
Alcohol can make you slur your speech, messing up your ability
to COMMUNICATE.
If you drink a lot of alcohol, you might even BLACK OUT.
| hloaolc |
alcohol |
| labck uot |
black out |
| ainrb |
brain |
| otmuinemacc |
communicate |
| meak ssondciei |
make decisions |
| riimap |
impair |
| dsseepatrn |
depressant |
| tduemngj |
judgment |
| iaedm gesmesa |
media message |
| losev opermslb |
solve problems |
Certificates
Youth Certificate
This is a template for a certificate to award youth participating in the Teach-In. download (MS Word - 2.02 MB)
Adult Certificates
This is a template for a certificate to award adults participating in the Teach-In for fifth-graders and sixth-graders
download
(MS Word - 485 KB).
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