Design Topic: The Black Death - Subject(s) Humanities (Geography & History)

__________________________________________

Grade(s) 8

Designers Name - Klint White

STAGE 1 DESIRED RESULTS

Unit Title: The Black Death
Established Goals/AusVELS Standards: Year 8 History and Geography
History Depth Study

Living conditions and religious beliefs in the 14th century, including life expectancy, medical knowledge and beliefs
about the power of God (ACDSEH015)

The role of expanding trade between Europe and Asia in the Black Death, including the origin and spread of the
disease (ACDSEH069)
o

The causes and symptoms of the Black Death and the responses of different groups in society to the spread of the
disease, such as the flagellants and monasteries (ACDSEH070)
o

The effects of the Black Death on Asian, European and African populations, and conflicting theories about the impact
of the plague (ACDSEH071)
o

Other immediate and long-term effects of the Black Death, including labour shortages, peasant uprisings, the
weakening of feudal structures, and increased social mobility (ACDSEH072)

History Key Skills

Sequence historical events, developments and periods (ACHHS148)

Use historical terms and concepts (ACHHS149)

Identify a range of questions about the past to inform an historical inquiry (ACHHS150)

Identify and locate relevant sources, using ICT and other methods (ACHHS151)
Locate, compare, select and use information from a range of sources as evidence (ACHHS153)
Draw conclusions about the usefulness of sources (ACHHS154)
Identify and describe points of view, attitudes and values in primary and secondary sources (ACHHS155)
Develop texts, particularly descriptions and explanations that use evidence from a range of sources that are
acknowledged (ACHHS156)
Use a range of communication forms (oral, graphic, written) and digital technologies (ACHHS157)

Geography Key Skills

Represent the spatial distribution of different types of geographical phenomena by constructing appropriate maps at
different scales that conform to cartographic conventions, using spatial technologies as appropriate (ACHGS058)

Apply geographical concepts to draw conclusions based on the analysis of the data and information collected
(ACHGS060)
Understandings: Students will understand that
Essential Questions: Students will continuously be asking
The impact of the Black Death was felt globally
How did the Black Death change society?
A disease can change the world
How does a disease change the world?
The harshness of life in the 14th century
What were the causes and effects of contact between
Use of sources as evidence aids us in understanding the past
societies in this period?
Which significant people, groups and ideas from this period
have influenced the world today?

Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005)

Design Topic: The Black Death - Subject(s) Humanities (Geography & History)
__________________________________________

Knowledge & Understanding: Students will know:

What life was like in the 14th century
The causes and results of the Black Death
The progressive movement of the Black Death
Sources can help us understand historical events
Maps can display information, not just locations

Performance Tasks:
Map making (formative)
Source analysis (formative)
Source analysis (Summative)
MC quiz (Formative)
Test (Summative)

Grade(s) 8

Designers Name - Klint White

Skills: Students will be able to:

Create and analyse maps relating to the spread of the Black
Death
Identify quality sources, and the Interpret and analyse them
as evidence
Discuss the resulting effects the Black Death had on society

STAGE 2 ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE

Other Evidence:
How will it demonstrate evidence of learning?
Completion of the formative tasks will appraise how well the
students understand both the key skills, and knowledge and
understandings present in this unit. Work within the class will
also be used as further evidence of student progression and
understanding.

Key Criteria:

Map making (formative) Successfully input given information on spread of the plague onto a world map.
Source analysis (formative) Successfully demonstrates the Who/When/Why of a source, and create a Short Constructed
Response.
Source analysis (Summative) Analyse and interpret sources and produce SRCs.
MC quiz (Formative) Successfully answer multiple choice questions on information from the unit.
Test (Summative) Demonstrate the ability to analyse and respond to sources, input data onto a map, and apply
knowledge when appropriate.

STAGE 3 LEARNING PLAN

Summary of Learning Activities:
Note; this unit assumes immediate access to Ipads and an interactive whiteboard
1. Introduction to unit
This lesson will be an introduction to the unit; it will involve skimming over the details that will be covered more deeply later in
the unit.
Hook activity, Teacher Resource-The Black Death video, 20 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJfVmGQNM5Y
Ask students to write down three things that they would want to know about the plague in workbooks. This should take 5
minutes. Try and empathise questions that involve higher order thinking, rather than How many people died, questions like
What effect did all the deaths have on society.
Go through a PowerPoint with the class, with basic information on when the Black Death occurred (1347-1350), How many
died (2.5 million), symptoms, attempted treatments, results (wages increased, food prices fell). Students to take notes from
slide. 25 minutes
Exit activity, label a human body with the five stages of the plague, glue into workbooks. 10 minutes
2. Causes and Symptoms of disease
Begin class by posing the question; Why was the black death so terrifying? Discussion should involve the huge number of
fatalities, the fact they seemed to be able to do nothing about it, the sheer unpleasantness of the symptoms. Hopefully
students make the connection to God, and how they were being punished (and what this meant for their afterlife prospects).
10 minutes
Partner students up; assign each partnership a possible cause of the disease (bad air, sent from god, rat fleas, virus, person to
person). Using Ipads (one for research, one for typing), have students research one of the following causes, and answer the
questions:

Who thought this was the cause, and why did they think so?

When was this thought (medieval times or modern)?

Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005)

Design Topic: The Black Death - Subject(s) Humanities (Geography & History)
__________________________________________

Grade(s) 8

Designers Name - Klint White

What was the explanation behind this cause (How did they say it caused it)?

What treatment was related to this cause?

35 minutes
Have students post their answers to the intranet so everyone can access them. Then have students present/read their work to
the class, with it up on the interactive whiteboard. There should be time for one of each cause gets to speak, and end with
virus (the leading modern scientific explanation). 15 minutes
3. Asia/Africa
Students need to be aware that the Black Death was not only a European thing, rather a global event. Introduction activity
Watch first four minutes of The Black Death - Part 1 of 2, which contains information on how the Black Death spread from
Asian society to European, discuss with students how this wasnt just a European disease, but effected the world. Ask them
what they know about other societies from the time, and how they think it will have effected them. 15 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qK4X6bqy3o
Have students work on the handout involving information and questions about the plague from around the world. 35 minutes
Exit discussion Ask students why they believe we tend to focus on European society, despite the fact that this was a global
event. Discussion should involve language barriers and the fact we in Australia are a society descendant from Europeans. 10
minutes
4. spread of disease, global relations
Hook activity Have students install the game Plague inc onto their Ipads. The game involves spreading a virus disease
throughout the world, and teaches students what words like; pathogen, viral, bacterial, infection mean and how different
climates can effect a disease spreading. Each game takes just less than 20 minutes
Discuss how the game (which is based in modern times) relates to medieval times. Lead this discussion towards how the
planes and ships in the game increased the spread, and what could have done the same in the 14th century. 10 minutes
Present PowerPoint on Global trade/relations/wars/transport in the 14th century. Have students take notes and discuss. 25
minutes
Exit activity Exit ticket, five multi choice questions on what they just learnt, keep room in silence, students must answer all
five correctly to leave. Five minutes
5. Mapping spread
As this is the last Humanities unit for the year, some preliminary work will have already been completed on mapping.
Begin lesson using a blank map of Europe on the interactive whiteboard. Work with the class to input data onto map showing
the trade routes. 20 minutes

Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005)

Design Topic: The Black Death - Subject(s) Humanities (Geography & History)
__________________________________________

Grade(s) 8

Designers Name - Klint White

Have students then attempt to re-create the map below, present them with all the necessary information, and allow them 15
minutes to work on it. Then, display the actual one on the board, and have students mark a peers work, providing feedback
where appropriate. Discuss with class what they found difficult, and why. 30 minutes
Discuss the relation between the two maps, how the trade routes and spread are similar. Relate this to what was learnt in the
class before. 10 minutes

Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005)

Design Topic: The Black Death - Subject(s) Humanities (Geography & History)
__________________________________________

Grade(s) 8

Designers Name - Klint White

6. Formative mapping
The students will be tasked with mapping a set of information onto a blank map. There task will be to essentially replicate the
below map, which demonstrates the year by year spread of the plague, and the general route the plague took throughout
Europe. They will be handed a map of Europe, blank apart from city names. The instruction sheet will have all the relevant
information required to reproduce the map, and everything needed for BOLTS. 30 minutes

Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005)

Design Topic: The Black Death - Subject(s) Humanities (Geography & History)
__________________________________________

Grade(s) 8

Designers Name - Klint White

Watch Horrible Histories Season 1 Episode 19-Perilous Plague (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDoDjBLpVX8) 30

minutes
7. Life in the 14th century
Intro activity view 14th Century Clip from Sleeping Beauty (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzL0Tsp-kX4) and
Horrible Histories-Flagellants-HD 1080p (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl6D8aC9HM4). Discuss how accurately these
clips portrayed both royalty and flagellants. 15 minutes
Inform students that, after this unit they will he hired by a film producer, who often struggles with historical accuracy when
creating her adventure films set in the middle ages. She wants to produce a historically accurate film, set during the time of the
Black Death, and isnt sure whether to make the topic Flagellants or Royalty. She wants her film to show what life is like for
both ordinary people, the church, and for the chosen hero (Flagellant/Prince). In groups of three or four, students will have to
create their pitch for the opening scene. Remembering a pitch doesnt need to involve script lines, rather just a basic plot, and
details about characters and scenery. Inform students they will have the rest of the class and fifteen minutes at the start of the
next class, and the team with the most new details about medieval life/medieval scenery/their chosen hero/the church are
more likely to win over the team with a detailed plot. Also tell them there is a prize for winning. Students can use any source
they see fit for research.
8. Life in the 14th century
Allow students 15 minutes to put the finishing details to their pitches.
Present pitches, allow questions (ask some of your own) and chose a winner, reward winners. 35 minutes
Exit activity, hand back and go through students formative assessment maps on the spread of the Black Death. Discuss with
class how they went. 10 minutes
9. Source analysis on responses, formative source
Students will be familiar with source analysis from earlier in the year. This lesson will involve building on those skills.
Begin by reading through the document, having one student at a time read a paragraph. Ensure all words are being
comprehended. Once read through, ask students what the passage was talking about. Discuss the meanings, and have them
thinking about the who/when/why of the source. 25 minutes
Have students complete the Victoria library source analysis sheet found in appendix A. This, coupled with a SCR question
From this source, what benefits did living through the plague apparently have for survivors and why? 25 minutes
Exit activity. Talk with students about what would happen if half the worlds population died in the next year. This should evoke
an interesting discussion, and hopefully help students grasp the magnitude of the Black Death. 10 minutes

Source for analysis

In this year there was a general mortality among men throughout the world. It began first in India,
and then appeared in Tharsis, then among the Saracens, and last among the Christians and Jews,
so that in the space of one year, namely, from Easter to Easter, 8,000 legions of men, according to
widely prevalent rumours in the Court of Rome, died in those remote regions, besides Christians.
The dreadful pestilence penetrated the sea coast by Southampton and came to Bristol, and there
almost the whole population of the town perished, as if it had been seized by sudden death; for few
kept their beds more than two or three days, or even half a day. Then this cruel death spread
everywhere around, following the course of the sun. And there died at Leicester in the small parish
of St. Leonard more than 380 persons, in the parish of Holy Cross, 400; in the parish of St.
Margaret's, Leicester, 700; and so in every parish, a great multitude. Then the Bishop of London
sent word throughout his whole diocese giving general power to each and every priest, regular as
well as secular, to hear confessions. Likewise the Pope granted full remission of all sins to anyone
receiving absolution when in danger of death.
In the same year there was a great murrain of sheep everywhere in the kingdom, so that in one
place in a single pasture more than 5,000 sheep died; and they putrefied so that neither bird nor
Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005)

Design Topic: The Black Death - Subject(s) Humanities (Geography & History)
__________________________________________

Grade(s) 8

Designers Name - Klint White

beast would touch them. Everything was low in price because of the fear of death, for very few
people took any care of riches or property of any kind. A man could have a horse that had been
worth 40s for half a mark (6s 8d), a fat ox for 4s, a cow for 12d, a heifer for 6d, a fat wether for 4d,
a sheep for 3d, a lamb for 2d, a large pig for 5d; a stone of wool (24 lbs) was worth 9d. Sheep and
cattle ran at large through the fields and among the crops, and there was no-one to drive them off
or herd them; for lack of care they perished in ditches and hedges in incalculable numbers
throughout all districts, and none knew what to do.
In the following autumn a reaper was not to be had for a lower wage than 8d, with his meals; a
mower for not less than 10d, with meals. Wherefore many crops wasted in the fields for lack of
harvesters. But in the year of the pestilence, as has been said above, there was so great an
abundance of every type of grain that almost no one cared for it.
Master Thomas of Bradwardine was consecrated by the Pope Archbishop of Canterbury, and when
he returned to England he came to London, but within two days was dead
Meanwhile the King sent proclamations into all the counties that reapers and other labourers should
not earn more than they had been accustomed to take. But the labourers were so lifted up and
obstinate that they would not listen to the King's command, but if anyone wished to employ them
he had to give them what they wanted, and either lose his fruit and crops, or satisfy the lofty
demands of the workmen.
After the aforesaid pestilence, many buildings, great and small, fell into ruins in every city, borough,
and village for lack of inhabitants, likewise many villages and hamlets became desolate, not a
house being left in them, all having died who dwelt there; and it was probable that many such
villages would never be inhabited.

A chronicle written by Henry Knighton, a canon at a Leicester abbey.

10. Source analysis on responses, find own source
Begin lesson by handing out the filled out source analysis sheets to students, ensure no one gets their own. Work through
them and mark as a class, discussing why answers were so. 15 minutes
Repeat process for the SCR, have students partner up, read 2 each, then give them a score out of 5. Have them discuss and
compare the scores they allocated, what they liked about each/what was lacking/what they would have done differently.
Collect both source analysis and SRC scores, and hand back to original student. 15 minutes
Using Ipads, have students search online for their own source to analyse on the Black Death. Make sure they note whether it
is primary or secondary source (topic covered earlier in the year). Students leaving ticket is a completed source analysis
sheet. 30 minutes
11. Summative source
This lesson will involve three source analysis, with accompanying SRCs. Students will have 15 minutes reading time and then
the remaining 45 minutes to work.

12. Immediate results

PowerPoint on the results of the Black Death. Discussion and note taking. 25 minutes
Hand-out worksheet on results of the Black Death. Completed sheet forms exit ticket. 35 minutes

Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005)

Design Topic: The Black Death - Subject(s) Humanities (Geography & History)
__________________________________________

Grade(s) 8

Designers Name - Klint White

13. Long term results, MC quiz formative

Intro activity watch Peasants Revolt - Timelines.tv History of Britain B05 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dA-t7694uw).
10 minutes
Reflect on the event with the students, asking them about the causes and results of the Peasant Revolt. Establish five causes
and five results and have students write them down. 15 minutes
Then, ask students to rank these events and causes 1-5, and then discuss with a peer there choices. After partner
discussions, discuss these as a class and come up with an agreed upon ranking. 10 minutes
Going back to students initial rankings, have them write up a paragraph defending each of their number one choices. The two
paragraphs will form an exit ticket. 25 minutes
14. Review class
Hand back marked MC quiz, go through answers, getting students who got it right to explain why they chose it. 15 minutes
Lead a class review through the information covered in the unit in the form of a PowerPoint. 25 minutes
Exit activity; get students to answer their own questions from the first class of the year. Have students read out their questions
and their answers. If unanswerable, have other students attempt answers before providing them yourself 15 minutes
Ask students what they liked in this unit, what they found interesting and useful and what they didnt. This will form useful
information when creating the unit the following year. 5 minutes
15. Test
This lesson will be entirely devoted to the test. The test will involve:

A few multiple choice/short answer questions on basic Black Death information (dates/deaths/causes/short and long
term results)

Mapping the main trade routes of 14th century Europe (The map that was done as a class example in class 5)

A source analysis and SRC on source below.

An extended response question; Imagine you were a peasant in rural England in 1349, who personally doesnt have
the plague, but is married to someone who does. What might your day involve? Include sights, sounds, smells,
activities, your job, what you eat, and anything else you can think of
The test will be administered under exam style conditions, with 5 minutes reading time, and then the remaining 55 minutes
spent working on the test.

Source for analysis

In 1348 and 1349 a terrible plague, worse than weve ever seen before, came to England. The
Bishop of Rochester who only had a small team lost four priests, seven other clergymen, and
fifteen servants. He had no-one left to serve him.
To make things worse, the plague killed so many people, that there was no-one left to take the dead
bodies to the graves. Men and women carried their own children on their shoulders to the church
and threw them into a large pit. The pits smelled so badly that no-one wanted to go anywhere near
them.
So many farmers and workers died that more than a third of that years harvest was lost because
there was no-one to reap the crops. All of the labourers were so shocked by what was happening
that nobody could keep them in order, and they became lawless.
In the monastery of Rochester supplies ran short and the monks could not get enough food. They
had to try to make their own bread, or else starve, although the leader of the abbey ate the best
food still.
The whole population or most of it, anyway has become badly-behaved has stopped following
the word of God. They are quick to loot, steal and commit other sins.

Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005)

Design Topic: The Black Death - Subject(s) Humanities (Geography & History)
__________________________________________

Grade(s) 8

Designers Name - Klint White

A chronicle written by William of Dene, a monk at Rochester Monastery.

Maps and sources from TES Australia

Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005)

Design Topic: The Black Death - Subject(s) Humanities (Geography & History)
__________________________________________

Grade(s) 8

Designers Name - Klint White

Appendix A.

Evaluating
sources

Title:
Type of source:

Creator:
Date of creation:

WHO
What do you know about the person
who created this source?
Think about:

age
gender
occupation
position in society
religious background.

WHEN
What was life like when this source
was created?
Think about:

significant events
political environment
common prejudices
social norms.

WHY
What is the creators purpose? Why
did they create this work?
Was it to:

influence people?
sell something?
tell their version of events?

Sourced from: http://ergo.slv.vic.gov.au/teachers/student-templates-source-analysis

Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005)

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Design Topic: The Black Death - Subject(s) Humanities (Geography & History)
__________________________________________

Grade(s) 8

Designers Name - Klint White

References
Clemson University, South Carolina, Blooms Taxonomy Action Verbs, Accessed at
<http://www.clemson.edu/assessment/assessmentpractices/referencematerials/documents/Blooms%20Taxonomy
%20Action%20Verbs.pdf>
Taylor, T., Fahey, C., Kriewaldt, J., Boon, D. (2012). Place and Time: Explorations in Teaching Geography and History.
Frenchs Forest, Australia: Pearson Australia.
TES Australia, Australia, TES Australia - Free F-12 Resources
<http://www.tesaustralia.com/home.aspx>

By Teachers, For Teachers Accessed at

Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority. (2013). AusVELS Geography. Victoria, Australia: Victorian Curriculum and
Assessment Authority
Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority. (2013). AusVELS History. Victoria, Australia: Victorian Curriculum and
Assessment Authority

Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005)

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