Download N-Squad Episode Three: Mission Debrief

N-Squad Episode Three: Mission Debrief
TEACHER VERSION
These short answer response questions can be used as a review, as a final assessment, or
both.
Review
Arrange your students in groups of four to six. Have them choose a recorder who will first
guide the group in brainstorming all the key points they felt they learned in the episode they
just played. Then, hand them the questions from that episode. They may choose one of the
questions or you may have them draw for one. If time permits, you could have the group
respond to both.
Provide each student with a copy of the question since it includes the terms they are trying
to use. As a group, they should submit a written response to the question. The discussion
of the terms and the explanation of definitions and concepts by the students will be an
excellent review. The group can receive credit for both their brainstorming list and the final
written response.
Assessment
To use as a final assessment, have students choose one of the questions and write their
response. Encourage them to use the terms that are included.
Question 1 (Location: Sunrise Treatment Center)
A teenager’s brain is “wired” by repeating actions (such as dancing). Explain how
wiring occurs and how alcohol affects this process.
Use these terms in your answer: neuron, plasticity, hippocampus, memory, pattern,
wiring, prefrontal cortex, teen, learning, and brain.
Answer
When a task is performed repeatedly, the neurons communicate in a certain pattern.
This is what is called “wiring” the brain. The ability of the brain to be “wired” is called
“plasticity”.
In a teen, two brain parts undergo extensive wiring: the prefrontal cortex, which is
required for learning, and the hippocampus, which is required for memory.
Alcohol reduces the size of the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus by killing
neurons, which interrupts the wiring of the brain. Thus, alcohol can damage learning
and memory.
Question 2 (Location: Sunrise Treatment Center)
Neurons transmit or carry signals to the brain. Repeated use of alcohol can change
this process. Using at least five of the following words, show your understanding of
the neurotransmission process.
Use the following terms in your answer: sending neuron, synapse, electrical signals,
chemical signals, axon, dendrite, receiving neuron, neurotransmitters.
Answer
Neurons use electrical and chemical signals for the neurotransmission process.
When an electrical signal arrives at the axon terminal of the sending neuron, it
releases chemicals into the synapse, which is a gap between the sending neuron
and the receiving neuron. These chemicals are called neurotransmitters.
The neurotransmitters can cross the synapse and bind to the dendrite of the
receiving neuron, which may cause the receiving cell to generate an electrical signal.
After binding, neurotransmitters come off the receptors and are either broken down
or they return to the sending neuron where they are stored for future use.
Question 3 (Location: Chateau Q)
Alcohol use is influenced by several factors. Choose one of the following categories and
share your thoughts on how it affects a teen’s outlook and alcohol use: genes, peers, family,
and community.
(Optional terms you may want to use: parents’ use of alcohol, alcohol metabolism, friends’
influences, alcohol related advertising, and laws regarding alcohol in our community)
Answer
Genes: People’s genetic background can influence alcohol use. For example, many
Asian people flush and their rate of heartbeat increases after drinking alcohol,
because they have faulty alcohol metabolizing proteins.
Peers: Sometimes friends can influence alcohol use by urging somebody to drink
alcohol. For example, they could insist that it would be “cool” to drink.
Family: When family members use alcohol, they sometimes are more willing to allow
their children to drink.
Community: The community can influence alcohol use by increasing the legal age
at which people are allowed to drink, or by creating laws that regulate drinking and
driving. Also, the community can prohibit alcohol advertising.
Question 4 (Location: Dragon’s Lair)
Explain some of the facts you learned in the quiz that followed the driving game.
Use at least two of these concepts in your answer: teens and drunk driving, car steering
ability and BAC levels, brain function and alcohol, number of people killed in alcohol related
crashes.
Answer:
In 2005, about 17,000 people in the U.S. died in alcohol-related vehicle crashes.
Teens who drink and drive are more likely than adults to kill someone.
The BAC level at which steering a car becomes difficult is 0.02%, which is below the
legal limit of 0.08%.
Alcohol interferes with the brain’s ability to process information and focus on more
than one task at a time. That’s why drinking makes it more difficult to pay attention to
other cars and steer at the same time.
N-Squad Episode Three: Mission Debrief
Name __________________________ Class _______________ Date ________________
Directions:
Answer the question below. Use the provided terms in your answer.
Question 1 (Location: Sunrise Treatment Center)
A teenager’s brain is “wired” by repeating actions (such as dancing). Explain how
wiring occurs and how alcohol affects this process.
Use these terms in your answer: neuron, plasticity, hippocampus, memory, pattern,
wiring, prefrontal cortex, teen, learning, and brain.
Your answer:
N-Squad Episode Three: Mission Debrief
Name ___________________________ Class ______________ Date ________________
Directions:
Answer the question below. Use the provided terms in your answer.
Question 2 (Location: Sunrise Treatment Center)
Neurons transmit or carry signals to the brain. Repeated use of alcohol can change
this process. Using at least five of the following words, show your understanding of
the neurotransmission process.
Use the following terms in your answer: sending neuron, synapse, electrical signals,
chemical signals, axon, dendrite, receiving neuron, neurotransmitters.
Your answer:
N-Squad Episode Three: Mission Debrief
Name ___________________________ Class ______________ Date ________________
Directions:
Answer the question below. You are not required to use any special terms in your answer,
but you may find the provided words useful.
Question 3 (Chateau Q)
Alcohol use is influenced by several factors. Choose one of the following categories and
share your thoughts on how it affects a teen’s outlook and alcohol use: genes, peers, family,
and community.
(Optional terms you may want to use: parents’ use of alcohol, alcohol metabolism, friends’
influences, alcohol related advertising, and laws regarding alcohol in our community)
Your answer:
N-Squad Episode Three: Mission Debrief
Name ___________________________ Class ______________ Date ________________
Directions:
Answer the question below. Use the provided terms in your answer.
Question 4 (Dragon’s Lair)
Explain some of the facts you learned in the quiz that followed the driving game.
Use at least two of these concepts in your answer: teens and drunk driving, car steering
ability and BAC levels, brain function and alcohol, number of people killed in alcohol related
crashes.
Your answer: