Directions: For this assignment, you are going to create a short public service announcement (PSA) about the effect of a drug on human body systems. You will be working individually or in partners, and each person/partners will be assigned a different drug. In your presentation you will need to explain the following:
- What the drug is.
- What body systems it affects.
- How it affects those body systems.
- This should include specifics about the biology of the drug and the body system.
- Ex: “Strychnine affects the nervous system” isn’t specific enough, whereas “Strychnine acts as a competitive inhibitor of the neurotransmitter glycine” would be better.
- Go into detail here! You are not just discussing the drug, you are also showing your knowledge of body systems.
- Treatments for the effects of the drug on the system and how those treatments work.
- Long term effects of the drug on the body and why these long term effects occur.
- Useful and informative graphs and statistics related to the drug, drug use, drug dependence, drug treatment, etc.
Your PSA should be short (approximately 5 minutes), and it must include visuals (presentation or video) but NO TEXT, ONLY IMAGES. You should explain all of the information orally, using notecards but no script. You will be given a drug from the list below, or you can choose a different drug that interests you but is not on the list.
Drug Choices (Examples from last year)
- Marijuana
- Cocaine
- Caffeine
- Methamphetamines
- Nicotine
- Alcohol
- LSD
- Ecstasy
- Anabolic steroids
- Ketamine
- Valium/Other depressant
- Heroin
- Ritalin
- Prozac/Other antidepressant
- Mushrooms
- Rohypnol
Remember: All of your sources, images, graphs, etc. need to be properly cited, and you should have at least 4 sources (not including images). The only text in your presentation/video should be a title page and a Works Cited page.
Assessment: DP Drug & Body Systems PSA Rubric