Risky Behaviors Web Quest

A 9th Grade WebQuest

Introduction

As an employee of a non-profit organization you have noticed that statistics in your community reveal a significant increase in risky behaviors by youths, ages 10-18. Awareness week is coming up and you have chosen to determine ways to inform this age group of the dangers involved in risky behaviors. Ultimately, you have decided that the best way to reach the community with information about risky behaviors is by creating and than presenting a brochure on these behaviors. The brochure you will create will be copied and handed out to the community at a rally that is being held in a month.

Task

Choose a risky behavior to create a brochure on:

Drugs

a. Over the counter

b. Prescription

c. Illegal

Alcohol
Tobacco

a. Smoking

b. Chewing Tobacco

Additional Addictions

a. Working

b. Eating disorders

c. Gambling

Be creative and have fun

Process

The first step involves choosing a risky behavior to create a brochure on.

*If you choose to create a brochure on drugs, you will need to include over the counter drugs, prescription drugs, and illegal drugs.

*If you choose to create a brochure on tobacco, you will need to include smoking and chewing tobacco.

*If you choose to create a brochure on additional addiction, you will need to include working, eating disorders, and gambling.

After creating your brochure, be prepared to present the information that you have collected to the class on your assigned presentation day.

Drugs:

You have chosen to take an in-depth look at the world of drugs. While on this exploration, you need to take a look around and recognize the difference between each category of substances that you see (over the counter vs. prescription drugs vs. illegal). It’s important that you recognize the difference between using and abusing drugs, so you’ll need to find out some reasons for drug usage. Also, it’s very important for you to note the health risks and consequences of using drugs. Remember to take good notes that you can use for the brochure that you’ll be creating. I’ll help you along the path by giving you some websites that have information that will help you in your exploration:

Over the Counter:

http://www.scotlandonsunday.com/letters.cfm?id=656732002

http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/Cat2.html

Prescription Drugs:

http://www.injuryboard.com/view.cfm/Article=881

http://www.prescription-drugs-rehab.com/

http://www.addictioncareoptions.com/addiction.htm

Illegal Drugs:

http://www.addictions.net/adoles.htm

http://www.addictions.org/signs.htm

http://www.nida.nih.gov/DrugsofAbuse.html

http://www.well.com/user/woa/

Alcohol:

You have chosen to take an in-depth look at the world of alcohol. While on this exploration, you need to take a look around and recognize the difference between using and abusing alcohol, so you’ll need to find out some reasons for alcohol usage. Also, it’s very important for you to note the health risks and consequences of using alcohol. Remember to take good notes that you can use for the brochure that you’ll be creating. I’ll help you along the path by giving you some websites that have information that will help you in your exploration:

http://www.addictions.net/adoles.htm

http://www.addictions.org/signs.htm

http://www.addictioncareoptions.com/addiction.htm

http://www.d12.com/Resources/Alcoholism%20Self-Test.htm

http://www.well.com/user/woa/

Tobacco:

You have chosen to take an in-depth look at the world of tobacco. While on this exploration, you need to take a look around and find out some reasons for tobacco product usage. Remember, you need to know the difference between cigarettes and chewing tobacco. Also, it’s very important for you to note the health risks and consequences of using tobacco products. Remember to take good notes that you can use for the brochure that you’ll be creating. I’ll help you along the path by giving you some websites that have information that will help you in your exploration:

Cigarettes:

http://www.nospit.com/TFacts.html

http://www.freevibe.com/drug_facts/smoking.asp

Chewing Tobacco:

http://www.ahealthyme.com/topic/smokeless

http://www.costkids.org/tobacco/smokelesstobacco/smokelesstobacco.htm

http://www.tobaccofreespokane.org/Fact%20Sheets/smokeless-tobacco.pdf

http://www.well.com/user/woa/

Additional Addictions:

You have chosen to take an in-depth look at the world of addictions. While on this exploration, you will be looking at three different types of addictions (working, eating disorders, and gambling). It’s important that you identify the characteristics of an addictive personality and examine the role of heredity vs. societal pressure in addictions. Remember, for each addiction you need to note some warning signs and consequences for that particular addiction. Remember to take good notes that you can use for the brochure that you’ll be creating. I’ll help you along the path by giving you some websites that have information that will help you in your exploration:

Working:

http://www.l-cc.com/article_archive/archive_workaddict.htm

http://www.apesma.asn.au/newsviews/professional_update/1999/october/work.htm

Eating Disorders:

Overview

http://www.raderprograms.com/googleindex.htm

http://www.mirror-mirror.org/eatdis.htm

Gambling:

http://www.addictions.net/gambling.htm

http://www.health24.co.za/news/Addiction_Substance_abuse/1-887,25188.asp

http://www.well.com/user/woa/

Evaluation

This is the rubric that will be used to grade the brochures. The brochures will be graded out of 70 points.

Category	10	8	6	4	Score
Writing-Organization	Each section in the brochure has a clear beginning, middle, and end.	Almost all sections of the brochure have a clear beginning, middle and end.	Most sections of the brochure have a clear beginning, middle and end.	Less than half of the sections of the brochure have a clear beginning, middle and end.
Writing-Grammar	There are no grammatical mistakes in the brochure.	There are no grammatical mistakes in the brochure after feedback from an adult.	There are 1-2 grammatical mistakes in the brochure even after feedback from an adult.	There are several grammatical mistakes in the brochure even after feedback from an adult.
Writing-Mechanics	Capitalization and punctuation are correct throughout the brochure.	Capitalization and punctuation are correct throughout the brochure after feedback from an adult.	There are 1-2 capitalization and/or punctuation errors in the brochure even after feedback from an adult.	There are several capitalization or punctuation errors in the brochure even after feedback from an adult.
Content-Accuracy	All facts in the brochure are accurate.	99-90% of the facts in the brochure are accurate.	89-80% of the facts in the brochure are accurate.	Fewer than 80% of the facts in the brochure are accurate.
Attractiveness and Organization	The brochure has exceptionally attractive formatting and well-organized information.	The brochure has attractive formatting and well-organized information.	The brochure has well-organized information.	The brochure's formatting and organization of material are confusing to the reader.
Graphics/Pictures	Graphics go well with the text and there is a good mix of text and graphics.	Graphics go well with the text, but there are so many that they distract from the text.	Graphics go well with the text, but there are too few and the brochure seems “text-heavy”.	Graphics do not go with the accompanying text or appear to be randomly chosen.
Sources	Careful and accurate records are kept to document the source of 95-100% of the facts and graphics in the brochure.	Careful and accurate records are kept to document the source of 94-85% of the facts and graphics in the brochure.	Careful and accurate records are kept to document the source of 84-75% of the facts and graphics in the brochure.	Sources are not documented accurately or are not kept on many facts and graphics.

This is the rubric that will be used to grade the presentations. The presentations will be graded out of 15 points.

Conclusion

By creating this brochure and presenting their findings to the class, students should have a firmer understanding about risky behaviors. After completing this brochure, I expect students to be able to recognize the difference between use and abuse, explain reasons for the usage of substances (drugs, alcohol, and tobacco products), identify health risks and consequences of using substances (drugs, alcohol, and tobacco products), identify characteristics of an addictive personality, examine the role of heredity vs. societal pressures in addictions, and analyze how society and personal relationships have an impact on addictions and substance abuse. Many other activities could even be created to extend students’ knowledge of destructive behaviors. Students could extend this experience by looking into other types of destructive behaviors that weren’t mentioned here or a community service project could even be created where students volunteer at a rehabilitation center.