Health Education Lesson Plan: Tobacco

Descriptive Information
Skill Emphasis (NHES): Interpersonal Communication (IC)
Grade Level: 6th
Content Area of Health: Tobacco Use Prevention
Content Descriptor & Sub-Descriptor(s):
1. Short-Term and Long-Term Risks of Tobacco Use
1.1
addictive effects of nicotine
1.2
short-term effects of tobacco use
1.3
harmful effects of tobacco use
1.4
risks of different types of tobacco
2. Influences on Tobacco Use
2.1
Internal influences
2.2
Family influences
2.3
peer influences
3. Choosing to be Tobacco Free
3.1
How to make a personal commitment not to use
3.2
Strategies to resist peer pressure to use
3.5
Ways to support others to be tobacco free
3.7
Healthful alternative to tobacco use
3.8
Resources to quit using tobacco products
3.9
The difficulty of stopping tobacco use
Title of Lesson: All About Tobacco
PA Standard (Health & PE): 10.1.6.E. and 10.2.6.E.
Curricular Connections: N/A
Adolescent Risk Behavior (if applicable): tobacco use
Behavioral Objective(s)
Cognitive: Students will be able to identity and use various refusal skills when asked to
smoke a cigarette.
Cognitive: Students will be able to determine various health problems smoking can cause
as well as how many chemicals are in one cigarette.

Affective: Students will value other classmates opinions, stories, and comments about
smoking.
Skill-Based: shows progression through a decision-making process
- identifies the decisions to be made
- considers the options and consequences
Brief Outline of Todays Lesson
1. Bell Ringer: Why do people smoke?
2. Introduction to the Lesson
3. Content & Instructional Strategies
Tobacco
Facts
Costs
Health effects
Who it affects
4. In-Class Learning Activity
5. Final Thoughts/Conclusion to the Lesson
6. Classroom Management & Materials
Expanded Outline of Todays Lesson
1.Introduction to the Lesson (Set Induction): Hello boys and girls. Today we will be
continuing our lesson on tobacco. I will hand back your drugs, medicines, and tobacco
quizzes before the end of class. If you have any questions about your quiz score, you can
ask me after class. We will learn some refusal skills that you may have to use in your life,
complete a worksheet, and once you completed this sheet, I have a crossword for you all to
complete.
2.Bell Ringer (Instant Activity): My Reasons for Not Smoking
Before we start talking about ways to say, No to tobacco, I want to my students to
brainstorm why they believe people start smoking. Students should share their prior
knowledge and some students may include: peer pressure, stress, weight loss, boredom,
curiosity, etc.
3.Content &
I. Fast Facts
a.
b.
c.

Instructional Strategies:
Every 72 seconds, someone dies from a smoking related illness.
1 out of 3 smokers will eventually die from a tobacco related disease.
More people die from tobacco related illness than from AIDS, car accidents,
illegal drugs, murder and suicides combined!!!

d. The average age that someone starts smoking is 11!

e. 1 out of 4 kids gets tricked into using tobacco.
f. Most smokers started before they were 18.
g. A pack of cigarettes costs about $5.00
h. Most smokers smoke a pack of cigarettes each day.
II. Cost to smoke for 1 week
a. $35.00
b. Cost to smoke for 10 years
c. $18,250.00
III. Health effect from smoking
a. Smokers are more likely to get colds and sore throats.
b. Smokers are more likely to have pneumonia and bronchitis.
c. The tar from cigarettes stains your skin yellow.
d. Smokers get wrinkles quicker.
e. People who smoke are more likely to have thinning hair.
f. Tar from cigarettes turns teeth yellow.
g. Smokers have more cavities.
h. Smokers have bad breath and smelly clothes.
i. Smoking can cause blindness.
IV. Smokers are more likely to have strokes.
a. Smokers are more likely to have heart attacks.
b. Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the US.
c. Heart disease is the first leading cause of death in the US.
d. One puff of a cigarette increases your heartbeat by 10-24 beats per
minute.
V. Smokers have a high chance of getting emphysema.
a. Smokers have a greater chance of getting lung cancer and all other
types of cancer.
b. Most cases of emphysema and lung cancer are caused by smoking.
c. If there was no smoking there would hardly be any emphysema or lung
cancer.
d. Emphysema makes a person feel as if they are drowning. They have
severe difficulty breathing. Emphysema cannot be cured.
VI. Smoking causes problems in pregnancy.
a. Women who smoke during pregnancy have a greater chance of losing
the baby or giving birth too early.
VII. The Lowdown on Tobacco
a. Tobacco is a drug!!!
b. Nicotine is the addictive part of a cigarette.
c. Addiction is when a chemical tricks your brain into thinking it needs
more and more.

d.
e.
f.
g.

Nicotine is as addictive as cocaine or alcohol!

Breaking the smoking habit is very difficult!
There are over 4,700 chemicals in a cigarette.
They are added for many reasons but mostly to increase your
addiction to the cigarette.
h. At least 60 of these chemicals are known to cause cancer!
VIII. What is in a cigarette?
a. Chemical used to take off nail polish - Acetone
b. Chemical in car exhaust Carbon Monoxide
c. Chemical used in rat poison - Arsenic
d. Chemical used to clean floors and toilets - Ammonia
e. Chemical used to seal driveways and roofs Tar
IV. Smoking Affects us All
Tobacco smoke pollution (TSP) or second-hand smoke is just as dangerous
because it also contains 4,700 chemicals.
Spending 30 minutes in a smoke-filled room is equivalent to smoking one
cigarette.
Smoking is the #1 cause of accidental fires.
Cigarette butts are one of the biggest causes of pollution on beaches.
V. Ways to Say No Without Losing Your Friends
Be Direct
No, I dont want to.
Are you kidding? That smell makes me sick!
No way. Im getting in shape for basketball.
Change the Subject
Try talking about something else or suggesting an alternative that makes it
impossible to hold a cigarette.
Lets go play a game on my Xbox.
A Good Comeback
Forget it. Thats not my idea of fun.
No thanks. Theres rat poison in that thing
No way Im putting tar and nicotine in my mouth
Try a Joke
Do I look like a chimney?
No thanks. I have more fun when I can breathe.
Ive made a deal with my lungs I dont smoke and they keep working.
Walk Away
Ive got to get home for dinner.

Im going to be late for class.

Blame it On An Adult
My Mom is expecting me home soon.
If my Dad catches me, Ill be dead.
Its not worth the risk.
4. In-Class Learning Activity(ies):
1. Like a Broken Record- After we have discussed various refusal skills students can use
to say No to tobacco they will fill out the Like a Broken Record worksheet. This
worksheet is a place for students to record the various refusal skills onto paper. This
worksheet gives them a chance to come up with their own ways to say, No. The students
will decorate their records with markers and colored pencils.
2. Tobacco Crossword- Once students have finished their Like a Broken Record
worksheet, they will raise their hand so I can read over their worksheets. Once I have
approved of their work, they can complete the tobacco crossword worksheet.
6. Final Thoughts/Conclusion to the Lesson
Great job today boys and girls. Next class, we will be reviewing our tobacco unit. If you
have any questions about your quiz, please let me know. Remember, these refusal skills are
not just a way to say no, but it could potentially be a life saving conversation
7. Classroom Management & Materials
Classroom Materials
o Handouts/Worksheets: Like a Broken Record worksheet and
Tobacco Crossword worksheet
o

Other Materials: Tobacco Power Point

Classroom Management
o For Content Delivery: Tobacco Power Point
o

For In-Class Learning Activity: Like a Broken Record worksheet and

Tobacco Crossword worksheet

Content References
Heit, P. and Meeks, L. (2005). Health and Welness .
E.McCallion. (2014). Radnor Middle School. Health.
Activity Reference(s)
L. Purvis (2014). The Pennsylvania State University.
Appendices

See Tobacco Power Point, Like a Broken Record worksheet, and Tobacco Crossword
worksheet