Uri Zoller Haifa University-Oranim The School of Education of the Kibbutz Movement P. 0. Kiryat Tivon, Israel
Smoking and Cigarette Smoke An innovative, interdisciplinary, chemically-oriented curriculum
I t appears to be agreed upon that understanding the chemical aspects of our world is vital for every citizen in modern society, and that the development of an intelligent decision-making citizen with respect to environmental problems is one of the tasks ahead for sound education ( I ). Accordingly, the present trends in science education (chemical and environmental education included). the need .. emnhasize . for relevancy; that is, the inclusion within the framework of the science curriculum of real problems to be dealt with by students through inquiry and involvement. I t is agreed that scientific education is achieved when the students are provided with affective attitudes which parallel the cognitive aspects. This in turn may facilitate their decision-making ability under a variety of life situations. T h e relevance of the chemical aspects of the student's immediate internal and external environment to his contemporary needs appear to be clear: such chemistry addresses itself to manv of the crucial issues one faces todav: - , for example, health, nutrition, social involvement, supportive systems, and the oualitv . " of life in eeneral. " Thus, the development of an innovative chemistry curriculum which deals with the issue of smoking. ~articularlvbv -. . youth, (with all the implications involved) is a good-eiample. The new study unit-"Smoking and Cigarette Smoke" was developed recently a t the division of chemical studies a t Haifa University-Oranim; the School of Education of the Kibbutz Movement in Israel. The modular unit is an innovative chemistry oriented curriculum aimed for either intra- or extra-curricular activity. The target population includes both science- and nonscience-oriented students. The unit makes it possible for the chemistry teacher (and also the biology teacher) a t erades 9-10 to deal with the Droblem of smokine and its impccations mainly via laboratory work accompaniez by appropriate readings, discussions, and supporting material. ~~
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Rationale and Objectives The reasons which motivate . ~ e .o ~tol esmoke are rather complex and include psychological-societal factors as well as oharmacoloeical and even economic factors (2).Nevertheless. in spite of the well-documented damage to health, particularl; for young people (31,the "first generation" of "one-shot" effort of preventive educational programs (on both smoking and drug abuse) which concentrated on the cognitive aspects of the problem accompanied by "educational preaching" appears to have failed to ~ r o d u c ethe expected results (4). Signif'. cantly, most of these preventive programs, neglected the affective-behaviorial-personal components of learning either by overemphasizing the pure cognitive scientific aspects of the complex problem, or vice-versa by over-threatening their captive audience. The behavioral objective of the proposed curriculum, therefore, is to convince the student not to begin smoking or to give it u p in case he has already begun. There is no "moral preaching" within the unit. The idea is to allow the student himself discover the means of meaningful, advanced, controlled experiments (mainly in chemistry and partially physiologically- biologically-oriented), the potential damages in smoking, and consequently to draw the conclusions which may affect his behavior in the desired direction. The guiding 518 1 Journal of Chemical Education
Educot80n
Educ~tion
lntedisciplin~ry Educotlon
Cagniliveond Affective Aroem
Figure 1. The guiding model for the program: "Smoking and Cigarene Smoke.
Table 1. Selected Topics Included in the Program (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
Physiobgical effects of smoking. Tar in cigarene smoke. Chemistry of cigarette smoke. Efficiency of cigarette filters. lnterreiationshipbetween tar and its sources (quantitative). Separation of tar components. The living cell and cancer. (8) Reversible and irreversible chemical and biochemical processes.
model for the development of the curriculum "Smoking and Cigarette Smoke" is illustrated in Figure 1. Curriculum Description The developed interdisciplinary unit is a guided design which simultaneously integrates the cognitive and the affective domains in an attempt to modify the student behavior with respect to smoking. I t consists of a student manual, a teacher guide, a kit for-laboratory experiments (equipment included), and a list of supporting materials1. Generally speaking, the study unit deals with the composition and characteristics of cigarette smoke and tar (including carcinoeens) and their effects on the livine" oreanism as a whole, on the respiratory system, and on the cell including effects on the molecular level (blood and hemoglobin). The methods used develop student competence in using such laboratory techniques a t tlc (thin layer chromatography) and colorimetry. Some selected topics dealt with within the program are given in Table 1. The "Smoking Machine" (illustrated in Fig. 2) is essentially the basic experimental system of the program. This device enables the student to either examine and study the nature and effects of cigarette smoke, or to extract the cigarette tar for further quantitative or qualitative studies.
Table 2. lnetticlency of Cigarettes' Filters (cigarettes and tar) Absorbance Comments 0.000 (1) Blank 2.973 With Filter (2) Tar hom one cigarette (!!!I , ,
(3) Tar absorbed by the filter (4) Tar from one cigarette after being absorbed into the lungs (5) Tar from one cigarette without being
0.491 0.053 The same
1.465
cigarette
absorbed into the lungs. (Glllord, Model 250. 4000A0).
shown to be irreversible. The chemical and biochemical orinci~lesand orocesses and the "moral message'' involved appear to be evident. If one adds to the above the students' extensive use of tlc techniques for the separation of cigarette tar into its components, including simulated separation of substances known as carcinogens (like benzidine, for example), then one can get an idea about the scope of the program. Moreover, not only are various branches of chemistry (such as inorganic, analytical, organic, and biochemistry) included, hut also various topics within physiology, psychology, and sociology are interwoven into the program which really make it interdiscinlinarv in nature. In this respect it seems instructive to mention some of the subjects, principles, processes, and laboratonr techniaues most of which are chemically-oriented and are "c&ered" &thin the framework of the program "Smoking and Cigarette Smoke" 1. Design a scientific experiment. 2. Qualitative and quantitative experiments. 3. Solutions and indicators; pH.
1/
4. 5. 6. 7.
CIGARETTE HOLDER
Separation methods (filtration, extraction,tlc; Rd. Models and their significance in science. Colorimetry. The chemical basis of selected biochemical and biological nrocesses.
Summary The presented curriculum "Smoking and Cigarette Smoke" is basically an attempt to achieve the development of a decision-makine-caoaciG . within secondarv school students and of their competence to actually apply this capacity in responding to their own needs and those of society a t large. In other words, appropriate understanding of the chemicalbiological principles and processes to which the corresponding affective components are educationally attached, hopefully, will i m ~ r o v student's e caoacitv . . for certain control of his own beha\,ior ronrwniny smok~n:. Indeed, preliminary results of the formative evaluetion stare hazed on a pilot hid wit s p is most kffective for those pears to indicate that the students that have not vet started smoking. This result provides us the hint for the-optimal time to inEorporate the proposed unit within the existing chemistry curriculum a t secbndary schools. It is hoped that the proposed learning unit will be a modest contribution to learning processes which will prove to be intellectually and affectiuely influential for the adolescent student to modifv his behavior in the desired direction. As such, we believe our program to he a contribution not only to chemistrv instruction. hut also to the chemical education within t i e essential c&rihution of science education to secondarv level education in accordance with the needs of our modern society (6).
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Figure 2. The smoking machine-the basic experimental system in the program.
The following typical experiment for quantitative determination of the tar content in cigarette smoke (included in the unit) is described below for illustration: The tar "traooed . . in the cotton filter of the U tube durinn2 "amokin~" nrncesr ..... ~ ~ ~ . . " of n certain ciearette is extracted auantitatively with acetone. The absorbance of the resulting solution is determined using a standard calorimeter. The results can be given as function of cigarette type, cigarette filter type and so ~
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Selected typical results concerning the efficiency (or, better, inefficiency!) of cigarettes' filters are presented in Table 2. Such data can he ohtained easily by using the "smoking machine," followed by the method just described for the quantitative determination of the tar content in cigarettes. In fact, t.h ~ e st.~~dent,s themselves obtain rather similar results bv ~. conducting this kind of experiments within the framework df the proposed curriculum. The conclusions to he drawn from the given data appear to he obvious. In another series of controlled experiments, the effect of cigarette smoke (the effect of carbon monoxide) on human blood is demonstrated. The color of the blood through which a cigarette smoke (containing approximately 4.2% (5)of CO) was bubbled, turned hrirht red. Similar results were ohtained when carhon monoxide was the bubbled gas. In both cases the process in which carbon monoxyhemoglohin was formed is ~
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Literature Cited i l l Znl1e.U..J. CHEM. EDUC. 54.898i1977l. (21 la1 Domino, E. F.. in "Smoking Behavior: Motives and lncentiver," ilorl, John Wileyand Lms, 1973. !hl Kety. S.. Ibid.
Dunn.. W.
L.. ( 8 d ~
181 Leece..l. H..TIzr SchrinlSei. R e v . 48.695 i1967!. (dl Ahrams. L. A., Garfieid. E. F..Svirher, .I. D..IEditml, " A ~ ~ c ~ ~ n f s bin i l iDrug t y Edw
calisn," The Drug Ahure Council. Inc.. LISA. 1974. is1 The Roprrl of the Aduirury Committee t o the S u r ~ e o nGeneral ~dLhePublic Health
Servica-USA
161
iVsn Nortrand. 1964l. ,372-3971 Asrsrmonl." Nafillnnl Alies%nent of Educational Pmo~ress:A Project of the Education C f m t n i s i s n i l l the Stater. Denver. 1972. ihl Zid1er.U.. Watson. F. C..Sci liduc.. 58, 106 i1474!.
(a! "Science Objectives for
Volume 56. Number 8, August 1979 /
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