Drug Education

We've been learning about the digestive system and also about taking care of our bodies. We built our own digestive system and took a piece of food throughit in a hands-on exploration that was totally gross and had the kids super excited (including my two 8th/9th grade helpers that were in the classroom during that time). You can check out that experiment over at this site. Then we made predictions about how far our food travels before it exits our bodies. And boy, were the students surprised when we measured out our entire digestive system. Such fun!

We used the Aims Education book to learn about the food pyramid and how much of each type of food we need. We talked about exercise and how that is important to keep our bodies strong and healthy.

Then last week, we focused on drugs and smoking. We started out by talking about the different types of drugs, why people do drugs, and we read a book that shared the effects of drugs on the body. I had seen something similar to this in several places on the Internet, so I made my own IPod activity for my class to use. They each received an IPod coloring sheet and could decorate it any way they wanted. Then they had a sheet that said, "This is how I tune out drugs." We drew a picture of our answer and wrote all about it. I talked to them about how it is important to decide how you will avoid drugs now before you've been tempted. You are more likely to stay strong if you determine ahead of time than if you try to say no at the moment you are tempted. I talked to them about surrounding themselves with good friends that will help them to make good decisions. I told, them from my experience, about how I never had to face drugs because I chose good friends all along. I've never been offered drugs or pressured by peers about taking drugs. We talked about how important the decisions we make now are. And I tied in (since we are a Christian school and can) the Bible verse, 1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?


The students were so excited about decorating their IPODs and it didn't seem like "work" at all. I love when they connect with what we are learning and they peppered me with questions. We discussed second-hand smoke and how to deal with parents or grandparents who smoke so that we can protect ourselves from their smoke as much as possible. 
Here are some examples of the finished projects.