In a Puff of Smoke - Taking Action

In a Puff of Smoke:
Taking Action

The intent of this activity is to engage students in projects that will demonstrate their knowledge of cancer issues related to smoking, and contribute to their becoming activists for good health in their school and community.

The way you organize students depends on what level of involvement you want each student to have. Individual projects maximize involvement, but in larger class settings this may be difficult to manage. The more individual projects you require, the more varied the assignments need to be. Small teams may be most appropriate. If a class wished to coordinate the smaller projects into a cohesive effort, allow the class to decide on its organization.

A suggested means of evaluating student work, if you choose to do so, might be in a holistic way with these guidelines given, of course, to students in advance.

Appropriate choice of topic: 10 points
Coordinated and equitable team work: 15 points
Accuracy of information: 15
Style and appeal of the message: 10 points

When students use community resources for any school assignment, it is a good idea to inform relevant agencies well in advance of the assignment. Libraries, social service agencies, and local branches of national organizations are usually more than willing to become school allies given proper notice and attention. A telephone call or letter to such agencies goes a long way to ensuring their cooperation, particularly if you give the same assignment a second year.
Agencies that can give you more ideas

American Lung Association
1740 Broadway, 14th Floor
New York, NY 10019
212-315-8700
www.tobacco.org/Resources/tobsites.html

American Cancer Society
1599 Clifton Rd. NE
Atlanta, GA 30329
404-320-3333
www.ca.cancer.org/
American Heart Association
7272 Greenville Avenue
Dallas, TX 75231
800-AHA-USA1
www.americanheart.org/

For more information, at other Web Sites...

Programs that Work — from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Reducing Tobacco Use Among Youth: Community-Based Approaches — from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Resource Focus School Drug Education Project — from the School Drug Education Project, Western Australia.
Save Your Breath, America! — from the National Lung Health Education Program.
Tobacco-Related Internet Resources — a collection of links to on-line resources from the antismoking group Tobacco.org.
Women and Tobacco — from the American Lung Association of Washington.

Relevant National Science Education Standards

Science in Personal and Social Perspectives — The activity focuses on a personal health issue, smoking cessation.

Relevant New Jersey State Science Education Standards

5.5 The activity summarizes the benefits of a basic human biological need, healthy lungs.

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