The Black Death
Teacher Resources
Lesson Guide
This guide includes all the usual stuff on timing and sample answers, but you should also read it as you prep for the What Are You Trading? game.
Map: Black Death and Mongols
This map will be useful as you teach this lesson. It shows the Mongol Empire, medieval trade routes, and the spread of the Black Death.
Driving Question: What caused the Black Death pandemic?
One of the most devastating pandemics in human history struck Afro-Eurasian communities in the fourteenth century. Spreading along trade routes, the Black Death decimated whole countries and reshaped economic systems and societal structures.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn about the causes and consequences of the Black Death.
- Use quick-sourcing skills to analyze primary and secondary sources to understand reactions to the Black Death.
- Use the historical thinking practice of causation to evaluate the causes and consequences of the Black Death.
Vocab Terms:
- epidemic
- innovation
- sanitation
Did you know: The Mongol Empire paused its invasion of Europe because of a death in the family. In 1241, Mongol armies were tearing through Eastern Europe and were basically unstoppable. They reached as far as Germany, where they suddenly turned around. Why? The Great Khan Ögedei had died, and leaders needed to return home to vote on who would be the next Great Khan.
You’re about to learn about history’s worst pandemic. Use this quick activity to use what you already know to make a prediction about what’s to come.
This game is a fun way to surprise students. As they trade cards, they will unwittingly simulate the spread of the Black Death. It’s a great way to emphasize how quickly disease can spread along trade routes.
Before you run this activity, be sure to check out the instructions in the Lesson Guide. You’ll need 3–4 decks of playing cards as well as a 5x7 note card for each student in your class.
How did the expansion of an empire and the flourishing of trade routes lead to one of history’s worst epidemics? This activity and article will help you understand the linkages of trade and the Black Death.
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Guiding Questions
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Before you read
Preview the questions below, and then skim the article. Be sure to look at the section headings and any images.
While you read
Look for answers to these questions:
- How did the success of the Mongol state help the Black Death spread?
- How many people are estimated to have died from the plague?
- What do gerbils have to do with plague?
- Where was the plague the worst? Why?
- How did the plague affect economies?
After you read
Respond to these questions: We tend to think that exchange and trade between societies is always a good thing. Does this article change your opinion? How?
One of the sources in this collection is by Black Death expert Monica Green. If you or your students want to dig deeper into the recent advances in genetic science and how it supports historians’ research, check out this blog post Dr. Green wrote for the OER Project.
As you read the primary source excerpts in this collection, use the accompanying Quick-Sourcing Tool to guide your analysis of the Black Death.
Causal maps can help us make sense of complicated histories. This activity will help you pull together all the causes and consequences for the Black Death.
By suggesting revisions to someone else’s writing, you’ll get much better at identifying what makes strong writing. Make suggestions for improving analysis and evidence—and then keep those suggestions in mind the next time you write.
