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Brain Power! The NIDA Junior Scientists Program
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has developed science education materials for second- and third-grade students on the brain and the effects of drugs on the brain. The curriculum, titled Brain Power! The NIDA Junior Scientist Program, consists of six modules and is available online. The goal of the curriculum is to lay the foundation for future scientific learning and substance abuse prevention efforts by providing an early elementary school-age audience with a basis of knowledge and critical thinking skills.
The six modules of the program include:
- Ooey Gooey! Making Sense of Scientific Inquiry. The goal of the first module is to introduce students to the steps of scientific inquiry: to observe, hypothesize, experiment, and conclude.
- Brains in a Box: What Your Brain Can Do. In the second module, students learn the functions of the four major parts of the brain: the cerebral cortex, cerebellum, brain stem, and limbic system.
- Sending and Receiving Messages. This module builds on the previous module by introducing students to how nerve cells communicate with each other. This communication is called neurotransmission.
- Medicines and Drugs: What's Helpful, What's Harmful. This module discusses the differences between medicines and drugs.
- The Science Behind Smoking. The fifth modules discusses nicotine, how it changes the brain, and how those changes may result in addiction to tobacco products.
- What Drugs Really Do. This module serves as a culminating activity and as an embedded assessment for the entire program.
Order copies by calling the National Clearinghouse on Drug and Alcohol Information at 1-800-729-6686 or by visiting www.health.org.
http://www.drugabuse.gov/JSP/JSP.html
Publisher National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) 6001 Executive Boulevard Bethesda, md 20892 Phone: 301-443-1124 Website: http://www.nida.nih.gov
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Boston University School of Public Health 
