Begin with a Mind and Body Snapshot about marijuana’s effects on thoughts, feelings, and health. A snapshot means a quick look at facts. Investigate smoking marijuana’s advantages and disadvantages through full links, reports, and documentaries. After each source, record mind and body facts. Then improve your notes. Analyze social, financial, political, and legal influences. Practice drug-free choices and refusal skills. Present a one-page body-diagram infographic with takeaways. Use youth mentor feedback. Share it with classmates and teachers.
Learning goals
You can ask questions and use evidence from reliable, linked sources. Marijuana is a drug from cannabis. You can explain marijuana’s effects. You can compare claimed benefits with risks to the mind and body. You can analyze social, legal, political, and financial influences on marijuana choices. You can practice refusal, avoidance, and self-care skills. These skills help you stay drug-free. You can revise source notes, an infographic, and a body diagram. Then you can share conclusions.
Standards
[Colorado] CH.HS.4.4 - Develop self-management skills to improving health by staying drug free (marijuana, illegal drugs, abuse of prescription drugs, alcohol, and tobacco).
[Colorado] CH.HS.4.1 - Analyze the impact of individuals' use or non use of marijuana, illegal drugs, prescription drugs, alcohol, and tobacco.
[Colorado] CH.HS.4.3 - Develop interpersonal communication skills to refuse or avoid marijuana, illegal drugs, abuse of prescription drugs, alcohol, and tobacco.
[Colorado] CH.HS.4.2 - Analyze the factors that influence a person's decision to use or not to use marijuana, illegal drugs, prescription drugs, alcohol, and tobacco.
[Colorado] CH.HS.4.2.a - Describe the financial, political, social, and legal influences on the use marijuana, illegal drugs, prescription drugs, alcohol, and tobacco.
Competencies
Learning Goals - Empirical Reasoning (Thinking Like a Scientist) (LG.2) - Students will demonstrate competency in the ‘Empirical Reasoning’ Learning Goal when they provide evidence that they can successfully ask questions, investigate, collect data, and use evidence to understand and explain the world.
Gateway Keys - Practitioner of Self Care and Wellbeing (PK.1) - Students are Practitioners of Self Care and Wellbeing when they intentionally focus time and effort in the care of themselves—mentally, emotionally, socially, physically, and spiritually.
Learning Goals - Social Reasoning (Thinking Like a Historian/Social Scientist) (LG.3) - Students will demonstrate competency in the ‘Social Reasoning’ Learning Goal when they provide evidence they can successfully understand people, cultures, systems, and history, and use that knowledge to make thoughtful decisions and take action.
Products
Create a Mind and Body Snapshot using journal prompts and image cards. After each source, write one mind fact and one body fact. Then revise your notes. Keep a source list with full links to reliable reports, resources, and documentaries. Build a one-page infographic. An infographic is a visual page with words and pictures. Show marijuana’s possible advantages, disadvantages, effects, and a refusal plan. After youth mentor feedback, present your revised infographic and peer message to classmates and teachers.
Launch
Start with a Mind and Body Snapshot using image cards about marijuana use.
Sort cards into claimed benefits, mind risks, body risks, or unsure.
Answer quick prompts about thinking, feelings, physical health, and influences on choices.
Ask: What are the advantages and disadvantages of smoking weed?
List questions you will answer using reliable sources, full links, and documentaries.
Exhibition
Present your one-page infographic and body diagram to classmates, teachers, and a youth center mentor.
Explain marijuana’s possible advantages and disadvantages using facts from reliable sources.
Display full source links beside your work for visitors to review.
Describe influences on use, refusal strategies, and one drug-free self-care plan.
Answer audience questions and share one change you made after feedback.
