The impact of smoking
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can describe the impact of smoking, including vaping, on the human body.
Key learning points
- Nicotine is a highly addictive drug found in tobacco.
- Smoking can make it more difficult for blood to move around the body and deliver oxygen to the muscles.
- Smoking can lead to a number of diseases, including heart and lung disease.
- Vaping is considered to be less harmful than smoking, but still not safe.
- Information about the dangers of smoking can be researched using secondary sources of information.
Keywords
Impact - The impact of something is the effect it has.
Nicotine - Nicotine is an addictive, toxic drug.
Addictive - Something addictive is something that is very hard to stop doing because your body craves more.
Drug - Drugs are substances that change the way our bodies work.
Lungs - The lung is an organ that mammals use to breathe. Mammals have two lungs.
Common misconception
Pupils may think that vaping is a safe and healthy practice, or a ‘cleaner’ version of smoking.
Explain that, although vaping is less harmful to the body than smoking, it still has an impact on the body and, as a new practice, we are not yet fully aware of the long term effects.
Teacher tip
A number of ideas for ‘smoke in a jar’ modelling activities can be found online that model the effects of smoking on lungs using paper ‘cigarettes’ and sponge ‘lungs’. This would be a helpful model to set up alongside this lesson to help pupils visualise the damage smoking can cause to the lungs.
Equipment
Information about smoking from secondary sources (Task B) can be found in the additional materials document for this lesson.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.When we inhale, we …
Q2.Into which organ does the air go when we breathe in?
Q3.The impact of a healthy lifestyle is a healthy body and good wellbeing. What does ‘impact’ mean?
Q4.The heart pumps blood around the body. What does the blood deliver to muscles as it moves around?
Q5.Blood moves around the body inside blood , which include arteries and veins.
Q6.Which of these statements about drugs is correct?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Smoking can cause …
Q2.An addictive habit, like smoking, is something that is ...
Q3.Which statement about vaping is correct?
Q4.Tobacco contains a highly addictive drug called …
Q5.Smoking increases blood pressure and causes arteries to narrow, making it more difficult for blood to move around the body and deliver to parts of the body that need it to function.
Q6.What is the best way to find out about the dangers of smoking?
To help you plan your 6 science lesson on: The impact of smoking, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 6 science lesson on: The impact of smoking, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 science lessons from the Keeping healthy unit, dive into the full primary science curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.