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Alcohol and other drugs

This lesson addresses the harmful effects of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs on a young person's body. It also covers the primary reasons why students try illicit drugs.

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Guidance)

By Tina Hartig.

Practicing elaboration in a problem/solution essay

One theory suggests that students tend to list in an essay because they lack the tools to elaborate. Because they do not have the strategies, they attempt to fill up the empty space by introducing new primary ideas instead of fleshing out the ideas they have already presented. This activity attempts to make students aware of the need to elaborate and to provide students with some workable strategies for elaborating. Using a PowerPoint presentation, the teacher demonstrates the necessity for elaboration in a problem/solution essay. Students then choose a particular point in the PowerPoint presentation to expand through elaboration.

Format: lesson plan (grade 10 English Language Arts)

By Margaret Ryan.

AIDS in Africa Symposium

Students will take on roles of those with a unique perspective on the AIDS crisis in Africa. Taking part in a symposium, each character, famous and ordinary, makes a statement and participates in a question-answer period.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Science)

By Greg Mitchell.

Sex under the influence

The use of alcohol and other drugs increases the risk for unplanned, unprotected sex. This action exposes young people to HIV, other STDs, and pregnancy. The lesson engages students in the decision-making process regarding risk and checks their understanding of behaviors that put them at risk.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Healthful Living)

By Kathy Crumpler.

Mint Hill Country Doctor's Museum and Country Store

This museum takes the visitor back to the early years of medical practice and the "daily lives and routines of Southern people living in rural areas from the late 1800's to the 1930's."

Format: article/field trip opportunity

Adding support and detail without getting arrested!

This lesson plan is designed to teach students the concept of using facts to support ideas and to interpret (elaborate on) those facts in order to create a synthesized paragraph.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts and Information Skills)

By Bonnie Mcmurray and Julie Joslin.

Civil War army hospitals

In North Carolina in the Civil War and Reconstruction, page 5.9

A description of medicine, hospitals, and the work of army doctors and nurses in the U.S. Civil War.

Format: article

Millis Regional Health Education Center

Visitors are sure to have fun while they learn about the human body and how to stay healthy at this health education facility.

Format: article/field trip opportunity

Forensic scientists: Identifying unknown substances

In CareerStart lessons: Grade eight, page 5.10

In this lesson, students use the physical properties of three mystery substances to determine their identities. Students discuss how these skills apply to careers in forensic science.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Science)

By Tammy Johnson and Martha Tedrow.

It's all about choice

Students will examine the different choices they make as supporting or undermining their intent to remain abstinent, including the affect of substance use on those choices.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Healthful Living)

By Kathy Crumpler.

Microbiology: Bacteria in our environment

In CareerStart lessons: Grade eight, page 5.5

In this lesson, students will learn about bacterial cells and will participate in a lab measuring the growth of bacterial colonies.

Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Science)

By Tammy Johnson and Martha Tedrow.

Cargo manifests of Confederate blockade runners

In North Carolina in the Civil War and Reconstruction, page 4.4

Cargo manifests of various ships that ran the Union blockade to bring goods from Nassau, in the Bahamas, to Wilmington, North Carolina, during the Civil War. Includes historical commentary.

Format: document

Commentary and sidebar notes by David Walbert.

Predicting the future with best-fit lines

In CareerStart lessons: Grade eight, page 2.1

In this lesson plan, students use scatter plots and best-fit lines to make predictions based on data. Students also discuss how scatter plots and best-fit lines are useful in certain careers.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9 Mathematics)

By Debbie Brooks, Peggy Dickey, and Jan Sullivan.

Mid-1800s reform era group presentations

Students will work in groups to present information on the reforms of the mid 1800's. Topics could include the Unitarians, abolition, women's rights, growth in education, treatment of the mentally ill, temperance, and utopian communities.

Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Social Studies)

By Angie Panel Holthausen.

Diseases: A brief guide to causes, symptoms, history, and treatment

Since the beginning of human existence on the planet, diseases have played a significant role in the events of every era. This brief listing of some of the most notorious diseases explains their causes, symptoms, history, prevention, and treatment, and provides links to further information.

Format: article

By Emily Jack.

Disease and catastrophe

In Prehistory, contact, and the Lost Colony, page 5.3

Of all the kinds of life exchanged when the Old and New Worlds met, lowly germs had the greatest impact. Europeans and later Africans brought smallpox and a host of other diseases with them to America, where those diseases killed as much as 90 percent of the native population of two continents. Europeans came away lucky -- with only a few tropical diseases from Africa and, probably, syphilis from the New World. In America, disease destoyed civilizations.

Format: article

By David Walbert.

The Columbian Exchange

In Prehistory, contact, and the Lost Colony, page 5.1

When Christopher Columbus and his crew arrived in the New World, two biologically distinct worlds were brought into contact. The animal, plant, and bacterial life of these two worlds began to mix in a process called the Columbian Exchange. The results of this exchange recast the biology of both regions and altered the history of the world.

Format: article

By J.R. McNeill.

The present state of Carolina [people, climate]

In Colonial North Carolina, page 2.1

Excerpt from John Lawson's 1709 A New Voyage to Carolina describing (and mostly praising) the European and native inhabitants, weather, and natural resources of Carolina, as well as what settlers should bring with them from Europe. Includes historical commentary.

Format: book

Commentary and sidebar notes by David Walbert.

Resources on the web

Drugs of Concern

Provides information about the effects and use of illegal drugs such as cocaine, heroin, inhalants, marijuana, MDMA (ecstacy), methamphetamine, steroids, Oxycontin, and others. (Learn more)

Format: website/general

Provided by: United States Drug Enforcement Agency

Brain Power! The NIDA Junior Scientist Program

Materials for teaching second- and third-grade students about the brain and the effects of drugs on the brain. (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)