The Black Death
The Black Death is infamously known for ravaging the streets of Europe, but the plague was also history’s worst pandemic, killing up to 200 million people across Afro-Eurasia. These classroom-ready lesson plans and teaching materials encourage students to think critically about the scale of the bubonic plague, use causal reasoning to uncover how it started, and map its global effects.
How to Teach the Black Death
Sourcing
Tips for teaching source analysis so you can lead students through primary- and secondary- source excerpts to understand the origins and spread of the Black Death.
Blog: Redefining the Black Death
An exploration of causation—and an expanded timeline—of the Black Death plague will resonate with students after experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic .
OER Project Map Index
View our full collection of world maps, including maps covering the spread of the Black Death, the Mongol Empire, and Islam as well as yearly political maps of the world in the 14th century.
Activities to Teach the Black Death
Teachers discuss simulations to help students understand the outbreak of the Black Death—and the role of wealth in avoiding contagion.
Lesson Plans on The Black Death
Lesson 2.9
The Black Death
The Black Death killed hundreds of millions of humans in the fourteenth century. History’s worst pandemic spread across Afro-Eurasia, leaving ruin in its wake. Where did it come from? How did it change the world?
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Lesson 2.6
Environmental Consequences of Connectivity
Humans build communities to share goods, beliefs, and ideas across networks. While fourteenth-century connections spread innovations, they also brought challenges like the devastating Black Death.
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Lesson 6.3.2
Bubonic Plague
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 students locate the linkages of trade and the Black Death.
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Even More: Black Death Teaching Resources and Activities
Trade Networks and the Black Death
Article
Trade Networks and the Black Death
The Black Death was caused by one huge empire and one tiny animal. It spread through trade networks across large portions of Afro-Eurasia, reshaping societies in every region it afflicted.
Black Death and Mongols Thematic Map
Visual Aid
Black Death and Mongols Thematic Map
A full-color thematic map of the Black Death and Mongols in 1200 CE that illustrates connections between trade, empire, and disease.
Source Collection: The Black Death
Article
Source Collection: The Black Death
The primary source excerpts in this collection help explain the origins and spread of the fourteenth-century Black Death.
What Are You Trading?
Activity
What Are You Trading?
Time to practice your negotiation skills. Trade with peasants, merchants, and nobles to get what you want and need. Make sure to keep track of your trading partners.
Causation: The Black Death
Activity
Causation: The Black Death
Thinking about both the causes and consequences of the spread of the Black Death will push you toward an understanding of the complex relationship between cause and consequence.
Causal Map: The Black Death
Activity
Causal Map: The Black Death
Continue developing the causal mapping skills you acquired from the beginning of this lesson as you dive into mapping the Black Death.
Community: Ask, Connect, Share
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