To accompany feature ‘Vaping may harm a teen’s lungs’

SCIENCE

Before reading:

1.    How is an electronic cigarette like a conventional cigarette, and how does it differ?

2.    What might be the appeal of vaping over smoking?

During reading:

1.    How popular is vaping among U.S. teens?

2.    Why does an e-cigarette need a fluid?

3.    What is vaping and where does that term come from?

4.    Why do manufacturers put nicotine in most vaping fluids?

5.    Name several ways that vaping can harm lung tissue.

6.    What about the vaping may prove harmful — as in what feature of the vaping or the liquids might cause risks?

7.    What does the article describe as the reason for concern about Staphylococcus aureus bacteria?

8.    Name two ways that nicotine can enter the body.

9.    Based on the story, how many e-cigarette fluids are available for sale?

10.How long must a smoker or vaper be exposed to nicotine before that person can become addicted?

After reading:

1.    Cite three new things you learned about e-cigarettes from the story. Did it make vaping seem too risky for you? Explain why or why not.

2.    Do some research on the flavors of e-cigarette liquids are available. (You can look at this Stanford University website for some examples: http://tobacco.stanford.edu/tobacco_main/ecigs.php) Identify five flavors that seem primarily aimed at adults and another five that might seem targeted more at teens. Explain your reasoning for putting them in each category.

 

MATHEMATICS

1.    Talk to 25 classmates in your school. How many have every tried vaping (count yourself)? How many have every tried a cigarette? How many have tried both. Graph your results.

2.    Using the information provided by the story, imagine a vial of e-cigarette liquid that when full had contained 87 milligrams of nicotine. Once two-thirds of it the liquid has been used, how much nicotine is left? Would that be enough to seriously poison someone? Explain your reasoning.

3.    The story says there were 7,764 unique flavors of e-cigarette liquids on the market in January 2014. If the rate of increase in new flavors reported by the story is still ongoing, how many new flavors could be available this month?