KS4 & KS5 biology and psychology: What increases someone’s risk of developing addiction?

Suitable for 14-to-19-year olds (secondary and high schools, and college), this article and accompanying activity sheet can be used in the classroom, STEM clubs and at home.

This resource links to KS4 and KS5 biology and psychology.

It can also be used as a careers resource and links to Gatsby Benchmarks:
Gatsby Benchmark 2: Learning from career and labour market information
Gatsby Benchmark 4: Linking curriculum learning to careers

• This teaching resource explains the work of Professor Ashley Acheson, a behavioural neuroscientist at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. He is investigating biological and behavioural factors associated with risk for alcohol and other substance use disorders.

• This resource also contains an interview with Ashley and offers an insight into careers in behavioural neuroscience.

• The activity sheet provides ‘talking points’ (based on Bloom’s Taxonomy) to prompt students to reflect on Ashley’s research and challenges them to design an addiction support leaflet to explain the science behind addiction and highlight support services and resources.

This resource was first published by Futurum Careers, a free online resource and magazine aimed at encouraging 14-to-19-year-olds worldwide to pursue careers in science, tech, engineering, maths, medicine (STEM) and social sciences, humanities and the arts for people and the economy (SHAPE).

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