How Tobacco Harms Body Systems

HEALTH EDUCATION - Lesson 17 - Week 3/8

Substance Abuse & Disease Prevention (4)

HPE Lesson Plans - Health - KHE, 1HE, 2HE, 3HE, 4HE, 5HE

Safety | Mental, Social & Emotional Health | Substance Abuse & Disease Prevention | Growing Up Healthy

Substance ABUSE & Disease Prevention

How Tobacco Harms Body Systems

See below for the following:

Standard(s), Essential Question(s), Big Idea(s)

LEARNING TARGET / SUCCESS CRITERIA

I will describe tobacco/nicotine products and the harm they cause in the body.

I will explain why some young people begin smoking and why stopping is difficult.

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PRE-INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITY

Vocabulary

tobacco - the shredded brown material in cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, and chewing tobacco that comes from the tobacco plant. All forms of tobacco contain an addictive chemical called nicotine.

nicotine - a highly addictive substance that speeds up the nervous system. Being addicted to nicotine means that it is hare stop using it.

tar - a dark, sticky material that coats the lungs and air passages of smokers. Tar buildup makes it hard for a smoker to breathe.

environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) - also known as second-hand smoke, ETS can cause the same diseases in nonsmokers as smokers. ETS comes from burning cigarettes, pipes, or cigars and from smoke that is breathed out be smokers.

OPENING (Engage)

Main Idea

Tobacco/nicotine products contain many substances that harm the body.

Why Learn This?

Understanding that tobacco is a harmful drug can help you refuse to use it.

WORK PERIOD (Explore/Explain/Extend/Elaborate)

READ: How Tobacco Harms Body Systems

Would you put garbage into a beautiful clear pond? What would you do if you found someone else pouring garbage into it? Breathing smoke into your lungs is like polluting a clear pond. When people smoke, they poison both themselves and others.

What is tobacco?

A tobacco plan is about as tall as an adult human and has big green leaves. The shredded brown material inside a cigarette, called tobacco, is made from the dried leaves of this plant.

When people light cigarettes, they breathe tobacco smoke into their lungs. Another kind of tobacco -- chewing tobacco -- comes in pouches. People who use chewing tobacco put small wads of it into their mouths.

Snuff is another tobacco/nicotine product. People put a pinch of snuff in their mouths along the gums. This is called dipping.

Chewing tobacco and snuff are forms of tobacco/nicotine that are more addicting than smoking, because each pinch contains the nicotine of two cigarettes. Also, saliva pulls more of the nicotine out of the tobacco than smoking does. The withdrawal symptoms of people quitting smokeless tobacco have been rated by users as more severe than those of alcohol withdrawal.

Tobacco products are so dangerous that the law requires them to have warning labels. the labels warn people about the health problems that tobacco can cause.

All forms of tobacco contain a chemical call nicotine. Nicotine (NIH*ku*teen) is a highly addictive substance that speeds up the nervous system. Being addicted to nicotine means that it is hard to stop using it. Tobacco users find it very hard to be without nicotine.

Nicotine is also a powerful poison. Some farmers spray their crops with nicotine. The nicotine kills insects that harm the crops. Drinking just a tablespoonful of pure nicotine can kill a person.

Tobacco smoke also contains many other harmful substances. In fact, tobacco smoke contains more than 4,000 different substances. More than 60 of those substances are known to cause cancer. Cancer is a disease in which clumps of deadly cells grow. These clumps, call tumors, harm the normal cells around them. Cancer often causes death.

Another dangerous substance in tobacco smoke is tar. Tar is a dark, sticky material that coats the lungs and air passages of smokers. Tar buildup makes it hard for a smoker to breathe.

The people who make laws know about the dangers of using tobacco. By making it against the law for young people to use or buy tobacco, they try to protect young people from these dangers.

Why do some people use tobacco?

Most adults who use tobacco started when they were young. They may have tried tobacco because they were curious about its effects. Or they may have started smoking because friends urged them to try it. Other people may have tried chewing tobacco because they saw their favorite baseball player using it.

Some young people think that using tobacco will make them look grown up. Instead, smoking makes a smoker's body and clothing smell bad. All the tars and poisons make a smoker's hair sticky. Chemicals from smoking and chewing tobacco cause bad breath and yellow teeth. Some cigarettes and all chewing tobacco and snuff contain sugars that can lead to tooth decay.

Many young people see adults around them using tobacco. They see people using it on television or in movies. Some young people think that using tobacco is a way to act grown up. But they don't know something important -- most adult tobacco users wish they didn't smoke or use chewing tobacco or snuff! many want to quit but can't.

Some of us have family members who use tobacco/nicotine products. It may be confusing as you become aware of how harmful tobacco/nicotine is and of the danger breathing ETS bring to you. Please understand that while you are young, you may not be able to influence family member's choice to use tobacco/nicotine products. However, you can prepare to be smoke-free adults. People who use tobacco/nicotine products are not bad people, they are people who made an early decision to start something that is now hard to stop.

Ask any adult tobacco/nicotine user how s/he started using this drug. Most will tell you a similar story. They will say that people who use tobacco for the first time usually think they can quit any time. They think they can try smoking or chewing tobacco just for a short while. They may plan to smoke only when they are with friends or to chew tobacco or dip snuff only when they play sports. They never consider that they might no be able to stop easily.

Most people cough the first time they smoke a cigarette. They might get dizzy or have an upset stomach. These feelings are warning signs that cigarette smoke is poisoning their bodies. Their bodies are telling them not to smoke.

Some first-time users will stop smoking, but many will try to smoke again and again. After a while the body gets used to the smoke, and the smoker begins to smoke more often. In a short time, quitting becomes hard for the smoker. They person begins to crave the nicotine in cigarettes. The smoker may get nervous or depressed when s/he doesn't smoke. The smoker has little control over his/her use of tobacco. S/he has become addicted to nicotine.

How is tobacco harmful to body systems?

Smoking is very dangerous to a person's health. Over time a smoker is much more likely than a non-smoker to develop cancer and other diseases.

Cancers caused by using tobacco products include lung cancer and mouth cancer. Lung cancer grows in a smoker's lungs. It eventually blocks the lungs' air passages and can cause death. Mouth cancer occurs most often in people who use chewing tobacco or snuff. To treat it, doctors often must cut away part of the patient's face, lips, or tongue to remove the cancer. Some cancers of the mouth can't be treated and can lead to death.

Smoking can ruin your game!

Nicotine changes the brain (nervous system). The body begins to crave tobacco. Quitting tobacco becomes hard.
Tar coats the lungs and air passages (respiratory system), leading to coughs and respiratory diseases. Lung cancer or lung disease can develop. Breathing can become difficult -- or impossible.
Nicotine shrinks blood vessels (circulatory system), making the heart work harder to pump blood. This condition can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke.
Heart & Lung Connection - Nicotine from the lungs gets into the bloodstream to affect blood vessels, the brain, and the heart.

Other diseases affect smokers' lungs, too. Smokers get more coughs, colds, and sore throats than non-smokers do. Smoker are also more likely to have bronchitis (brahn*KY*tuhs) and emphysema (emp*fuh*ZEE*muh) because of tar damage in their lungs. Both of these diseases limit a person's ability to breathe, and both can kill.

Tobacco users are also much more likely to have heart disease. Nicotine makes the heart work harder and faster than usual because the gases in cigarette smoke take the place of oxygen in the blood. All the cells in your body need oxygen to live. When tobacco smoke lowers oxygen in the body, the heart must work harder to get oxygen to all the body's cells. High blood pressure and heart disease can result when the heart has to work too hard. Heart disease kills many smokers.

Environmental tobacco smoke can cause the same diseases in non-smokers. Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), also called second-hand smoke, comes from burning cigarettes, pipes, or cigars and from smoke that is breathed out by smokers. Children who live with smokers get more infections -- including coughs, colds, sore throats, bronchitis, and asthma -- than do children in smoke-free homes.

REMEMBER...Tobacco/nicotine products contain many substances that harm the body. Understanding that nicotine is a harmful drug found in tobacco can help you refuse to use it.

CLOSING (Evaluate)

Complete Lesson Checkup
Finished Early? (sign into BrainPOP using Clever)
- Watch BrainPOP - Smoking
- Watch BrainPOP - Asthma
- Watch BrainPOP - Circulatory System
- Watch BrainPOP - Nervous System
- Watch BrainPOP - Respiratory System

Standard(s)

HE4.1a - recognize the relationship between healthy behavior and disease prevention

HE4.3a - identify the characteristics of valid health information, products, and services

HE4.3b - list resources from home, school, and community that provide valid health information

HE4.5b - describe the possible consequences of an unhealthy decision and healthy alternatives when making a health-related decision

Essential Question(s)

What products contain tobacco/nicotine?
Do all other smoking tobacco products (cigars, pipe tobacco) have the same harmful effects as cigarettes?

Big Idea(s)

Tobacco/nicotine products include cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, snuff, snus, and vaping cartridges.
Other smoking tobacco products such as cigars and pipe tobacco have the same harmful effects as cigarettes because they produce tobacco smoke and they contain tar, nicotine, and other harmful substances.

RESOURCES / INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS

see below

DCSD Board-Approved Instruction Materials

Your Health: Teacher's Edition - Grade 4. Harcourt Brace & Company. 1999.

Technology

Google Sites - HPE website
Chromebook
large video screens for whole-class viewing
sound system for sharing of audio
Harmful Chemicals in Tobacco Products - American Cancer Society
BrainPOP - Smoking
BrainPOP - Asthma
BrainPOP - Circulatory System
BrainPOP - Nervous System
BrainPOP - Respiratory System

Google Sites

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