Interactive Projects

Overview
In this activity, groups of students will visit several teen-friendly Web sites sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Each of the sites uses a different format to deliver a message about the dangers of tobacco use. Among the formats are simple fact sheets, downloadable posters, original student art, and anti-ad propaganda literature. After visiting the sites, group members will pool their findings to create a media blitz advising other teens of the health risks associated with tobacco.

Objectives

• To learn through images and text found on the World Wide Web about the health risks associated with tobacco use, especially among teens.
• To share information on these health risks with other teens through a variety of media.

Getting Started
Introduce the activity by informing students that advertisers sometimes introduce new products by staging what is called a media blitz. Explain that this term, which derives in part from the German word blitz, or "lightning," is a campaign intended to take the public "by storm" through a variety of media, including television, radio, newspapers, and magazines. Reveal that students will work in groups to stage media blitzes of their own, dedicated not to the sale of a product but to spreading the word to other teens about the dangers of tobacco use. Explain that one student is to function as project director and that this individual will be charge of all other group members and of keeping the project on schedule. As students access the various Web sites, make sure they are aware that clicking on a poster or similar image will download a larger version of the image, which may then be printed on the classroom computer.

Classroom Follow-up
Allow time for groups to share and compare their experiences, noting both high points of the team effort and changes they would make if they were to do the project again. You may also wish to have individual students write short entries in their Health Journals noting what they learned about teen tobacco use and explain how they plan to use this knowledge to reduce their own risks in the future.