NIH Curriculum
Understanding
Supplement Series
Alcohol:
Grades 7-8
Investigations into
Biology and
National Institutes
Behavior
of Health
National Institute
on Alcohol Abuse
and Alcoholism
Department of Health
and Human Services
Understanding Alcohol:
Investigations into
Investigations into
Biology and Behavior
under a contract from the
National Institutes of Health
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
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Colorado Springs, Colorado 80918
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Institutes of Health
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Dorothea E. deZafra, Science Education Program Manager, National Salvador Bru, Medical Arts and Photography Branch, National
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Institutes of Health
Roger W. Hartman, Public Health Analyst, NIAAA
FIGURE CREDITS
Jason Lazarow, Science Education Coordinator, NIAAA
Teacher Background
Bruce Fuchs, Director, Office of Science Education
1, 2, 13: Corel; 3, 7: PhotoDisc; 9, 10, 11, 12: Courtesy of National William Mowczko, Project Officer, Office of Science Education
Institute on Drug Abuse; 14: U.S. Department of Health and Human Bonnie Kalberer, Senior Program Analyst, Office of Science Education Services. 1997. Tenth Special Report to the U.S. Congress on Alcohol Cindy Allen, Editor, Office of Science Education
and Health (pp. 1–66). Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Alcohol Mary Dufour, Deputy Director, NIAAA
Abuse and Alcoholism; 15: © Draeger Safety, Inc. – Breathalyzer®
Brenda Hewitt, Special Assistant to Director, NIAAA
Division.
William Lands, Senior Scientific Advisor, NIAAA
Lesson 1
Outside Reviewer
1.2, 1.3c: PhotoDisc; 1.3a: Digital Stock; 1.3b: Comstock.
Mary E. McCaul, Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Lesson 2
Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
2.1: PhotoDisc.
Lesson 3
Advisory Committee
Master 3.1, Master 3.4, Master 3.8: SAIC.
V. Gene Erwin, University of Colorado Alcohol Research Center, Lesson 4
Boulder, Colorado
4.1: Comstock.
Jeff Marshall, Irving Middle School, Colorado Springs, Colorado Lesson 5
Marcia Rubin, American School Health Association, Kent, Ohio
Master 5.1: Tables are adapted from those of the National Clearing-Robert Voas, Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, Calverton, house for Alcohol and Drug Information.
Maryland
Lesson 6
Robert A. Zucker, University of Michigan Alcohol Research Center, 6.1: PhotoDisc; Master 6.2 (graph): Zador, P., Krawchuk, S.A., and Ann Arbor, Michigan
Voas, R.B. 2000. Alcohol-related relative risk of driver fatalities and Writing Team
driver involvement in fatal crashes in relation to driver age and gen-William Boggan, Center for Drug and Alcohol Programs, Medical
der: An update using 1996 data. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 61: University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
387–395; Master 6.2 (pie chart): U.S. Department of Health and Ed Drexler, Pius XI High School, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Human Services. 1997. Tenth Special Report to the U.S. Congress on V. Gene Erwin, University of Colorado Alcohol Research Center, Alcohol and Health (pp. 1–66). Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Boulder, Colorado
Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Jeff Marshall, Irving Middle School, Colorado Springs, Colorado This material is based on work supported by the National Institutes Greg Nichols, New Options Middle School, Seattle, Washington
of Health under Contract No. 263-99-C-0031. Any opinions, find-John Olney, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri
ings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication Field-Test Teachers
are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of Cassie Cox, Moundsville Junior High School, Moundsville, West
the funding agency.
Virginia
Copyright © 2003 by BSCS. All rights reserved. You have the per-Claireen Espinoza, Taos Day School, Taos, New Mexico
mission of BSCS to reproduce items in this module for your class-Joel Maier, New Options Middle School, Seattle, Washington
room use. The copyright on this module, however, does not cover Marguerite Nunnally, Woodward Academy Middle School, College
reproduction of these items for any other use. For permissions and Park, Georgia
other rights under this copyright, please contact BSCS, 5415 Mark Samantha Douglass, Woodward Academy Middle School, College
Dabling Blvd., Colorado Springs, CO 80918-3842; www.bscs.org;
Park, Georgia
info@bscs.org; (719) 531-5550.
Nichole Law, Woodward Academy Middle School, College Park,
Georgia
NIH Publication No. 04-4991
Anne O’Connell, Woodward Academy Middle School, College Park,
ISBN: 1-929614-09-8
Georgia
Contents
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v About the National Institutes of Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii About the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix Introduction to Understanding Alcohol: Investigations into Biology and Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
• What Are the Objectives of the Module?
• Why Teach the Module?
• What’s in It for the Teacher?
Implementing the Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
• What Are the Goals of the Module?
• What Are the Science Concepts and How Are They Connected?
• How Does the Module Correlate to the National Science Education Standards?
– Content Standards: Grades 5–8
– Teaching Standards
– Assessment Standards
• How Does the 5E Instructional Model Promote Active, Collaborative, Inquiry-Based Learning?
– Engage
– Explore
– Explain
– Elaborate
– Evaluate
• How Does the Module Support Ongoing Assessment?
• How Can Teachers Promote Safety in the Science Classroom?
• How Can Controversial Topics Be Handled in the Classroom?
Using the Student Lessons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
• Format of the Lessons
• Timeline for the Module
Using the Web Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
• Hardware/Software Requirements
• Getting the Most out of the Web Site
• Collaborative Groups
• Web Activities for Students with Disabilities
Information about Alcohol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
2 Alcohol Use, Abuse, and Alcoholism: Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3 Misconceptions about Alcohol Use, Abuse, and Alcoholism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4 Animals as Research Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5 Alcohol: Pharmacokinetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5.1 Absorption and distribution of alcohol in the body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
5.2 Measurement of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
5.3
Factors affecting alcohol absorption and elimination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
5.4
Alcohol metabolism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
6 Alcohol: Biological Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
6.1
Alcohol and the brain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
6.2
Alcohol and body systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
7 Alcohol: Behavioral Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
8 Alcoholism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
8.1
Signs of a problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
8.2
Alcoholism and genetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
8.3
Alcoholism treatments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
9 Alcohol and Youth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
10 Consequences of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
10.1 The costs to society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
10.2 Drinking and driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
10.3 Drinking and risky behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
10.4 Drinking and pregnancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
10.5 Drinking and violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Student Lessons
• Lesson 1
Alcohol: Separating Fact from Fiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
• Lesson 2
A Drink Is a Drink, but People Are Different . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
• Lesson 3
Responding to Alcohol: What’s Important? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
• Lesson 4
Alcohol Use, Abuse, and Alcoholism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
• Lesson 5
Alcohol and Driving: When to Say No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
• Lesson 6
Using Alcohol: Setting Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Additional Web Resources for Teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Appendices
I. More About the National Institutes of Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
II. More About the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and Its Science Education Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Foreword
This curriculum supplement, from The NIH Cur-
built-in assessment tools. Activities promote
riculum Supplement Series, brings cutting-edge
active and collaborative learning and are inquiry-
medical science and basic research discoveries
based to help students develop problem-solving
from the laboratories of the National Institutes of
strategies and critical thinking.
Health (NIH) into classrooms. As the largest
Each curriculum supplement comes with a com-
medical research institution in the United States,
plete set of materials for both teachers and stu-
NIH plays a vital role in the health of all Ameri-
dents including printed materials, extensive
cans and seeks to foster interest in research, sci-
background and resource information, and a Web
ence, and medicine-related careers for future
site with interactive activities. These supplements
generations. The NIH Office of Science Education
are distributed at no cost to teachers across the
(OSE) is dedicated to promoting science educa-
United States. All materials may be copied for
tion and scientific literacy.
classroom use but may not be sold. We welcome
We designed this curriculum supplement to com-
feedback from our users. For a complete list of
plement existing life science curricula at both the
curriculum supplements, updates, availability,
state and local levels and to be consistent with
and ordering information, or to submit feedback,
National Science Education Standards. It was devel-
please visit our Web site at http://science.education.
oped and tested by a team composed of teachers
nih.gov or write to
from across the country, scientists, medical
Curriculum Supplement Series
experts, other professionals with relevant subject-
Office of Science Education
area expertise from institutes and medical schools
National Institutes of Health
across the country, representatives from the NIH
6705 Rockledge Dr., Suite 700 MSC 7984
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alco-
Bethesda, MD 20892-7984
holism (NIAAA), and curriculum-design experts
We appreciate the valuable contributions of the
from Biological Sciences Curriculum Study
talented staff at BSCS, SAIC, and Edge Interactive.
(BSCS), SAIC, and Edge Interactive. The authors
We are also grateful to the NIH scientists, advi-
incorporated real scientific data and actual case
sors, and all other participating professionals for
studies into classroom activities. A three-year
their work and dedication. Finally, we thank the
development process included geographically dis-
teachers and students who participated in focus
persed field tests by teachers and students.
groups and field tests to ensure that these supple-
The structure of this module enables teachers to
ments are both engaging and effective. I hope you
effectively facilitate learning and stimulate student
find our series a valuable addition to your class-
interest by applying scientific concepts to real-life
room and wish you a productive school year.
scenarios. Design elements include a conceptual
Bruce A. Fuchs, Ph.D.
flow of lessons based on BSCS’s 5E Instructional
Director
Model of Learning, multisubject integration
Office of Science Education
emphasizing cutting-edge science content, and
National Institutes of Health
________________________
1 In 1996, the National Academy of Sciences released the National Science Education Standards, which outlines what all citizens should understand about science by the time they graduate from high school. The Standards encourages teachers to select major science concepts that empower students to use information to solve problems rather than stressing memoriza-tion of unrelated information.
v
About the National
out the National
Institutes of Health
Founded in 1887, the National Institutes of
designed to ensure a continuing supply of well-
Health (NIH) today is the federal focal point for
trained scientists.
medical research in the United States. Composed
• Research Facilities Program. Modernizing and
of separate institutes and centers, NIH is one of
improving intramural and extramural research
eight health agencies of the Public Health Service
facilities to ensure that the nation’s scientists
within the U.S. Department of Health and Human
have adequate facilities in which to conduct
Services. The NIH mission is to uncover new
their work.
knowledge about the prevention, detection, diag-
nosis, and treatment of disease and disability, from
Science education efforts by NIH and its institutes
the rarest genetic disorder to the common cold. It
and centers are critical in ensuring the continued
does this through
supply of well-trained basic research and clinical
• Research. Enhancing research outcomes across
investigators, as well as the myriad professionals
the medical research continuum by supporting
in the many allied disciplines who support the
research in NIH’s own intramural laboratories as
research enterprise. These efforts also help edu-
well as the research of nonfederal scientists
cate people about the scientific results so that they
working in universities, medical schools, hospi-
can make informed decisions about their own
tals, and research institutions throughout the
health as well as the health of the public.
country and abroad; communicating scientific
results; promoting the efficient transfer of new
This curriculum supplement is one such science
drugs and other technologies; and providing
education effort, done through the partnership of
effective research leadership and administration.
the NIH National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and
• Research Training and Career Development Pro-
Alcoholism, the NIH Office of Science Education,
gram. Supporting research training and outreach
and Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS).
vii
About the National Institute on
Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and
• conducting policy studies that have broad impli-
Alcoholism (NIAAA) supports and conducts bio-
cations for alcohol-problem prevention, treat-
medical and behavioral research on the causes,
ment, and rehabilitation activities;
consequences, treatment, and prevention of alco-
• conducting epidemiological studies such as
holism and alcohol-related problems. NIAAA also
national and community surveys to assess risks
provides leadership in the national effort to
for and magnitude of alcohol-related problems
reduce the severe and often fatal consequences of
among various population groups;
these problems by
• collaborating with other research institutes and
• conducting and supporting research directed at
federal programs relevant to alcohol abuse and
determining the cause of alcoholism, discovering
alcoholism and providing coordination for fed-
how alcohol damages the organs of the body, and
eral alcohol-abuse and alcoholism activities;
developing prevention and treatment strategies for
• maintaining continuing relationships with insti-
application in the nation’s healthcare system;
tutions and professional associations; interna-
• supporting and conducting research across a
tional, national, state, and local officials; and
wide range of scientific areas including genetics,
voluntary agencies and organizations engaged
neuroscience, medical consequences, medica-
in alcohol-related work; and
tion development, prevention, and treatment
• disseminating research findings to healthcare
through the award of grants and within the
providers, researchers, policymakers, and the
NIAAA intramural research program;
public.
ix