TOBACCO TUG OF HEART
Kathy Kne
Alliance of the Greater Cleveland Dental Society
Equipment needed:

1 rope at least 20 feet long (or longer) – rope should be suitable for tug of war

2 placards made out of poster board for each of the following words. Attach the 2
with string so they can be worn by students like a sandwich board (or use lighterweight placards attached to their clothes with masking tape). They will be labeled on
the outside with the word and on the inside with the description of each.
o Lungs: Oxygen comes into our bodies to our lungs and from the lungs it
goes to the rest of the body. The lungs also get rid of waste, which is
carbon dioxide. Smoking causes lung disease and cancer. It causes
shortness of breath. We could not be active if our lungs were clogged with
tar. We would be very tired and feel like we were suffocating. It would
feel very scary.
o Heart: The heart pumps blood to our brain and all over our body. Blood
takes oxygen from our lungs and sends it to our brain, muscles, and every
cell in our body. If our heart is healthy we have energy and we can play
sports. Tobacco makes our heart work harder. Tobacco causes the heart to
beat faster. It makes blood vessels narrow so our body doesn’t get all the
blood and oxygen it needs. It raises blood pressure. It causes heart
disease, heart attacks, and strokes.
o Oxygen: We get oxygen from the air we breathe. Oxygen in our brain
helps us think clearly. Oxygen feeds all the cells in our body. Without
oxygen, we would die! Carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke takes the
place of oxygen in our blood. It makes us very ill and can kill us.
o Mouth: A healthy mouth keeps the rest of our body healthy. If we get
cavities, toothaches, and gum disease, we can’t eat well and the rest of our
body suffers. An infection that starts in the mouth can go to the heart and
kill the person. Tobacco causes cancer of the mouth, tongue, and throat.
These cancers can kill and treatment for them disfigures the head and
neck. Tobacco causes stained teeth and bad breath.

1 placard made out of poster board for each of the following words. Attach a
string to each placard so it can be worn around the neck by students (or use lighterweight placards attached to their clothes with masking tape). Label on the outside
with one of the following words and on the inside with the description. Stress that
this is not an entire list of the chemicals found in cigarettes, cigars, and spit tobacco.
There are many more chemicals.
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Hydrogen Cyanide: A poison used to kill people in the gas chamber
Cadmium: A chemical found in batteries
Ammonia: Found in toilet bowl cleaners and other household cleaners
Nitrosamines: Just one of 12 known cancer causing chemicals in
tobacco. Spit tobacco has 1,000 times as much of these as cigarettes.
Formaldehyde: Used to preserve dead bodies. Embalming fluid.
Lead: Nerve poison that causes damage to the brain and nervous system
Tar: Found in asphalt. Roads are paved with it. Tar stains teeth and
fingers. It builds up in the lungs so we can’t breathe as well.
Nicotine: Very addictive. A person who is addicted to nicotine has to
have more and more of it or they become ill. Nicotine is used to kill
insects.
Methane: Also known as swamp gas
Methanol: Found in rocket fuel
Butane: Found in cigarette lighters
Polonium 210: Is nuclear waste
Grit and Sugar: Both are found in chewing tobacco. Grit breaks down
the enamel of the teeth and causes gums to pull away from teeth. Teeth
fall out as a result. Sugar causes tooth decay.
Carbon Monoxide: Found in car exhaust. Would you suck on the
tailpipe of a car?
Arsenic: Found in rat poison
Acetone: Found in nail polish remover
How to play the game:
1.
Ideally, as students come up to take one of the placards and take their place on
the rope, they should each read what’s written on the placard they will be
wearing. Sometimes, if the room is large or the students are younger, they
either can’t read very fast or can’t be heard well enough. If time is a factor or
a large room means they won’t be heard, you may read the placard before
placing it around the student’s neck. I prefer that the single placards be worn
on the back of the student rather than hang in front.
2.
Recruit 2 students: One will be Heart and the other will be Lungs. They will
read what is on the back of the placards, put the correct placards on and then
take one end of the rope together.
3.
Ask the other students to tell you the element that we all need to breathe in
order to stay alive. Have the student who answers correctly, read about
Oxygen, wear the Oxygen placard and take the other end of the rope.
4.
Instruct the 3 to gently pull the rope back and forth. Ask them to describe
whether it was easy or hard to do. It will be easy – the heart and lungs both
benefit from oxygen. When the body is healthy, it functions without any
problems.
5.
Ask the remaining students to name the harmful ingredients found in tobacco.
Ask for the one that causes addiction in the first place – nicotine – and show
that with oxygen and nicotine on one side and Heart and Lung on the other,
there is still a good give and take occurring and Heart and Lung don’t have to
struggle very hard yet. But, stress that nicotine isn’t alone. It brings along its
friends and they make it even harder for Heart and Lung to function well. As
each ingredient is called out, have that student read about the ingredient, put
on the corresponding placard and then take his/her place on the end of the
rope in front of Oxygen. Instruct the students to pull on the rope (tug of war)
as each additional student takes his/her place. Ask Heart and Lung to tell
everyone just how much more difficult their efforts are. Note that Oxygen is
being pushed further and further back as these harmful chemicals move in and
take over the body. Heart and Lung are further away from Oxygen and it
becomes harder and harder to breathe and pump blood.
6.
Continue until all of the placards are used up. By this time, you will have
covered most of the harmful ingredients in tobacco.
Ask the students:
 “Heart and Lungs, how did you feel as each harmful ingredient was
added?”
 “What happened to Oxygen?”
 “How will this demonstration affect your decision on whether or not you
will use tobacco?”
Additional optional teaching technique:
7.
8.
Before beginning the exercise, have each student take his/her own resting
pulse and respiratory rate and record the rates on a piece of paper.
At the conclusion of the tug of war, have students drop the rope and quickly
take their pulse and respiratory rate. Compare these rates with the rates taken
before they began the tug of war.
Ask the students:
 “What happened to your pulse and respiratory rates?”
 “What happened to the pulse and respiratory rates of the students who
were the Heart and Lungs?”
 “Why do you think our heart and respiratory rates increased? What was
the cause?”
 “What effect did this have on us?”
 “What if your heart and lungs were always working this hard?”
 “What effect would a fast heart rate and shortness of breath have on your
ability to play sports; play a musical instrument like a clarinet, saxophone,
trumpet, or trombone; or climb stairs?”