Copyright 2012 Menzies School of Health Research1

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Quitting

Study Guide

The main resource:

Tobacco Addiction Story Animation

Supporting resources:

Quitting Mash Up

Change your thinking

Ways to quit

Relapse

Helping others quit

The accompanying factsheets:

Addiction

Change your thinking

Ways to quit

Relapse

Helping others to quit

The main online resource:

So You Think You Can Quit Quiz

Supporting information:

Tobacco Flip Chart

Information for teachersThis section looks at quitting. It explains the process of addiction and looks at changing your

thinking about smoking. It explores ways to quit, why people relapse and helping others quit.

Copyright 2012 Menzies School of Health Research

www.nosmokes.com.au

Copyright 2012 Menzies School of Health Research

www.nosmokes.com.au

2

Study Guide

Overview of Subject Areas

Summary of Learning Activities

Links to the Australian Curriculum V.3.0 Links to theNorthern Territory Curriculum Framework (NTCF) 2009

QuittingStudy Guide

English, Science and Health

Pre/post viewing class discussion and

comprehension questions, language

activities (creating definitions, word

lists, mind maps), create poster/

PowerPoint presentation about

dopamine and the brain, research and

role play a quitting method, interview

someone about their experience

of addiction and quitting, research

people and/or organisations that help

people quit, investigate how nicotine

patches work, invite a role model to

speak to class, create a quitting plan.

English (Literacy)

Sub-strand: Interpreting, analysing, evaluating

Focus of thread within the sub-strand:

Reading processes and comprehension strategies

Sub-strand: Creating texts

Focus of thread within the sub-strand:

Creating texts, editing, handwriting, use of software

Sub-strand: Interacting with others

Focus of thread within the sub-strand:

Listening and speaking interactions, oral presentations

Yrs 7-10

Science

Science as Human Endeavour:

Use and Influence of Science

Yr 5&6: Scientific understandings are used to solve problems that

directly affect people’s lives

Yr 7&8: Science contributes to finding solutions to a range of

contemporary issues

Yr 9&10: Advances in Science can significantly affect people’s lives

Notes: Current scientific understandings of addiction and

the brain inform the content of theTobacco Addiction Story

animation.This video is evidence of how science has helped

understand a major public health issue such as tobacco addiction.

Science has found solutions to this health issue by identifying

ways to overcome addiction. These solutions have had a huge

impact on people’s lives by helping them beat the addiction that

then enables them to quit smoking.

ESL Secondary LearnersThe educational material in the No Smokes Study Guides would work

best for students within ESL Levels 4-7, however activities can be

modified to suit students within lower levels.

Listening

L L 4.1-7.1: Communication

L L 4.3-7.3: Language structures and features

L L 4.4-7.4: Learning-how-to-learn

Speaking

S L 4.1-7.1: Communication

S L 4.3-7.3: Language structures and features

S L 4.4-7.4: Learning-how-to-learn

Reading

R L 4.1-7.1: Communication

R L 4.3-7.3: Language structures and features

R L 4.4-7.4: Learning-how-to-learn

Writing

W L 4.1-7.1: Communication

W L 4.3-7.3: Language structures and features

W L 4.4-7.4: Learning-how-to-learn

Health and Physical Education Learning AreaPromoting Individual and Community Health

Outcomes:

Band 4

HP 4.1 evaluate behaviours, situations and programs that recognise

community health needs, including substance use and lifestyle choices and

explain their influence on personal and community safety and wellbeing

Band 5

HP 5.1 develop and act on a personal health and safety plan and evaluate

community initiatives to promote health and safety.

How the Study Guide links to the Curriculum

Copyright 2012 Menzies School of Health Research3

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Pre-viewing activities and questions for the

Tobacco Addiction Story animation

As a class, brainstorm how smoking cigarettes damages our body, and make a list of all the known

health effects of cigarettes.

Ask students if they know that cigarettes also affect our brain. Ask them if they have any ideas of how

the brain might be affected by cigarettes.

Tell students that smoking cigarettes affects our brain in many ways. It creates a chemical called

dopamine in our brain that affects:

a. how we feel

b. our mood

c. how we think

d. our ability to make good decisions for ourselves

And it is the brain that becomes addicted to cigarettes.

Ask students if they know what addiction is. Find or create a definition based on the student’s own

shared knowledge for this word.

Tell students that they are going to be watching an animation about how smoking cigarettes affects

the brain. Smoking tricks the brain by making it feel good when the person is smoking. But the brain

is actually becoming addicted to the nicotine in cigarettes, making it very hard to quit. This is a big

problem because there are many serious health effects of smoking (refer to brainstorm above).

1.

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5.

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An overview of the Tobacco Addiction Story animation

Here is a scene-by-scene description of the Tobacco Addiction Story animation. This will assist you to break down the information in the film into manageable chunks for your class. It will provide you with some ideas to focus on with your students.

You may like to discuss this information with your students before watching the film, as a way to introduce them to new concepts and language. Scene 1: How dopamine and the brain worksThe brain chemical, dopamine, makes your brain feel good; it is created when the brain makes healthy choices like eating well, exercising and learning something new.

Scene 2: Unhealthy things create dopamine too Smoking cigarettes also creates a lot of dopamine, so at first smoking cigarettes makes us feel good.

Scene 3: Short and long term effects of dopamine Smoking can make you feel good in the short term but in the long term, the brain starts to think it needs even more dopamine to feel good.

Scene 4: Addiction Your brain starts to think that only another cigarette will make you feel better, so you become addicted. But cigarettes can make you really sick- they can even kill you.

Scene 5: Addiction is a powerful thing Addiction can take over the brain and force you to make unhealthy decisions like smoking more, drinking alcohol, and eating lots of junk food just to feel happy.

Scene 6: Helping the brain The brain needs your help to break addiction. There are lots of ways the brain can remember to be happy without cigarettes. Things like nicotine patches, exercise and eating healthy food all help the brain beat addiction because they trigger the brain to make dopamine.

Scene 7: Beating addiction Beating addiction can be hard. You have to make hard choices every single day. This may mean you have to stay away from places and people that make you want to smoke, even if they are mates or family.

Scene 8: Your choice It can take a long time to give up unhealthy addictions, but in the end you and your brain will be happier, healthier and stronger. You have the choice to beat addiction.

We recommend students watch the animation in its entirety one or more times without the comprehension questions. This way the students can absorb the images and information without being distracted by answering the questions. When completing the comprehension questions it is a good idea to view each section separately, stopping to answer and discuss the questions as you go. This is especially important for lower level students who may benefit from answering these questions as a whole class.

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Comprehension questions for theTobacco Addiction Story animation

Scene 1: How dopamine affects the brain

1. A healthy brain is important because it helps us to make good decisions so we are… a. sad, lonely and upset b. strong, healthy and happy c. angry, frustrated and depressed d. unhealthy and sad

2. Our brain makes a chemical called dopamine. Dopamine makes our brain feel good so we feel ______________

3. Things that make dopamine in the brain and make us feel good are eating healthy food, doing exercise and…

a. watching TV b. learning something new c. walking to the fridge d. sitting on the couch

Scene 2: Unhealthy things create dopamine too

4. But some unhealthy things also feed dopamine in the brain. Smoking cigarettes makes… a. a little bit of dopamine b. more dopamine than the brain needs c. no dopamine at all d. a tiny amount of dopamine

Scene 3: Short and long term effects of dopamine

5. In the short term cigarettes can make you feel good, help you concentrate and… a. give you a headache b. make you dance better c. give you energy d. make you look better

6. If you smoke for a long time the brain thinks... a. too much

b. not enough c. about watching television d. it needs more and more dopamine and only another cigarette will make you feel better.

Scene 4: Addiction

7. Once you get addicted, cigarettes can... a. make you sick b. make you healthy c. make you younger d. make you smarter

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Comprehension questions for the Tobacco Addiction Story animation

Scene 5: Addiction is a powerful thing

8. Addiction can take over the brain and force you to... a. say silly things b. go to sleep c. make unhealthy decisions d. stop talking

Scene 6: Helping the brain

9. We can help the brain to remember how to make dopamine by doing exercise, wearing nicotine patches and…

a. drinking alcohol b. wearing purple clothes c. playing football d. eating healthy food

Scene 7: Beating addiction

10. Beating addiction is… a. impossible b. one of the easiest thing you’ll ever do c. one of the hardest things you’ll ever do d. simple and easy

11. To beat addiction you have to make hard choices every day like staying away from peoplewho smoke and...

a. staying away from healthy food b. staying away from the fridge c. staying away from television d. staying away from places where you might want to smoke

Scene 8: Your choice

12. After you quit smoking, you and your brain will be... a. happier and stronger b. sad and lonely c. angry and upset d. frustrated

Copyright 2012 Menzies School of Health Research7

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Post-viewing discussion questions and activities

Describe how the image of the brain changes from the start to the end of the animation. Draw students attention to the colour of the brain, the posture, the energy levels depicted by the eyes and the actions of the brain. Students could draw a healthy and an unhealthy brain, label pictures of healthy and unhealthy brains, or create two lists to describe the healthy and unhealthy brain.

Discuss or list some of the healthy ways our brain makes dopamine, as well as some of the unhealthy ways it is made. Point out to students that healthy ways of creating dopamine do not create addiction, or harm our body, whereas unhealthy ways do.

Make a list or mind map of the things a healthy brain might do and an unhealthy brain might do. Consider what the brain might choose to eat and drink, what type of activities it might like to do, and who it might like to socialise with.

They say that addiction is hard to beat. Why can’t people just stop smoking? What are the things that make it so hard to quit smoking?

Make a mind map around the word ‘addiction’ with a list of words that describe how being addicted to something might feel. For example: powerless, a slave, weak, hopeless, out of control, controlled etc. Display this in the classroom to remind students of the power of addiction.

After watching the animation, what new information could we add to our earlier (pre-viewing) definition of addiction? Individually, or as a class, create definitions based on the information in the film for ‘addiction’, ‘dopamine’ and ‘quitting’.

Create a poster or PowerPoint presentation to show how smoking cigarettes affects the brain. Students could use the scene headings to help demonstrate their understanding. Their posters could be displayed in public places around the school, or they could present their PowerPoint to other students to educate them about smoking.

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Copyright 2012 Menzies School of Health Research8

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Extension activities

• Watch the film Change your thinking (or the first part of the Quitting Mashup video) and download the Change your thinking factsheet.

a. From the film make a list of the ways you can change your thinking in order to quit. b. Discuss what types of things, activities or support might help you to be strong and to stay

positive if you were quitting.

• Watch the film Ways to quit (or the second part of the Quitting Mashup video) and look at the Ways to quit factsheet.

a. Discuss the different ways to quit with students. Ask students which quitting method they think would be most effective, and explain why.

b. Watch the Ways to Quit stories from the Stories section of the website. Which method of quitting seems the most effective for these people?

c. Create scenarios with young people trying out different quitting methods and have students role-play each scenario. This will help students to recognise that everyone is different and they need to find the quitting method that works best for them.

d. Research different quitting methods and create oral, written or visual presentations.

• Watch the film Relapse about two women’s experiences of trying to quit smoking. Look at the Relapse factsheet, it shows the cycle of addiction.

a. Using the snake image on the Relapse factsheet, trace each woman’s journey of quitting.

• Interview someone about their experiences of cigarette addiction and their experiences of trying to quit.

a. As preparation students could watch stories from the Stories section of the No Smokes website.

b. Example interview questions:How long have you been a smoker? Have you tried to quit before? How many times? What quitting methods have you tried? What was good or bad about each method? What were the reasons you started smoking again? Tell me about any triggers and cravings you experiences when quitting and how did you deal with these?

• Research organisations that support smokers to quit. a. Find out how can people access them (internet, phone etc), if it’s a confidential service, what

type of advice they provide to help you quit, how they suggest you cope with cravings and social situations, and what type of education they offer about the effects of smoking.

b. Evaluate if you think they are a helpful organisation, and how they could better target young Aboriginal people.

• Investigate how nicotine patches and other Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) products work. Based on this knowledge, ask students to discuss the pros and cons of using NRT compared to quit cold turkey.

• Invite someone who makes healthy choices for their body, like a sportsperson, a professional or a community elder, to speak to the class. Find out what choices they make to keep themselves healthy and why being healthy is important to them.

Copyright 2012 Menzies School of Health Research9

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So You Think You Can Quit

The So You Think You Can Quit quiz is designed to assist smokers to prepare for quitting. It helps

them to create an action plan detailing the quitting methods they will use and how they will cope with

cravings. The plan can be printed and displayed to remind smokers why they want to quit and how they

will go about it.

Students can use the following scenario to create a quitting action plan using the So You Think You

Can Quit resource. Alternatively, students can create the action plan for someone they know who

wants to quit.

Scenario

My name is Tony. I’m a 16 years old Koori from Victoria. I’ve been smoking for 2 years, and I’ve tried to

quit 3 times but I found it really hard as all my friends smoke and it feels so good. I really want to quit

smoking because it’s bad for my health and I want to be fit and play football. I think I am a little addicted

to smoking as I smoke about 13 cigarettes every day. I even smoke in the morning about half an hour

after I get up. My brother said he would quit with me to help support me. We think we will go cold turkey

but if that doesn’t work we will use patches. If I crave a cigarette I will just have a drink of water or go for

a run, or hang out with my brother- he will help me. I am going to start straight away.

• Use the above scenario to answer the questions in the So You Think You Can Quit Quiz.

• Print out a copy of Tony’s quitting plan and read through it as a class.

• As a class discuss if you think Tony’s plan for quitting is likely to be successful. Remember he has

already tried 3 times before. Do you think he has enough strategies to cope with cravings? How

many strategies should a person have?

• What might happen to Tony if his brother starts smoking again? Ask the students to discuss the pros

and cons of quitting with another person or by themselves? What strategies might help Tony to quit

if his brother starts smoking again?

• Based on the information you know about quitting come up with some advice you would offer Tony

to help him successfully quit.

Copyright 2012 Menzies School of Health Research10

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Quitting - Word Find

QUIT CIGARETTES CRAVINGS

BRAIN RELAPSE dOPAMINE

CHOICE WITHdRAWAL AddICTION

G T Z N X L B T K H K X B C QY F Y d L E R d P d U C Q R RY U M J P T A C O H Z A B A JW H L H J C I F P B J A A V FI N P J H S N A Y Q V L d I AT K F C Z N C A O M H A d N TH Q d Y F E I F K V V U I G Cd d O P A M I N E O U B C S ER P N E A T H A G J A V T V HA W O Y Z N E E W K O R I G IW U U d W Z T Q U I T J O E TA C L R E L A P S E U J N U UL E Q C A F B C H O I C E A SG E P Q T G W C B R F X Q Y GU S J C I G A R E T T E S G M