Cigarettes and Tobacco
By: Rachel Wicks
10/14/11
Cigarettes and Tobacco
Rationale:
Middle school and high school are a time when old friends drift away and you are faced
with a struggle to make new ones. Children want to be accepted and cool. Often times this is why
they give into peer pressure (www.education.com). Students also feel awkward during this time
in their lives and feel a pressure from adults to mature and take on more responsibility, often
more than they can handle. Maybe it’s a different kind of pressure they feel from home and or
school that makes them stressed. They want to find a way out. Sometimes during this process
they make friends that have a negative influence on them. The negative influence may be from a
group of friends that pressure them to change their morals and do something they normally
would never even think to do. This lesson will focus on cigarettes and tobacco. It will teach
students the effects tobacco products have physically and psychologically on one’s body. It will
concentrate on the dangers of cigarettes and tobacco to discourage students from there usage
when pressured. Often students are first pressured to drink or smoke, once they are comfortable
with one drug students may often begin to explore others (www.cancer.org). It is important that
they are given the dangerous facts of the drugs and taught to say no when pressured not only
from peers but from stress in their lives.
Target Audience:
This lesson is designed specifically for Grades 6-8
Core Curriculum Content Standards:
The NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards are a set of guidelines for teachers to use for
their lesson plans. Drugs and medicines are covered in Standard 2.3. It states that “All students
will learn and apply information about alcohol, tobacco, other drugs and medicines to make
decisions that support a healthy, active lifestyle.” This particular lesson plan covers grades six
through eight and includes parts of B and C of Standard 2.3. By the eighth grade, students
should know the following (Comprehensive Health and Physical Education (2006) :

B. Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs
1. Compare and contrast the physical and behavioral effects of commonly abused
substances by adolescents.
2. Predict the legal and financial consequences of the use, sale, and possession of
illegal substances.
3. Analyze the effects of all types of tobacco use on the aging process.
4. Compare and contrast smoking laws in New Jersey with other states and
countries.

C. Dependency/Addiction and Treatment
1. Compare and contrast theories about dependency/addiction (such as genetic
predisposition, gender-related predisposition, and multiple risks) and provide
recommendations that support a drug free life.
2. Summarize intervention strategies that assist family and friends to cope with the
impact of substance abuse.
Time Required:
This lesson plan requires 40 minutes per class.
Goals:
After this lesson, students will have accurate knowledge of cigarettes and tobacco, as
well as their effects in order to make an educated decision to say no to these drugs. They will
know the facts of what can actually happen if they experiment with cigarettes and tobacco rather
than go by false knowledge they may receive from peers and or media. They will understand
financial consequences associated with cigarettes and tobacco as well as risks such as addiction,
increased risk of illness or diseases, increased risk of cancer, fertility problems, and shortened
life span by ten years. Best of all they will learn strategies to help them say “no”.
Objectives:

Students will distinguish the difference between what they think they know about
cigarettes and tobacco, and what the actual facts are.

Students will list the differences between physical effects and psychological effects
from cigarettes and tobacco.

Students will be able to fill in a time line of certain events that occurred in the history
of cigarettes and tobacco use.

Students will identify factors that lead to addiction and identify different withdrawal
symptoms cigarettes or tobacco may have on someone.

Students will be able to list at least ten risks associated with cigarettes and tobacco
including risks from second hand smoke.

Students will describe different strategies to avoid cigarettes/tobacco and its usage
Content:
Teacher will begin class by having a discussion about why different students may decide
to experiment with drugs. The teacher than will transition the discussion to what the students
may know about cigarettes and tobacco. Throughout class students will be broken up into groups
for different activities. Different teaching methods will be used throughout the class including
lecture discussion, brainstorming, and smaller group discussions collaborating activities. They
will learn about history, facts, and risks of cigarettes and other tobacco products as well as
second hand smoke, media, and peer pressure. The class will always be open for discussion and
questions even during the lecture portion of class. There will be visuals and group work.
Students will practice communication and creativity through group work and final project.
Teacher will use the guided discovery method by asking questions throughout the day’s lesson so
that by the end of class students will have thought of their own answers to the activities. For
example, at the beginning of class students stated “facts” they heard and why students do or
don’t do drugs. At the end of class they will be given the option to re-state or change what they
had originally stated according to what they have discovered through discussion, research, and
lecture. The students will be encouraged to use the resources they are given for their projects, to
learn more or to answer any further questions they may have.
Materials:

paper for each student to cut out a t shirt shape

scissors, glue, thumbtacks, and tape

Magazines/Newspapers/pictures

Clothespins and clothesline or string

Marker for board and eraser

Each student is expected to bring textbook, notebook, and utensil to class
every day

Power point and notes for lecture, timeline, and printed pictures

Handout of facts
Activity/Procedure:
As a warm up students will start class with a discussion giving ideas on reasons why
students may or may not do drugs. The teacher will write these ideas down as visual for the
students on the board. One side of the board will list reasons why students do drugs and the
others side will list why students don’t do drugs. The teacher will than ask students what they
know or have heard about cigarettes and tobacco while discussing some of students ‘facts’ the
teacher will write them down on the board. The teacher will than split the class into groups of 3
or 4 by playing an activity. All the students have to stand up and move around the room, when
the teacher calls out a number, students have to group up with that amount of class mates. The
teacher will do this a few times before calling out the number she wants them to be grouped in.
Each group will be told to find one thing they did not know about cigarettes and tobacco
products from a specific website the teacher will provide. Each group will be given a different
website. They will be given five minutes to find this piece of information and they then will go
back to the board and look at the ‘facts’ the students mentioned and what the real facts are. The
teacher will compare these facts on the board. The teacher will give the class as a whole some
facts he or she finds important. Some of these facts may include:

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of disease, disability, and death in the
United States. (www.drugabuse.gov)

Exposure to secondhand smoke can cause serious diseases and death. Each year, an
estimated 126 million Americans are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke and
almost 50 thousand nonsmokers die from diseases caused by secondhand smoke
exposure. (www.drugabuse.gov)

Cigarettes and other forms of tobacco—including cigars, pipe tobacco, snuff, and
chewing tobacco—contain the addictive drug nicotine. Nicotine is readily absorbed
into the bloodstream when a tobacco product is chewed, inhaled, or smoked.
(www.drugabuse.gov)

Like heroin or other addictive drugs, the body and mind quickly become so used to
the nicotine in cigarettes that a person needs to have it just to feel normal.
(www.kidshealth.org)

Nicotine is both a stimulant and a depressant. That means it increases the heart rate at
first and makes people feel more alert (like caffeine, another stimulant). Then it
causes depression and fatigue. The depression, fatigue and other withdrawal
symptoms is what makes people crave another cigarette to perk up again.
(www.kidshealth.org)

Statistics show that about 9 out of 10 tobacco users’ start before they're 18 years old.
(www.kidshealth.org)

Many of the chemicals in cigarettes, like nicotine and cyanide, are actually poisons
that can kill you in high enough doses.( www.kidshealth.org)

First-time smokers often feel pain or burning in the throat and lungs, and some people
feel sick or even throw up the first few times they try tobacco. This is your body’s
defense mechanism against the poison. (www.kidshealth.org)

Tobacco smoke is a complex mixture of chemicals such as carbon monoxide, tar,
formaldehyde, cyanide, and ammonia—many of which are known carcinogens.
Carbon monoxide increases the chance of cardiovascular diseases. Tar exposes the
user to an increased risk of lung cancer, emphysema, and bronchial disorders.
(www.drugabuse.gov)

In the United States, smoking is responsible for about 1 out of 5
deaths.(www.kidshealth.org)

Cigarette smoking accounts for about one-third of all cancers, including 90 percent of
lung cancer cases. Smokeless tobacco (such as chewing tobacco and snuff) also
increases the risk of cancer, especially oral cancers. In addition to cancer, smoking
causes lung diseases such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and increases the
risk of heart disease, including stroke, heart attack, vascular disease, and aneurysm.
(www.kidshealth.org)

Smoking has also been linked to leukemia, cataracts, and pneumonia.
(www.drugabuse.gov)

On average, adults who smoke die 14 years earlier than nonsmokers.
(www.drugabuse.gov)

All forms of tobacco — cigarettes, pipes, cigars, hookahs, and smokeless tobacco —
are hazardous. It doesn't help to substitute products that seem like they're better for
you than regular cigarettes, such as e-cigarettes or filtered or low-tar cigarettes.
(www.kidshealth.org)

Some withdraw symptoms include: irritability, attention difficulties, sleep
disturbances, increased appetite, powerful cravings for tobacco, headaches or
stomachaches, jumpiness, depression, lack of energy, and dry mouth or sore throat.
Eventually these side effects pass, so those trying to quite don’t give up.
(www.drugabuse.gov, www.kidshealth.org )

Pregnant women who smoke cigarettes run an increased risk of miscarriage, stillborn
or premature infants, or infants with low birth weight. Maternal smoking may also be
associated with learning and behavioral problems in children. (www.drugabuse.gov)

Current smoking rates among 8th- and 12th-grade students reached an all-time low in
2009. According to the Monitoring the Future survey, 6.5 percent of 8th-graders and
20.1 percent of 12th-graders reported they had used cigarettes in the past month.
(www.drugabuse.gov) So don’t think everyone is doing it, because they are not and
you don’t have to either.
The students will than take notes from power point while the teacher tells them about the history
of cigarettes, tobacco and media in a timeline manner, other dangers and how to stay away from
falling into the use of cigarettes and other tobacco products. Some hand outs will be given during
lecture discussion so students can study them at home. Handouts will include time line, graphs,
and facts sheet. The teacher will show the students a picture of a person before smoking and a
picture of the same person after smoking for twenty years. The teacher will show another picture
of a healthy lung and a smoker’s lung (www.kidshealth.org). Discussion will be lead back to
why students do and don’t do drugs, the facts of why adolescents may fall into the peer pressure
and how they can personally be prepared themselves. Students will be given opportunity within
this discussion to ask questions and give their own experiences or stories. The students will have
the option to re-state or change the “facts” and reasons students do and don’t do drugs that they
had originally had on the board. This will allow for the teacher to know whether to provide more
questions and resources for the inaccurate “facts” so the students reach the correct information.
The last twenty minutes of class the students will cut out words and pictures from magazines to
paste on t-shirt cut-outs. They will have to create sayings and slogans with words and pictures
that promote healthy cigarette and other tobacco product choices. The teacher will provide an
example that says, “pack of cigarettes $5.86, chemotherapy- thousands, never startingPRICELESS”. After students have shared their t-shirts with the class, Teacher will hang them
from clothesline or string across the room or on top of board in front of the room. For homework
students will be asked to create an anti- smoking brochure. It has to be neat and persuasive on the
dangers and consequences of smoking and or other tobacco products. Must include
reasons/consequences and pictures/graphics/visuals to encourage their peers not to smoke or use
tobacco products. Homework will be due the following week.
Evaluation:
Throughout the discussions and through the project the teacher can evaluate how the
students respond to the information and whether they have learned anything. In discussion she
can learn a lot from their responses to her questions and facts. Students will be given opportunity
to share personal experiences with peer pressure and how they overcome it. The teacher can see
by the student’s faces whether they enjoyed the lesson and can evaluate their project and
homework. Homework requirements include: 5 or more consequences/ reasons not to smoke, 3
or more pictures/graphics/visual, colorful/neat, 3 or more facts about smoking, and at least one
resource for peers who want to quit or learn more. Point is to persuade peers to not start or to quit
smoking/using tobacco products. Teacher will also have a few lessons following this one on the
same topic, assessment will continue through these lessons.
Alternative Plan:
Teacher will be prepared with notes for lecture and handouts that outline her lecture so
students can follow along or if they need help. All other activities she will be supplying materials
and technology won’t be necessary. A time line will be provided with history and effects of
media as visual for students along with the pictures of the healthy lung and smokers lung and the
before and after picture of a person.
Anticipated Questions:

“Can you become addicted to cigarettes after using once?” – Yes, tobacco contains
nicotine, which is highly addictive. Like heroin or other addictive drugs, the body and
mind quickly become so used to the nicotine in cigarettes that a person needs to have
it just to feel normal. Most adults who started smoking in their teens never expected
to become addicted. That's why people say it's just so much easier to not start
smoking at all. (www.kidshealth.org )

“A friend of mine smokes, how can I get them to stop?” – You can’t make someone
stop but you can love and support them by talking with them about it and teaching
them some facts you learned today. You can get more information from websites like
www.drugabuse.com and find places in which they can receive help in the process of
quitting. If your friend is underage and needs help it is best to talk to an adult.
References:
1. Borba, Michele. "Peer Pressure." The Big Book of Parenting Solutions: 101
Answers to Your Everyday Challenges and Wildest Worries. San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass, 2009. Education.com | An Education & Child Development Site for
Parents | Parenting & Educational Resource. Web. 01 Nov. 2011.
http://www.education.com/reference/article/peer-pressure1/?page=2
2. Comprehensive Health and Physical Education (2006) Retrieved from New
Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards Web site:
http://education.state.nj.us/cccs/
3. Monitoring the Future Survey (2009). Retrieved from the National Institute on
Drug Abuse web site: http://www.drugabuse.gov/infofacts/tobacco.html
4. Nordtvedt, Matilda. A Healthier You. Pensacola: A Beka Book Publications,
1989
5. "Questions About Smoking, Tobacco, and Health." American Cancer Society ::
Information and Resources for Cancer: Breast, Colon, Prostate, Lung and Other
Forms. Web.
http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/CancerCauses/TobaccoCancer/QuestionsaboutSmo
kingTobaccoandHealth/questions-about-smoking-tobacco-and-health-intro-andbackground
6. "Smoking." KidsHealth - the Web's Most Visited Site about Children's Health.
Mar. 2010. Web. 7 Oct. 2011.
http://kidshealth.org/teen/drug_alcohol/tobacco/smoking.html#
7. The Sara Bellum Blog. Snus- You? Retrieved from National Institute on Drug
Abuse web site: http://www.drugabuse.gov/infofacts/tobacco.html