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Teacher's Guide for CALLIOPE: Black Death

Teacher guide prepared by: Karen E. Hong, who writes frequently for COBBLESTONE®, FACES®, and CALLIOPE®.
Vocabulary

epidemic * plague * steppes * marmots * regurgitates * sputum * buboes * pestilence * excrement * miasma * quarantine * leeches * relics * mosque * Bedouin * danse macabre * hemorrhagic * anthrax * dengue * tuberculosis
The Silk Road
Linking China to Europe, the Silk Road made the world a smaller place. Just as trade goods like silk, spices, and ideas were transported from the East to Europe, so were diseases and bacteria.
  1. Using a map of Europe and Asia, have students trace the route of the Silk Road. (This route is available online at China Pages - The Silk Road.)
  2. Now have your students add the information regarding the spread of the Black Death available on page 3 to their maps.
    • How did increased contact with the East contribute to the spread of the plague?
    • How did the spread of the Black Death in the Middle Ages compare with earlier epidemics of bubonic plague? (The first clear epidemic of bubonic plague occurred in the first century A.D. and was limited to Libya, Egypt, and Syria. In 542, the bubonic plague experienced its first pandemic. The Plague of Justinian, as it was called, began in Egypt and Ethiopia and spread through the Mediterranean. More information on these outbreaks of bubonic plague can be found online at Some Important Epidemics.)
  3. Students can record their findings on maps to visualize the extent of each of these epidemics.
According to the Survivors
Have students pretend that they are among the survivors of the Black Death and are writing a letter to relatives who live far away.
  • How would they describe the devastation caused by the plague?
  • How has the plague affected their town, their family, and themselves?
One Disease orThree?
Have students complete the following chart comparing the three forms of the Black Death.

  Bubonic Plague Pneumonic Plague Septicaemic Plague
Symptoms














Cause














Incubation Period














Fatality Rate















Preventing the Untreatable
Have students explain how prevention differs from treatment.
  • Why were medieval treatments of the Black Plague unsuccessful?
  • Have students read and complete the experiment "Test the Technique: ""'Wash Your Hands""'" on page 48.
    • What conclusions did your students reach?
  • How do current treatments of the plague differ from those of the Middle Ages? (Students can find out how the plague is treated today by accessing the Center of Disease Control, Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases.)
A Grave Responsibility
People turn to their government in times of national disasters. During the time of the Black Death, some of the governments""' actions were helpful, even if those actions were taken for the wrong reasons. Have students imagine that they are the mayors of European towns during the Middle Ages. They have heard the rumors and news of the coming plague. Knowing now the forms the plague takes and the ways in which it is spread, what actions would your students take as mayors to safeguard their towns? Have students create a list of the measures they would institute.

The Religious Response
Have students compare the ways in which Christians and Muslims were affected by and responded to the Black Death. You might have students complete the following chart or use it to guide their discussion.

  Christian Muslim
View of plague









Persecution of others









View of deceased









Effect on population









Effect on economy









Effect on food prices










A Changing World
Few events or people are totally good or totally bad. Even the Black Death, as devastating and horrible as it was, had some positive elements.
  • Have students discuss how the Black Plague and its resultant devastation effected art, literature, philosophy, and education.
  • How did the plague affect the peasants working the land and craftsmen?
Other Epidemics
Epidemics have occurred throughout history. Have students learn more about another epidemic. They could display what they learn in a number of ways:
  • on a poster
  • as a diary of one of the area""'s inhabitants
  • by creating a work of art
A listing and description of epidemics that occurred throughout the world can be found online at Some Important Epidemics.
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