Challenge Activity
Drug Source Challenge

Aspirin was inspired by a substance found in willow trees and other plants. Most modern drugs are not plant products, or even derivatives of plant products. But many drugs are derived from plant sources. In this activity we're going to play a little game to help you get to know some of the plant-derived drugs out there.

Here's how the game works:

Your teacher is going to divide the class into two halves. Then your teacher is going to give every student in one half the name of a drug, and each student in the other half the name of a plant (or fungus in some cases). If you receive a drug name, your challenge is find out from which plant it is derived and to find the student who was given the name of that plant. If you receive a plant name, your challenge is to find out what drug is derived from your plant, and to find the person who was given the name of that drug.

When you have found your partner, the two of you face a new challenge: you two are to research the drug and answer the questions below. Here's a hint: a good place to look for information is RxList - the Internet Drug Index.

1. What is the drug used for?

2. What are some unpleasant side effects of the drug?

Bonus question!

3. Draw the molecular structure of the drug.