THE BLACK DEATH

THE BLACK PLAGUE

• An epidemic (rapidly spreading diseases) that began in Asia and hit Europe in the mid 1300s.

• The plague hit so quickly that it killed 1/3 of the population of Europe in five years.

• Also known as the Bubonic Plague or Great Mortality

• High Fever

• Muscle Cramps

• Chills

• Seizures

• Buboes (swelling/lumps on the skin)

• Seizures

• Pain

• Skin Color Changes

• Fatigue

• Vomiting

SYMPTOMS

Symptoms appeared 2-5 days after being exposed to the bacteria.

HOW QUICKLY DID THE BLACK DEATH SPREAD? Take out a piece of loose-leaf/scratch paper Each of you will be given a piece of candy. Walk around the room and say hello and exchange your candy with 5 of

your classmates, write their names down on a sheet of paper. Once you have five names written down, take a seat.

Look at your candy, who was the candy with the black dot on it? Please stand up.

Anyone who made contact with you has also been in contact with the Plague. Please stand up if you have been infected.

Anyone who made contact with anyone standing, has also been in contact with the Plague. Please stand up if you have been infected.

This activity was to show you how quickly the Plague spread. Once the Plague hit a town, it would spread very quickly and affect all the people.

GROUP DO (25 MIN)

1. Independently read text in your black Middle Ages Text Book. Page is called “The Dark Death” Read up to A Mystery Solved (10 min)

2. In groups, fill in summary chart on handout. (15 min)

Who was affected by the Black Death?

What were the symptoms of the Black Death? (at least 3 examples)

When did the Black Death first occur?

Where did the Black Death occur?

Why did the Black Death spread so quickly?

How were the people affected by this disease? (at least two examples)

YOU DO (10 MIN)

This was such a devastating plague, 1/3 of the population died within five years. People were so desperate to find a cause that they began to blame different groups of people for the plague.

1.Assign each person in your group one of the topics on the plastic sheets in the center of the table. (peasants, polluted air, non-Christians, God)

2.Independently read your assigned section. As you read, write two examples of evidence in your chart that supports why your topic was blamed for the spread of the Plague.

GROUP DO (20 MIN)You will share in your groups and collect evidence on who/what other people blamed for the plague. (Use the sentence stems as we did with Robin Hood and interview each other to complete the rest of the chart.)

Dark Death Interview Questions

God interviews Peasants

Peasants interviews Polluted Air

Polluted Air Interviews Non-Christians

Non-Christians interview God

Questions for Interview…

“What is your evidence for why and how _______________ were to blame?”

“So you think ____________ is to blame for the Black Death because (Restate the evidence in your own words.)

GROUP THEN COMPLETES CHART ONCE THE INTERVIEW IS COMPLETE

YOU DO (20 MIN)• Write a newspaper article blaming your assigned group/topic for the plague

• Your article WILL be biased.

• Think of an author and what their background is according to who they are blaming.

• What will be the author’s tone? Word choice?

• Your first paragraph should include a summary of the Black Plague.

• Your second paragraph will be where you give blame. Use two textual evidence.

• Include one counterargument and explain why that cannot be true.

*****Use the next slide to help you as your write******

Newspaper Article Rubric

____/_2__ Information about the Plague ____/ 2 Biased tone and word choice____/ 1 States claim on who/what was to blame. (The ________ is to blame for the Black Death)____/ 3 Two (2) examples of evidence exactly from the text and reasoning to support claim. ____/ _2 Counterargument (Some people believe that _________ is to blame because ________, but I disagree because ____________)

L O N D O N T I M E SMarch 1348

Dark Death Strikes Europe _Peasants__ to Blame !!!

The Dark Death is a …… (summary paragraph from chart)

The plague has now hit the city of London and Peasants are to blame!“Evidence 1” and reasoning.“Evidence 2” and reasoning.

Some people may believe that the polluted air caused the

plague but I disagree because_____________. The Black Death has caused such a disaster in this beautiful country and we must do whatever it takes to stop it!