How Drugs Work

Activity 5 Jigsaw Cooperative Learning on the 4 OTC Pain Relievers

Students will learn about the 4 OTC pain relievers through a cooperative learning strategy called Jigsaw.

The class will be divided into groups of 4. This will be the home group. In each home group, students 1, 2, 3 and 4 will be assigned to find information about aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, and acetaminophen. The following guide questions are given to students to help them focus their research.

1. How was the drug discovered? When did it become available as an OTC drug?
2. What is the chemical formula of the drug? Describe some of its physical and chemical properties. Give examples of popular trade names of the drug.
3. How does the drug work?
4. What are the side effects associated with the use of the drug? What are some possible health threats that could arise from the misuse and abuse of the drug?

Depending on the resources available, students can go online to find the needed information or they can use teacher–prepared hand–outs and other reading materials.

Students organize their findings using a graphic organizer shown in the appendix.

Before students go back to their group to share their information, they will meet with students from other groups working on the same topic. These are the expert groups. Students in the expert groups share and verify the information they have gathered. At this point, they may have to modify their graphic organizer to ensure the information they will bring to their group is accurate and complete.

The home groups then reconvene. Each member shares what he has learned about the drug assigned to him. The home group will then prepare a summary chart that contains information about all four drugs. Challenge each home group to be creative in designing their own summary chart. Also, reiterate that it is the responsibility of each home group member to learn from each other.

Activity 6 Lab on Effect of Acidic and Basic Environment on Aspirin

In this lab, students will compare the behavior of regular, buffered and coated aspirin in acidic and basic environments. The acidic environment will simulate the stomach while the basic environment will simulate the small intestine.

Materials

Three 150–mL beakers

Three stopwatches

Two tablets each of regular aspirin, buffered aspirin, and coated aspirin

Vinegar

Baking powder

Distilled water

Graduated cylinder

Stirring rod

pH paper or pH meter

Acidic Environment

1. Measure the pH of the vinegar using pH paper or a pH meter
2. Add 50 mL of vinegar to each of three 150–ml beakers.
3. Simultaneously add one tablet of regular aspirin to the first beaker, buffered aspirin to the second beaker, and coated aspirin to the third beaker.
4. Observe and record what happens to the aspirin in each beaker every minute until the tablets have completely dissolved. Record the time it takes for each tablet to dissolve completely.
5. Rinse and dry the beakers and graduated cylinder.

Basic Environment

1. Add 100 mL of distilled water to each of three 150–mL beakers.
2. Add a teaspoon of baking powder to each of the beakers. Dissolve the baking powder using a stirring rod.
3. Measure the pH of the baking powder solution using pH paper or a pH meter.
4. Simultaneously add a tablet of regular aspirin, buffered aspirin, and coated aspirin to beakers one, two and three, respectively.
5. Observe and record what happens to each tablet every three minutes for 30 minutes or until the tablet has dissolved completely. Record the time it takes for each tablet to dissolve completely.

Questions

1. How do you know that the aspirin tablets are ""reacting"" in an acidic environment in the first part of the lab?
2. Which aspirin dissolved the fastest in an acidic medium? the slowest?
3. Explain any differences observed in the rate of dissolving of the three tablets in an acidic medium.
4. How do you know that the aspirin tablets are ""reacting"" in a basic environment in the second part of the lab?
5. Which aspirin dissolved the fastest in a basic medium? the slowest?
6. Explain any difference observed in the rate of dissolving of the three tablets in a basic medium.
7. Compare the behavior of each type of aspirin in an acidic and basic medium.
8. What does buffered aspirin mean? What does coated aspirin mean?
9. Based on your observations, what conditions would make it more advantageous to use buffered aspirin? coated aspirin?

If pH digital probes are available, the pH of each of the six tablets can be monitored every minute until the tablets have completely dissolved. A graph of pH as a function of time can then be created manually or by using a computer software or a graphing calculator.

Activity 7 Multimedia Project on Deciphering OTC Pain Relievers

For their culminating project, students working in groups of 3 or 4 will select one of the four OTC pain relievers discussed in the unit. They will then visit a local drug store and examine choices available for the pain reliever they have picked. They will write down and compare actual ingredients of each brand and analyze how ""different"" the various brands and variants are from each other. As they read the labels, they should take note of the following questions.

1. How is the product being marketed? What ""catchy phrases"" are printed on the label to entice consumers to pick the product?
2. What is the cost per dosage? Is the difference in cost per dosage justified?
3. Based on the package label and what they have learned from the unit, does it make any difference if they purchase the generic or store brand rather than the name or popular brand?

Groups will present their findings in the form of any of the following: PowerPoint or Prize presentation, podcast or a short video.