Blood Alcohol Content
The goal of this exercise is to understand the effects of different
levels of alcohol on the body.
Materials needed: two identical large jars (quarts work best),
two identical small jars (pints work best), three identical medium
size jars, a wine glass, a beer glass, a shot glass, food coloring,
water
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- Explain the concept of blood-alcohol content and the definition of
a standard drink to your students. Refer to this chart for examples:
- Now show your students how this works!
- Part One
- Place the two large jars on a table and fill with water.
- Explain to students that the large jars represent a man's
body.
- Explain to students that each drop equals one standard drink.
- Drop 2 drops of food coloring into the first jar and 4 drops
into the second jar.
- It will be visible that the 4 drops of food coloring make
the water to be deeper in color than the 2 drops.
- Explain how the difference in color between the two jars demonstrates
the different levels of alcohol present in a man's body after
consuming different amounts of alcohol.
- Part Two
- Now fill up the two small jars with water and put 2 drops
of food coloring into the first jar and 4 drops into the second
jar.
- Explain to students that the small jars represent a woman's
body.
- Explain to students how men and women metablise alcohol differently
due to body size, body composition, alcohol dehydrogenase, menstrual
cycles and the use of oral contraceptives.
- Part Three
- Fill a wine glass, beer glass, and shot glass with water.
- Put 4 drops of food coloring into each glass.
- Explain that the drops of food coloring represent the percentage
of alcohol in each type of beverage.
- Poor each of the wine, beer, and shot glasses into a seperate
medium size jar and fill with water.
- The color of the water in each jar should be the same!
- Explain how a shot of spirits, a glass of wine, and a can
of beer all contain virtually the same amount of alcohol.
- Lead students in a discussion of the concepts of percentage, ratio
and proportion related to this effect.
- Assign your students to explore Prevlink to learn the differing effects
of alcohol based on body size and weight and relate it to their own
body weight and size.
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