Using the Student Lessons

The heart of this module is the set of five lessons that follow. These lessons are the vehicles that we hope will carry important concepts related to neurobiology and drug addiction to your students. To review the concepts in detail, refer to the chart Conceptual Flow of the Lessons.

Format of the Lessons

As you scan the lessons, you will find that each contains several major features.

At a Glance offers a convenient overview of the lesson.

• The Overview provides a short summary of student activities.
• The Major Concept section lists the central idea the lesson is designed to convey.
• Objectives lists two to four specific understandings or abilities students should have after completing the lesson.
• The Basic Science-Health Connection describes how the material in the lesson illustrates the relationship between basic science and personal and public health. The mission of the NIH is to “uncover new knowledge that will lead to better health for everyone.” This mission statement recognizes that basic science and personal and public health are inextricably linked and form a powerful whole. Research into the basic processes of life leads inevitably to strategies for improving health, and questions about health trigger research into basic processes.

Background Information provides the science content that underlies the key concepts of the lessons. The information provided here is not intended to form the basis of lectures to students. Instead, it is designed to enhance your understanding of the content so that you can more accurately facilitate class discussions, answer student questions, and provide additional examples.

In Advance provides instructions for collecting and preparing the materials required to complete the activities in the lesson.

• Web-Based Activities tells you which of the lesson’s activities make use of the module’s Web site as the basis for instruction.
• Photocopies lists the paper copies or transparencies that need to be made from masters, which follow the student lessons.
• Materials lists all the materials other than photocopies needed for each of the activities in the lesson.
• Preparation outlines the things you need to do to be ready to teach each of the activities in the lesson.

Procedure outlines the steps for each activity in the lesson. It provides implementation suggestions and answers to questions. Within the procedure, annotations provide additional commentary.

• Tip from the Field Test includes actual field-test teachers’ suggestions for teaching strategies, class management, and module implementation.
• Note gives information about special points to remember as you are teaching the activity.
• Assessment provides you with strategies for assessing student progress throughout the module and is identified by an assessment icon.
• The Icons shown below identify specific annotations:

  identifies teaching strategies that address specific science content standards as defined by the National Science Education Standards.

  
  

  identifies when to use the Web site as part of the teaching strategy. Instructions in the Procedures section tell you how to access the Web site and the relevant activity. Specific information about using the Web site can be found in Using the Web Site. A print-based alternative to each Web activity is provided for classrooms in which Internet access is not available.

  
  

  identifies a print-based alternative to a Web-based activity to use if the Internet is not available.

  
  

  identifies when assessment is embedded in the module’s structure. An annotation suggests strategies for assessment.

  
  

The Lesson Organizer provides a brief summary of the lesson. It outlines procedural steps for each activity and includes icons that denote where in the activity masters, transparencies, and the Web are used. The lesson organizer is intended to be a memory aid for you to use only after you become familiar with the detailed procedures. It can be a handy resource during lesson preparation as well as during classroom instruction.

The Masters required to teach the lessons are located in a separate section at the end of the module.

Timelines for Teaching the Module

There are several ways to complete the five lessons in this module. Each timeline assumes 45 minutes of instruction per day.

The Suggested Timeline outlines the optimal plan for completing the five lessons in this module. The plan assumes you will teach the activities on consecutive days. If your class requires more time to complete the activities, discuss issues raised in this module, or complete the activities on the Web, adjust your timeline accordingly.

The Abbreviated Timeline outlines a schedule for completing the lessons in the curriculum supplement in one week. By this timeline, students skip some activities and focus on ones that convey the most important concepts. Students will miss a great deal of the richness of the unit and the details that add interest to the material, but they can still benefit from learning many new concepts.

Suggested Timeline

Timeline	Activity
3 weeks ahead	Reserve computers Check performance of Web site. Bookmark URL if possible. Be sure appropriate versions of the required plug-ins are installed on the computers.
1 week ahead	Make photocopies and transparencies Gather materials
Day 1	Lesson 1 Activity 1: What Does the Brain Do? Activity 2: Positron Emission Tomography and Brain Function
Day 2	Lesson 1 (continued) Activity 3: Parts of the Brain Activity 4: Who Was Phineas Gage? Activity 5: Where Do Drugs Act?
Day 3	Lesson 2 Activity 1: Anatomy of a Neuron Activity 2: How Do Neurons Communicate
Day 4	Lesson 2 (continued) Activity 3: Do All Neurotransmitters Have the Same Effect? Activity 4: One Neuron Signals Another
Day 5	Lesson 3 Activity 1: Drugs Alter Neurotransmission
Day 6	Lesson 3 (continued) Activity 2: How Does Caffeine Affect You? Activity 3: Routes of Administration
Day 7	Lesson 4 Activity 1: How Does Drug Abuse Begin? Activity 2: Drug Abuse Is Voluntary; Addiction Is Compulsive
Day 8	Lesson 4 (continued) Activity 3: When Does Abuse Become Addiction? Activity 4: Environmental, Behavioral, and Social Influences on Drug Abuse and Addiction Activity 5: Long-term Effects of Drug Abuse and Addiction
Day 9	Lesson 5 Activity 1: Is Addiction Treatable? Activity 2: Evaluating the Case Studies Activity 3: Is Treatment for Drug Addiction Effective? Activity 4: Addiction Is a Brain Disease

Abbreviated Timeline

Timeline	Activity
3 weeks ahead	Reserve computers Check performance of Web site
1 week ahead	Make photocopies and transparencies Gather materials
Day 1	Lesson 1 Activity 1: What Does the Brain Do? Activity 2: Positron Emission Tomography and Brain Function Activity 3: Omit Activity 4: (assign as homework) Who Was Phineas Gage? Activity 5: Where Do Drugs Act?
Day 2	Lesson 2 Activity 1: Anatomy of a Neuron Activity 2: How Do Neurons Communicate? Activity 3: Omit Activity 4: Omit
Day 3	Lesson 3 Activity 1: Drugs Alter Neurotransmission Activity 2: Omit Activity 3: Omit
Day 4	Lesson 4 Activity 1: How Does Drug Abuse Begin? Activity 2: Drug Abuse Is Voluntary; Addiction Is Compulsive Activity 3: Omit Activity 4: (assign as homework) Environmental, Behavioral, and Social Influences on Drug Abuse and Addiction Activity 5: (have students watch the minidocumentary independently during free time or assign Master 4.6 as homework) Long-term Effects of Drug Abuse and Addiction
Day 5	Lesson 5 Activity 1: Is Addiction Treatable? Activity 2: Evaluating the Case Studies Activity 3: Is Treatment for Drug Addiction Effective? Activity 4: (assign as homework) Addiction Is a Brain Disease

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