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Overview:
This
lesson is part of a larger unit called “The Transition to Modern
Society.” This interdisciplinary unit covers four areas: Social
Studies, Science, Math, and Language Arts.
Big Idea/Theme/Essential Questions:
The
Plague: A Turning Point in History
The essential question for the Social Studies components is: How did
the plague contribute to the decline of feudalism and the rise of
the Renaissance in Europe?
Lesson Objectives:
1. To develop an
understanding of the hygiene and health practices of medieval lifestyles.
2. To understand how unsanitary conditions contributed to the spread
of disease.
3. To synthesis historical information through imaginative writing.
4. To compare and contrast past with present.
5. To understand meanings of words
Skills:
1. To collect data and organize it using charts, graphs, and spreadsheets.
2. To utilize reading strategies when reading content area material.
3. To read primary sources.
Materials:
Students handouts, transparencies, Power Point
picture, overhead projector, computer-TV- Power Point
ACTIVITY-1
Materials:
•STUDENT
HANDOUT # 1 Anticipation Guide
•
STUDENT HANDOUT # 2 The
Smell of the Middle Ages
Prior Knowledge:
Students
Should Know:
•The
Feudal System
•
The concept and meaning of the word Renaissance
•
The basic differences between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
•Other
reasons for the decline of the feudal system
•The
Hundred Years War
•The
rise of monarchies
•
The growth of individualism
Introduction:
Explain to students that the Great Plague was one of the many reason
for the decline of the feudal system. The Great Plague, The Bubonic
Plague, Black Death, The Black Plague are some of the names for this
epidemic. Use AIDS as an example of an epidemic. Explain to students
that the Great Plague was one of the many reason for the decline of
the feudal system. Review the feudal system and discuss the importance
of the roles and responsibilities of each person. Next, review the
concept of the Renaissance.
Procedure:
Begin lesson by
having students complete the STUDENT HANDOUT # 1 Anticipation Guide.
Have students share their answers.
1. Introduce the hygiene habits of the time by first having students
compose a class list of healthy hygiene habits we use today. Pass
out STUDENT HANDOUT # 2 and have students read the passage using the
Think-Pair-Share reading technique. Students should then compare each
to the habits of the medieval times with the class lists. Emphasize
that immunization, sanitary practices for disposal of food, garbage
and refuse, rat proofing of buildings, and the reduction of rat breeding
places keeps the disease under control today.
2. Students create
a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the hygiene habits of the
Middle Ages with the hygiene habits of today.
ACTIVITY- 2
Materials:
•Powerpoint
PICTURE # 1 Bubo
Caused by the Plague
•STUDENT
HANDOUT # 3 The Causes of the Bubonic
Plague
•
POWER POINT PICTURE # 2 Plague
Carrying Flea
•
TRANSPARENCY #1 Flow Chart: The Causes
of the Bubonic Plague
Prior Knowledge:
•Living
conditions during the Middle Ages
•
The abundance of rats in the villages and cities
Introduction:
The plague is a
term applied to an infectious disease that is easily spread and, without
treatment with antibiotics, can be fatal. The plague has caused more
fear and terror than perhaps any other infectious disease in history.
It has laid claim to nearly 200 million lives and has brought about
monumental changes, such as the end of the Dark Ages and the advancement
of clinical research in medicine.
Procedure:
Read
an excerpt from the popular nursery rhyme, Ring-Around-the Rosie,
to the class or if any students can recite it. Now read the real version
from the Middle Ages:
Ring Around the Rosie
Explain to students
that the original rhyme described one of the most devastating epidemics
in history, The Plague (a.k.a., The Bubonic Plague, The Great Plague,
Black Death). Show students the Powerpoint PICTURE #1 Bubo Caused
by the Plague and discuss the meaning behind each line in the rhyme.
•'Ring-a-ring
o' roses' describes the red rash that people would get from the disease.
•'A pocket full of posies' describes the bundles of herbs that
people would carry in their pockets to try and ward off the disease.
•'A-tishoo! A-tishoo!' describes the sneezing that would accompany
the disease.
•'We all fall down.' describes the masses of people who died
from the plague in such a short period of time.
Show POWER POINT
PICTURE # 2 Plague Carrying Flea and have students read STUDENT HANDOUT
# 3 The Causes of the Bubonic Plague, which describe how the plague
infects humans. Students can complete the flow chart similar to TRANSPARENCY
# 1 Flow Chart: The Causes of the Bubonic Plague.
Procedure:
Have students write a paragraph responding to the following question.
What do you think might happen to the United States if we did not
have immunization, sanitary practices, and disposal of garbage and
sewage systems? Focus on one or more of the following areas: economics,
social structure, politics, religious, and/or geography.
Activity- 3 SPREAD
OF THE PLAGUE
Materials:
•Powerpoint
PICTURE #3 Map: The
Spread of the Plague from China Throughout Europe1346-1353
•
11 paper bags
•
White beans (200 per bag)
•
Red Beans (One Bag---should be as close to the size of the white beans
as possible
•
Large Map
•
; Run off enough skulls (class set), and place labels for towns on
bags
•
copies of skull and cross bones;
13 die
•
STUDENT HANDOUT 4 Map of Europe in
1349
Prior Knowledge:
•Geography
of Asia and Europe
•
map reading
Introduction:
Although still debated by historians, the plague has been responsible
for at least 3 great pandemics (an epidemic that spreads over a large
region or multiple sections of the world) and multiple epidemics in
history.
• The first
spread occurred from the Middle East to the Mediterranean basin during
the 5th and 6th centuries, killing about half of the population in
these areas.
• The second pandemic afflicted Europe between the 8th and 14th
centuries, destroying nearly 40% of the population.
• The third pandemic started in 1855 in China and spread to every
major continent.
Preparation:
Plague Beans Key:
Place thirty white beans in each bag. Add red beans signifying the
plague as follows:
The following *start* with 5 red beans: London, Rome, Rotterdam
The Following *start* with 8 red beans: Siena, Lyon
The Following *start* with 2 red beans: Dijon, Marseille, Genoa
The Following have 1 red bean: Florence, Brussels
The Following have 0 red beans: Milan
Procedure:
Analyze
Powerpoint PICTURE #3 Map: The Spread of the Plague from China Throughout
Europe, 1346-1353 that shows the spread of the plague throughout Europe.
Tell students that the plague was first seen in China in 1331 and
in 15 years had spread across Asia to Europe. Students answer the
following questions:
Discussion Questions:
1.
What continent did the plague come from?
2. Where did the plague spread? Describe its path.
3. How many years did it take to spread throughout all of Europe?
4. Why do you think this epidemic spread so quickly?
5. Why do you think it took so long to cure?
Students will
now role-play how the plague spread so quickly using beans. Pass out
two-sided STUDENT HANDOUT 4 Map of Europe in 1349. Tell students that
they will be taking part in a pilgrimage during the time of the Black
Plague. Have students imagine that they are traveling to a variety
of towns and villages on a pilgrimage or a trading voyage. It is the
time of the infamous Black Plague, which was particularly virulent
among children and young people, during the mid 1300's. It is the
second great plague to invade Europe. This Plague was so deadly that
it took until the 1800s before the population again rose to the numbers
before the Plague, about 500 years!!
Preparation:
The Rules
of the Journey:
• You will be a traveler on a journey as a trader throughout
eleven different European towns. The trading and pilgrim routes that
you will be traveling on spread the plague, as travelers went from
town to town.
•When you visit a town or village, you will roll ONE DIE to see
how many nights you will spend in that particular place.
•*You have a map. Mark your journey on the map and list how
many days you spent in each location on your log book of journey located
on the back of your map.
• Several of the villages will have just begun to show evidence
of the plague. Draw out of the bag (representing the nights lodging
& meals) as many beans as the nights you are staying. If you
get a bean that is red color, you have contracted the Plague.
• * If
you DO contract the plague before you continue to the next town,
you need to:
1) get a skull to tape on yourself
2) mark on your map where you got the plague
3) put back all the beans into the bag 4) go to the next two towns.
DON'T draw out any beans in this town. At the first town roll the
die. If you roll a 1,2,3 get ONE plague bean from the teacher and
put it into the bag. If you roll 4,5,6 get TWO plague beans from the
teacher and put them into that towns bag. Go on to the second town.
Get a skull to put onto the bag of the second town, if there isn't
already one on that bag. This represents that you're likely to die
in this second town. Note: To understand what is happening, you can
probably see that you will be a carrier of the plague and will be
infecting others who come along after you. Historically, towns that
carried the plague were marked for the disease, just like you've marked
the bag. After visiting 2 towns after you have first contracted the
plague, stop. At this point you have died, unless you can do the following:
roll the die twice only; if and only if you roll two ones in a row,
you have recovered and can go on your way. (It was very rare, but
some people actually recovered from the plague. Some of these were
then immune to the next plague, though not always). Otherwise you
have died. Roll the dice in front of the teacher to have it count.
Put a red dot on your own map where you died, and on the class map.
• If you DON'T contract the plague, continue on your journey
after you have drawn your beans. Replace the beans you have drawn
into the container for the next traveler.
• You may want to change the order around so that all students
do not start in the same city.
Students will
create a T-Chart comparing the classroom
activity to the historical reality. See model below:
ACTIVITY- 4: LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES
Materials:
•
STUDENT HANDOUT #5 I Buried My Five
Children With My Own Hands
Prior Knowledge:
•Students
will have an understanding of the feudal system and in life during
the Middle Ages.
Introduction:
The economy was probably hit the hardest of all the aspects of Europe.
The biggest problem was that valuable artisan skills disappeared when
large numbers of the working class died. Therefore, those who had
skills became even more valuable than the rich people. The society
structure began to change giving formally poor laborers more say.
The peasants and artisans demanded higher wages. Serfs seeking liberation
from tilling their lord's land were told by decree and statue to return
to their master's duties. The poor people saw so much death they wanted
to enjoy life. Serfs began to leave their land and not engage in the
planting of crops. Unattended crops and stray animals died of starvation
because of the lack of care. Several domesticated animals began to
roam the forest. Farming communities became rare. The lack of sufficient
law enforcement personnel promoted lawlessness. The horror of the
Black Death had taken on a new victim, the economy.
Literacy Strategy:
Students
use the Reciprocal Reading Strategy outlined below to read primary
source document STUDENT HANDOUT #5 I Buried My Five Children With
My Own Hands.
Historical Background
"I
Buried My Five Children With My Own Hands". Agnolo di Tura was
a chronicler who lived in Siena, a city of about 60,000 located some
thirty miles south of Florence. In 1347, it was a great banking center
and wealthy enough to be building what the citizens intended to be
the greatest church in Christendom. Siena was very hard hit by the
Black Death. Di Tura, who survived it though all his family died,
claimed that after the plague had passed, only 10,000 people remained
alive. The records do not allow us to know exact figures, but certainly
there is evidence that the city suffered unusually high losses. Construction
work on the cathedral has halted and never resumed. Both the university
and the wool-processing industry closed down. Laymen filled posts
usually reserved for clergymen because so may priests died. Many estates,
left with no heirs at all, were taken over by a much-reduced city
council. The civil courts ceased to meet. When recovery set in, the
authorities acted quickly to identify taxpayers that remained and
to impose a new tax in order to pay the much higher salaries that
soldiers and government employees were demanding. This, however, led
to poverty in the countryside, a wave of immigration to high-paying
jobs in the city, and increased tension between haves and have-nots,
with an accompanying rise in crime and financial problems. Siena probably
never fully recovered from the effects of the Black Death.
Procedure:
1.
Introduce questioning, summarizing, clarifying, and predicting as
helpful processes that good readers use. Work with a small group of
readers (four to six). Question: After students read the selection,
ask a student to create and answer an important question about the
reading.
• Summarize:
One student will restate or paraphrase what they have read in their
own words.
• Clarify: Focus on what makes the reading difficult by discussing
any confusing aspects of the selection.
• Predict: Speculate about what is likely to occur.
Be sure students are comfortable with the four processes.
2. Have groups
read STUDENT HANDOUT #5 I Buried My Five Children With My Own Hands.
Provide guidance and feedback on the use of the four processes. After
students have read, questioned, summarized, clarified, and predicted,
have each group debrief to the class. Finally, Guide group or class
discussion using the following questions:
Discussion Questions:
1. Who is the author of this passage?
2. Who are the victims of the passage?
3. How were the people dying?
4. Besides the fact of death itself, what other problems caused by
the Black Death did the author of this story identify?
5. Remember the feudal system. What could be some other social or
economic problems caused by the Black Death?
ACTIVITY- 5: WHAT CAUSES THE PLAGUE?
Material:
•STUDENT
HANDOUT # 6 What
did people think caused the Plague examples of written public
service announcements
http://www.schoolhistory.co.uk/year8links/plague/Plaguebooklet.pdf
Prior Knowledge:
•The
power of the Church
•The
lack of educated peoples during the time period.
Introduction:
Although the government had medical worker that tried to prevent
the plague, the plague persisted. Advancements in medicine were minimal.
During the early years of the plague, the scientific method did not
exist. Many of the efforts to stop the plague had little, if any scientific
validity. Most medical workers quit and journeyed away because they
feared getting the plague themselves. Eventually, Alexandre Yersin
isolated the organism (a bacterial germ) that causes plague, developed
a treatment (an antiserum) to combat the disease, and was the first
to suggest that it may be spread by fleas and rats during the epidemic
of 1894. The plague bacillus (bacterium) was named Yersinia Pestis
in his memory
Procedure:
1. Read as a class primary source document STUDENT HANDOUT # 6 Allow
students to Think-Pair-Share after. As a class discuss the following
questions:
1. Where do you think the suggestion came from?
2. What do you think were the purposes of those suggestions? Remember
there may be different motives.
3. What dominated the thoughts of most people during the Middle Ages?
4. Do you think the people of the fourteenth century coped successfully
with the Black Death? Why or why not?
5. In what ways were the people of the Middle Ages in the dark when
it came to the treatments of the plague?
6. What part of the scientific method was missing?
2.
After
analyzing a variety of functional passages, advertisements from the
classified section of a newspaper, have students create their own
individual advertisements presenting ways of avoiding the Plague.
Advertisements must include the following:
• Bold "hook" or "catch phrase"
• Contact information
•Three to for ways of avoiding the Plague
ACTIVITY- 6: THE PLAGUE IN LONDON
Materials:
•STUDENT
HANDOUT # 7 London's: Lord
Have Mercy Upon Us and/or Powerpoint picture # 4 London's: Lord Have
Mercy Upon Us; STUDENT HANDOUT
•
# 8 London's:
Lord Have Mercy Upon Us (zoom) and/or Powerpoint picture
•
# 5 London's: Lord Have Mercy Upon Us (zoom) and complete STUDENT
HANDOUT # 9
The Plague in London England in 1625
Prior Knowledge:
•Basic
math: adding, calculating percentages
Introduction:
Tell students that they will be analyzing a news article from the
1600's that shows how quickly the plague acts. Remind students that
although the statistics are not from the Plague of the 1300's, it
does show how quickly and how devastating the Plague was.
Procedure:
1.Students will view primary source STUDENT HANDOUT # 7 London's:
Lord Have Mercy Upon Us and/or Powerpoint picture # 4 London's: Lord
Have Mercy Upon Us and answer the following questions:
1. Look at the
headline, what does the illustration on the front page of the newspaper
show us? Is it people fleeing the city?
2. The pages border is illustrated with skulls, skeletons, and shovels.
What are some of the reasons for this?
3. To both sides of the page are columns. What might you expect to
find in these columns?
4. What evidence of superstition is there in this source?
5. What evidence of the use of scientific data is there in this source?
6. Why would the scientific data present in this primary source of
the 1600's probably not be found in a primary source from the 1300's?
2. Students will
view primary source STUDENT HANDOUT # 8 London's: Lord Have Mercy
Upon Us (zoom) and/or Powerpoint picture # 5 London's: Lord Have Mercy
Upon Us (zoom) and complete STUDENT HANDOUT # 9 The Plague in London
England in 1625 spreadsheet calculating the number of deaths by percentage
caused by the plague in various months of the year. After completing
the spreadsheet, discuss the following questions:
1. Which months showed the lowest percentage of deaths caused by the
Plague during 1625?
2. Which months showed the highest percentage of deaths caused by
the Plague during 1625?
3. Why do you think the percentage was so high in the July, August,
September compared to the other months?
4. How could these finding help identify the source of the plague?
ACTIVITY- 7: EFFECT OF EPIDEMICS
Materials:
•
Sample newspaper articles (articles on other epidemics, particularly
aids in African countries)
Prior Knowledge:
•Understanding
of the concept of perspective
•
Reading a newspaper
Introduction:
How did the Black Death affect European civilization? It affected
Europe's population and also its economy. Changes in the size of civilization
led to changes in trade, the church, music and art, and many other
things. The Black Death killed off a massive portion of Europe's population.
The plague is more effective when it attacks weakened people and Europe
at the time was already weakened by exhaustion of the soil due to
poor farming, the introduction of more sheep which reduced the land
available for corn, and persistent Scottish invasions. Fleas infected
with the Bubonic Plague would jump from rats to travelers, killing
millions and infesting the continent with world-shaking fear. Normal
people were tormented by the threat of death, causing them to change
their views on leisure, work, and art. Even children suffered.
Leisure
The Black Death crept slowly into the recreational time of people
no matter how much the rich attempted to avoid it or how little time
the poor had for recreation. Even the abundant death was used for
laughter. Funeral processions were used as jokes. It got to the point
where deaths were ignored altogether. Citizens looked for causes and
the developmentally delayed, deformed and crazy people outside town
were the perfect candidates. Bored? Go toss some stones at the witch
and help to stop the plague.
Art
The damage to art is irreparable. As a result of death in the church,
written language was almost lost and whole churches were abandoned.
Carving was changed. Coffins had pictures of corpses on the lid, usually
showing a very flattering likeness of the body inside wearing their
best clothes. Some of these dated around 1400 showed bodies with about
half of their flesh and shredded garments. A few of the sculptures
showed worms and snails munching on the diseased. Painting was affected
too. There are a number of paintings containing people socializing
with skeletons. These paintings were made on a powerful person's command,
and called "danse macabre". Artists abandoned old ways of painting
things idolized by the Christian religion. They were so depressed
by the death that surrounded them that they began to paint pictures
of sad and dead people.
Children
Partially due to the lack of children's skills to provide for themselves,
the children suffered. Not only were the children effected physically,
but also mentally. Exposure to public nudity, craziness, and (obviously)
abundant death was premature. The decease of family members left the
children facing death and pain at an early age. Parents even abandoned
their children, leaving them to the streets instead of risking the
babies giving them the dreaded "pestilence". Children were especially
unlucky if they were female. Baby girls would be left to die because
parents would favor male children that could carry on the family name.
Effect over Time
After the plague had raised the level of leisure, the people kept
it up. This was so injuring to the economy that it has been suggested
that Europe is just now recovering from the devastation. The population
is also a cause of disruption in the economy because small populations
mean few taxes, however the economy improved. If the Black Death had
an effect on today's economy, it would be that prices aren't as high
as they would have been due to the fact that there was a century where
the economy made no progress. Art was also a victim of the Plague
because paintings are a lasting record. The art is still an easy thing
to find and a good reminder of how the most creative people can panic
when there's panic around them. The plague benefited art. Death inspired
artists to stray from religious pictorials.
Soon after the
last eruption of the Black Death, the views on children changed. Although
carrying on the family name was still considered important, the birth
rate dropped. Children were considered "not worth the trouble" to
raise. It took four hundred years before Europe's population equaled
the pre-Black Death figures. The demand for agricultural workers gave
survivors a new bargaining power. Workers formerly bound to the land
could now travel and command higher wages for their services. In addition,
people left rural areas and migrated to cities for higher wages. The
economic structure of land-based wealth shifted. Portable wealth in
the form of money, skills and services emerged. Small towns and cities
grew while large estates and manors began to collapse. The very social,
economic, and political structure of Europe was forever altered. One
tiny insect, a flea, toppled feudalism and changed the course of history
in Europe.
http://www.insecta-inspecta.com/fleas/bdeath/Europe.html
Pocedure:
1.
Teacher will facilitate a discussion wrapping up the previous lessons.
Use the following discussion questions to review the causes, reactions,
and results of the plague covered in the previous lessons.
1. Where did the plague come from?
2. What caused the plague?
3. Who was affected by the plague?
4. How were the lords of the manors affected? the serfs? the townspeople?
5. How did the plague contribute to the breakdown of the feudal system?
Tell students that they will be assuming the role as a journalist during
the 14th century writing a news article about the Great Plague. Analyze
some modern news articles, identifying who, what, when, where, why,
results, important quotes, etc., and point out the basic structures
of the articles. Students should use these articles as models for there
own.
2. Students will
assume the role as a journalist during the 14th century and write
a news article that answers the essential question: How did the plague
contribute to the decline of feudalism and the rise of the Renaissance
in Europe? The article must include the following:
•
headline
•
picture
•
a quote from a peasant
•
a quote from lord
of a manor
•a
quote from city person
•
typed or handwritten
in blue or black ink
Literacy Strategies:
1. Reciprocal reading
2. Reading and writing news articles
3. Interpreting statistics
4. Reading and writing functional passages
Rubric:
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Grade:
7
Subject:
Social Studies
California Content Standards
Addressed
Science
Standards
7.5 The anatomy
and physiology of plants and animals illustrate the complementary
nature of structure and function. As a basis for understanding this
concept:
b. Students know organ
systems functions because of the contributions of individual organs,
tissues and cells. The failure of any part can affect the entire system.
7.7 Scientific progress
is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations.
As a basis for understanding this concept, and to address the content
in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions
and perform investigations.
History/Social
Science Standards
7.6 Students analyze geographic, political, economic, religious,
and social structures of the civilizations of Medieval Europe.
Map the spread of the
bubonic plague from Central Asia to China, the Middle East, and Europe
and describe its impact on global population.
Reading
Standards
2.1 Understand and analyze
the differences in structure and purpose between various categories
of informational materials (e.g., textbooks, newspapers, instructional
manuals, signs)
2.2 Locate information
using a variety of consumer, workplace, and public documents.
2.3 Analyze text that
uses the cause-and-effect organizational pattern.
2.4 Identify and trace
the development of an author's argument, point of view, or perspective
in text.
2.5 Understand and explain
the use of a simple mechanical device by following technical directions.
2.6 Assess the adequacy,
accuracy, and appropriateness of the author's evidence to support
claims and assertions, noting instances of bias and stereotyping.
Writing
7.5 Create an organizational
structure that balances all aspects of the composition and uses effective
transitions between sentences to unify important ideas.
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