Stimulating Understanding of Computational science through Collaboration, Exploration, Experiment, and Discovery for students with Hearing Impairments
a collaboration of the Shodor Education Foundation, Inc., Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf, Barton College, the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, and Interpreters, Inc.

For Teachers!

The cost of smoking

Overview:
This lesson uses a STELLA computer model to simulate the effect of smoking on a person's life expectancy. The students enter information on the cost of cigarettes, number of cigarettes smoked and the age the individual started smoking. The model asks each 10 years of the simulation if the smoking habits have changed. The simulation ends with the death of the subject. The model calculates the age of death by considering both the reduction in life expectancy by smoking and the extension of life expectancy by quitting.

Objectives:

The students will be able to explain the  financial and life expectancy costs of smoking.

The students will be able to use a computer model to enter and adjust parameters, collect and analyze data.

National standards addressed: Science Content Standards: 5-8

The use of tobacco increases the risk of illness. Students should understand the influence of short-term social and psychological factors that lead to tobacco use and the possible long-term detrimental effects of smoking and chewing tobacco. 

Different kinds of questions suggest different kinds of scientific investigations. Some investigations involve observing and describing objects, organisms, or events; some involve collecting specimens; some involve experiments; some involve seeking more information; some involve discovery of new objects and phenomena; and some involve making models. 

Prerequisites:

Students should know how to collect data in a tabular form.

Activities/Materials:

This lesson uses the model "The Hazards of Smoking." In addition to entering data and running the model, the students will collect the output data from the run. This data can be recorded on the worksheets found in the "Downloads" section. 

The students need access to computers with Internet connections or  a CD containing this lesson.

STELLA or the save disabled version of STELLA to run the model. The save disabled version is free and can be downloaded. See "Downloads."

The model "CostsofSmoking" is a zip file. Download it from the Downloads section and unzip it.

Developed by
The Shodor Education Foundation, Inc.

Copyright © 1999-2001 by The Shodor Education Foundation, Inc.

This project is supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation Opinions expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the National Science Foundation.