Content Area: Health and Physical Education
Index: 2.3C Grade 8 CPI 5
Standard: 2.3 - Drugs & Medicine
Strand: C - Dependency/Addiction and Treatment
Cumulative Progress Indicator: 5 - The student will discuss how tolerance,
synergistic effects, and antagonistic effects have an impact on the use of
drugs and medicines.
Grade: 8
Sample Activities:
· COMBINED
OR MULTIPLE EFFECTS - Introduce the concept of a synergistic effect.
Use examples to show students how certain substances,
when taken in combination with others, enhance or multiply the effects of the
original substance. As an example, a person who drinks alcohol and then takes a
sleeping pill will receive a much greater effect than each of these drugs
individually can produce (because both are depressants). To clarify, instead of
a simple math problem like 1+1=2, tell students that in situations like this one
1+1=3. Another way to demonstrate this concept is to pour one cup of water into
a large glass container. Then pour another cup of water and observe the water
level. Explain that one cup of water plus one cup of water produced two cups of
water in the glass container. Then place one cup of vinegar in a glass. Take two
tablespoons of baking soda and dissolve it in one cup of water. Tell students
that one glass represents alcohol and the other represents sleeping pills. Refer
to the previous demonstration using the two cups of water. Ask students to
predict what might happen when you mix the vinegar and baking soda solutions.
Make sure you have the cups over a sink or bowl. Add the glass of water with the
baking soda to the glass of vinegar. The ingredients should overflow. In this
case, one plus one did not equal two. Discuss the experiment as an example of
synergistic effect.
Variation: Introduce the concept of half-life. Explain that some drugs stay in
blood and body tissues long after the person feels any physical effects.
Emphasize that the drug may still be present in sufficient amounts to cause
problems if a second drug is taken. Students research the half-life of several
drugs (e.g., marijuana, cocaine, heroin) and predict the expected results from a
drug-screening test at various times after use (e.g., one day, one week, one
month).
Variation: Show a list of ingredients from several common medicines. Some of the
labels may also contain warnings not to mix the medicine with another medicines
or alcohol. Point out that alcohol, as a depressant, will synergize or enhance
the effects of any other depressant drug taken (e.g., sedatives, tranquilizers).
Develop a series of cards, each with the name of a prescription medicine on it.
(Use medicines familiar to students such as penicillin, Ventolin, or Ritalin.)
Divide the class into small groups, and give each group several cards. Give each
group scenarios describing individuals mixing one or more drugs. Students decide
if the drug noted on the card would cause problems if combined with the
substance noted in the scenario. Students list alternatives to taking another
medication (e.g., sucking on hard candy for a cough, drinking juice instead of
alcoholic punch, drinking herbal or peppermint tea). Reconvene the class and
discuss each situation. Sample situations are listed below.
SAMPLE SITUATIONS: SYNERGISTIC EFFECTS
- A
person is at a New Year’s Eve party and wants to drink champagne to celebrate.
- A
person takes a prescription cough medicine containing codeine and an aspirin for
a headache.
- A
person takes an over-the-counter antihistamine for allergies and drinks a beer.
- A
person just had dental work, is taking a prescribed narcotic painkiller, and
needs to take an allergy pill.
- A
person drank at least five cups of coffee or soda containing caffeine and wants
to take a sleeping pill.
