Medicines and Me
The Medicines and Me lessons have been designed to incorporate over-the-counter (OTC) medicine safety education into life science, biology, health, or family and consumer science classrooms. Hands-on lesson components are easy to prepare and can be done with inexpensive supplies.
Resources for each Medicines and Me lesson include:
- A teacher guide with an answer key and information on how to prepare for the lesson
- Student handouts
- Optional lesson extensions
The Medicines and Me lessons and extension activities were developed with funding from Science Education Partnership Award R25OD010494 from the National Institutes of Health.
Lessons
A Family Medicine Cabinet
Students use information from a brief reading to classify labels and compare over-the-counter drugs with prescription drugs and dietary supplements. They learn that scientific testing is an important part of determining that drugs are safe and effective.
A Family Medicine Cabinet Teacher Guide
A Family Medicine Cabinet Student Guide
Choosing and Using Medicines Safely
Students analyze mini-cases and Drug Facts labels to determine which over-the-counter medicines patients should use and how to use them safely.
Choosing and Using Medicines Safely Teacher Guide
Choosing and Using Medicines Safely Student Guide
How Much and How Often
Students test different dosing devices to determine which is most accurate for measuring liquid medicine. They also use a model to illustrate the effects of taking medicine more frequently than recommended.
How Much and How Often Teacher Guide
How Much and How Often Student Guide
A Case of Unintentional Overdose
Students conduct simulated laboratory tests to determine that a young patient’s symptoms are due to liver damage. They analyze the medicines the patient took to calculate how much acetaminophen he has ingested. They learn about the role of the liver in maintaining homeostasis.
A Case of Unintentional Overdose Teacher Guide
Please email us for the answer key to this lesson.
A Case of Unintentional Overdose Student Guide
Cold, Flu, or Allergy?
Students conduct simulated flu tests to determine whether patients have the flu or not. Product labels are used to select the medicines appropriate for patients with the flu, the common cold, or allergies.
Cold, Flu, or Allergy? Teacher Guide
Please email us for the answer key to this lesson.
Cold, Flu, or Allergy? Student Guide
Developing a New Flu Prevention Drug
Students explore the processes involved in developing and testing a new flu prevention drug. They conduct and analyze the results from simulated Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials. They learn how Phase 3 clinical trials provide additional information needed to ensure that a new drug is safe and effective.
Developing a New Flu Prevention Drug Teacher Guide
Please email us for the answer key to this lesson.
Developing a New Flu Prevention Drug Student Guide
Extension Activities
The Medicines and Me extension activities have been created to help students develop additional literacy skills that are important for medicine use.
Extension Activities OVERVIEW
Activity 1: Medicine Advertising
This activity is designed to help students develop media literacy skills by comparing prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medication advertisements.
Medicine Advertising Student Guide
Activity 2: Using the Internet for Health Information
Are teens able to easily find health information online? Can they determine which web sites are credible? Can they understand the information they find? This activity is designed to build students’ eHealth literacy skills.
Using the Internet for Health Information Student Guide
Activity 3: Public Service Announcements
This activity is designed to help students develop media literacy skills as they create a public service announcement (PSA) to promote the safe use of acetaminophen.
Public Service Announcements Student Guide
Activity 4: How to Provide Easy to Understand Information
This activity is designed to help students develop health literacy and functional literacy skills. They evaluate an existing brochure on acetaminophen safety, and they design a new brochure that improves on the example provided.
How to Provide Easy to Understand Information Student Guide
Activity 5: Communicating with Health Care Providers
This activity is designed to help students develop health literacy and communicative literacy skills. They learn about strategies and tips for ensuring they are able to talk with their health providers in an effective way. They then create skits to demonstrate both successful and unsuccessful communication strategies.
Communicating with Health Care Providers Student Guide
Activity 6: Clinical Trials from a Patient’s Perspective
This activity is designed to help students develop research literacy skills as they create a research study child assent form for a clinical trial.
Clinical Trials from a Patient’s Perspective Student Guide