Module:Alcohol

1. Introduction

This module consists of four parts

  1. Exchange form
  2. A powerpoint presentation about alcohol
  3. Alcohol Questionnaire
  4. Teacher notes

2. Exchange Form

TO:

Date
Teacher’s name
School
Address
Phone numbers
(inc. dialling code) / Telephone:
Fax:
E-mail address
School website address

We understand that your class is studying Alcohol. We would like to exchange information and the results of our own experiments and research.

We look forward to hearing from your class. Please reply.

FROM:

Teacher’s name
School
Address
Phone numbers
(inc. dialling code) / Telephone:
Fax:
E-mail address
School website address

powerpoint presentation

3.Information and activity sheets

Alcohol Questionnaire

(1) How often do you consume alcohol?
(a)once a day
(b)once a week
(c)once a month
(d)very rarely/never
(2)What would be your drink of choice?
Beer
Spirits
Wine
Cider
Other
(3)Tick the Statement that best applies to you:
"On a typical night out i would drink...
(a)1
(b)1-3
(c)3-7
(d)7-10
(e)10-15
(f)15+
...alcoholic drinks."
(4)Tick the statement(s), if any,which best applies to you:
"I drink alcohol...
(a) to mark a special occasion
(b) to celebrate
(c) to get drunk
(d) because of peer pressure
(e) because it is addictive
(5)Are you aware of the different percentages of alcohol in these alcoholic drinks?
Cider=
Whiskey=
Beer=
Vodka=
Wine=
Port=
(6)In your opinion the legal age for consuming alcohol should be...
(a) 16
(b) 18
(c) 21

(7)Would you say that alcohol is an important part of your culture?
Yes
No

(8)At what rate do you think the body gets rid of alcohol?
(one unit = a half pint of beer, a small glass of wine or a single measure of spirits)
(a) 1 unit every 3 hours
(b) 3 units an hour
(c) 1 unit an hour
(d) 2 units an hour
(9) What do you think the advised alcohol consumtionguidlines for men?
(a) 2-3 units
(b) 3-4 units
(c) 4-5 units
Tick the statements that you think are true:
(a) More than 21 units a week is defined as hazardous drinking for a man.
(b) or 17 or over for a woman.
(c) When the alcohol level in the blood rises to 80 milligrams per 100 millilitres, it is likely to bring
on a coma and the respiratory centre of the brain may become depressed leadin to death.
(d) Excessive consumtion of alcohol can cause liver disease.
(e) Moderate consumtion of alcohol canhelp prevent heart disease.

4.Teacher Notes

Alcoholic drinks

  • Previous knowledge
  • Preparation and production
  • Cultural differences
  • Positives and negatives
  • Myths, facts and interesting information
  • time
  • age of the students

Previous knowledge

It is important to find out what the students know about alcohol before starting on the module. This could be done any number of ways; individual worksheets, small groups (3-4 students) or as a full class group. Questions to discuss would be

  • How are alcoholic drinks made?
  • What is whiskey made from?
  • What is beer made from?
  • What is wine made from?
  • Which of those drinks has the highest alcohol content?
  • What percentage alcohol is in Beer, Wine, Whiskey?
  • How much of each drink would represent 1 unit of alcohol?
  • What is the legal limit for blood alcohol to drive in your country?
  • Roughly how many drinks/units does this correspond to?
  • Of the three drinks mentioned, which do you think would be the most difficult to produce?
  • What is the highest concentration of alcohol that can be produced just by fermentation?
  • How can a drink be made stronger than this?
  • What countries are associated the most with the production of Wine, Whiskey and Beer?
  • Which of these drinks would be most popular among young people in your country/region?
  • Which of these drinks would be most popular among older people in your country/region?

At this stage when the questions have been answered and discussed then it would be a good time to exchange your class’s findings with a school in another country. At this stage, the students could prepare a survey themselves or could use the survey which we have prepared. As always, feel free to make any changes or additions as desired.

Preparation:

Again, an investigative approach could be used here. When the class have discussed it and researched it then the powerpoint presentation could be given to the class to recap on what they should have learned.

Points of Interest.

Producing wine is a lot more straightforward because grapes have plenty of sugar in them unlike the barley seeds that are used for beer and whiskey, which have to germinate before they are ready for fermentation. Also crushing the barley seeds is quite difficult. Initially,the Irish students crushed them with a mortar and pestle. This was incredibly difficult to do.

There are plenty of videos on youtube for making “home-brew” or homemade beer which are very helpful (and I’m told very nice to drink) and “home-brew” kits can be purchased online at quite a reasonable rate.

Cultural Differences:

This could be discussed when the students start to get replies from the other schools. I would suggest that after the initial survey results are returned, a more informal discussion could be set up via e-mail or Skype or Facebook. This would be especially useful if the students were running into difficulty preparing the alcoholic drinks so they would be able to discuss their methods with the other school and then try and solve the problems.

Then, at the end of the process, a new survey with revised questions could be exchanged to see

i)How much the students have learned about the production of the drinks and the science involved

ii)How much the students have learned about the cultural differences regarding alcoholic drinks in different countries

Positives and Negatives

The consumption of alcoholic drinks obviously has both its positive and negative effects on the individual and on society. It should take very little to tease out from the group what they see as both the positive and negative effects. That should be an area where less guidance is crucial because it is important that the ideas come from the students themselves rather than from an authority figure like a teacher.

Interesting facts

What I would like to do here is compose some sort of database of interesting information about alcoholic drinks as students/teachers come across them in their research.

To get the list started:

  • Where did the tradition of putting limes and lemons into drinks (particularly rum) come from?
  • Where did the tradition of putting a wedge of lime into the neck of Mexican beers like Sol and Corona come from?
  • The word Whiskey comes from the Irish name “UisceBeatha” which means “water of life”
  • What is the first reference to alcoholic drinks being consumed?
  • Why do people think that red wine is a healthy drink?
  • What is the importance of wine in the history of civilization?

Time

The Alcoholic drinks project can be developed in a period of three months. Students and teachers could integrate it into lessons or carry out a separate module during school time.

Teachers and students could work on the project for about 10% of their school time.
The main subjects involved are: Chemistry, Biology, History, Maths.
Moreover, is important that students and teachers have sufficientIT skills because they have to exchange information with partners in other countries, sharingdocuments and survey results through an e-learning platform, web site and/or CdRom.

Partners can be found through sites specialising in European projects, such as Comenius and e-Twinning.

Age of the students

The Alcoholic drinks project is suitable for students aged 14-18. Of course,the levelof the different aims of the project can be changed according to the different skills and age of the students.

Look also to our public website:

This module is created within Comenius Project Chemistry as Cultural Enterprise (CCE)