Health and Biosciences Institute

Mind Over Matter: Marijuana

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You may have heard it called pot, weed, grass, ganja or skunk, but marijuana by any other name is still a drug that affects the brain. Did you know marijuana can cause some people to lose focus on events around them? It makes others more aware of their physical sensations, and it has still more effects on other people. All these different changes are caused by chemicals that affect the brain. More than 400 chemicals are in the average marijuana plant. When smoked, heat produces even more of them!

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan

Promoting Equitable Access to Health Care for Households

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The key objectives develop an understanding of the dimensions of access to health care; create greater awareness of health care access constraints from the household perspective; promote critical evaluation of policy options to address access constraints in relation to equity goals; promote and strengthen effective development and implementation of equitable health sector policies. The training materials can be used for a diverse set of target groups, but are primarily aimed at current and future health sector managers. It is also envisaged that the case studies can be used on an ad-hoc basis in post-graduate programs such as Masters in Public Health programs. Six case studies have been prepared for this course: Experiences of households in Sri Lanka, Availability of health services and resource allocation, Affordability of drugs in the context of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Tax. Insurance funding for health systems, Health service acceptability issues, Access board game.

Material Type: Case Study, Textbook

Author: McIntyre, Di

Digestive System

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The digestive system is amazing: it takes the foods we eat and breaks them into smaller components that our body can use for energy, cell repair and growth. This lesson introduces students to the main parts of the digestive system and how they interact. In addition, students learn about some of the challenges astronauts face when trying to eat in outer space.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan

Authors: Abigail Watrous, Denali Lander, Janet Yowell, Malinda Schaefer Zarske, Sara Born

Cellular Respiration and Population Growth

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Two lessons and their associated activities explore cellular respiration and population growth in yeasts. Yeast cells are readily obtained and behave predictably, so they are very appropriate to use in middle school classrooms. In the first lesson, students are introduced to yeast respiration through its role in the production of bread and alcoholic beverages. A discussion of the effects of alcohol on the human body is used both as an attention-getting device, and as a means to convey important information at an impressionable age. In the associated activity, students set up a simple way to indirectly observe and quantify the amount of respiration occurring in yeast-molasses cultures. Based on questions that arise from this activity, in the second lesson students work in small groups as they design and execute their own experiments to determine how environmental factors affect yeast population growth.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan

Author: Mary R. Hebrank

Medicine Games: Blood Typing

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Play a game and find out about a Nobel Prize awarded discovery or work! In this game you have to blood type each patient and give them a blood transfusion. Are you able to do that? If not, maybe you should read the introduction to blood typing before you start, otherwise you will put the patients' lives in danger!

Material Type: Game, Reading, Simulation

Gastro-esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)

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This patient education program discusses Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease, or GERD, including the anatomy of the digestive system, causes and effects, signs and symptoms, possible complications, and treatment options for GERD with their benefits and side effects. This resource is a MedlinePlus Interactive Health Tutorial from the National Library of Medicine, designed and developed by the Patient Education Institute.

Material Type: Diagram/Illustration, Interactive, Lecture

Author: Patient Education Institute