Tracking the Black Death, Where did it Happen?

Steven Kucklick
GEOG 561
OVERVIEW
In this lesson students learn about the trajectory and path of the Bubonic Plague (Black Death)
throughout Europe and Asia. Students will do this by reading through primary sources of
accounts of the Black Death. Students will them map these instances using Google Earth.
Students will be asked to use critical thinking to figure out how and why the plague spread where
it did.
CONNECTION TO THE CURRICULUM
I will be using this lesson in conjunction with high school geography class, specifically looking
at how the spread of people impacts the space that they occupy. This lesson could certainly be
adapted to other classes, such as: sixth grade pre-modern history, European history, or world
history. However for this lesson I will be focusing on ninth grade geography.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHY STANDARDS
National Geography Standard 17: How to apply geography to interpret the past
SOUTH CAROLINA ACADEMIC STANDARDS

Standard WG-8 from the South Carolina World Geography Standards: The student will
demonstrate an understanding of how human actions modify the physical environment;
how physical systems affect human systems; and how resources change in meaning, use,
distribution, and importance
Indicator WG-8.4: Analyze the relationships between the spatial distribution of humans
and resources (e.g., the positive and negative consequences of resources use as
exemplified by the shrinking of the Aral Sea).

SOCIAL STUDIES LITERACY SKILLS

The literacy skill that I will be focusing on in this lesson is: assess the relationships among
multiple causes and multiple effects. I think that this lesson will do a good job of showing just
how cause and effect works within the spread of disease and trade among cultures.
GRADE RANGE
In this lesson I will be focusing on grade 9 World Geography. However as I have mentioned, this
could be expanded to cover grades 6, and 9-12.

TIME
This lesson is projected to take up one ninety minute class, or two fifty minute classes. However,
more time could be added if need be.
MATERIALS NEEDED
Students will need:
Chromebook (with Google Earth installed)
Physical or electronic access to the primary sources
Handout
Access to internet
Pens, pencils, or highlighters
(This lesson could be adapted to a class with limited access to technology. I will explain how in
the Procedures section).
OBJECTIVES
1. Students will be able to analyze primary sources to figure out location and time (if
applicable) as well as actual source content.
2. Students will be able to use technology (specifically Google Earth) to map the location of
the primary sources.
3. Students will make inferences about how this disease spread and why it spread where it
did making connections to trade and the movement of people.
PROCEDURES

I will take the first five minutes of class to ask the students what they know about the
Black Death. Most students will know something or at least heard of the Black Death
from middle school. However, if they do not then they will gain information about it
here. I want to use this time to go over a brief description of the plague so that all the
students are on the same page information wise.
After I go through this I will review the difference between a primary and secondary
sources. This should be a review, as I will be covering this throughout the course;
however, I still want to make sure the students understand the difference.
I will then divide the students up into groups; ideally groups of four. However, I can
adjust group sizes based on the size of my class.
Ill distribute the documents, either digitally or as hard copies (if they do not have access
to technology), and explain what they will be doing with them. I will tell them that with
each document then need to fill out one form (attached) that asks them to put the title and
author of the document, a brief summary of what the document is talking about, and
where specifically the document is referring to or talking about.
o Two quick notes about this step:
If the documents are distributed in hard copy it would be beneficial to just
give a set of each primary source to each group and not each person. This

will save paper and make things more organized.

I realize that analyzing eight primary source documents in a class period
can be a lot to ask for students, however by putting them in groups of four,
I encourage that each student deals with only two of the sources and then,
as a group, each student can explain what he or she read.

I will then give them thirty to forty minutes to analyze the primary sources. This time is
tentative and subject to change depending on how fast the students work. I will really
have to just be able to adapt and give them more time if I need to.
After the students have analyzed the primary sources, I will debrief with them and ask
them about some of the things they learned about the primary sources. These questions
include: what did all of these sources have in common? Were you able to figure out the
locations that these sources centered around? Were you able to figure out what kind of
people were writing these sources?
If I had a fifty or sixty minute class, then this is where I would end and pick the lesson
back up the next day. I would make sure to re-introduce the lesson and recap what we did
the day before.
I will then ask the students to get back into their groups and open up Google Earth. Using
the forms and the primary sources themselves, students will map the locations of
outbreak or the Black Plague. I will show students how to navigate Google Earth, create a
pinpoint, and search for location. I am attaching a screenshot of what the pinpoints should
look like on Google Earth. (If students did not have access to technology then we would
complete this step as a class on a SmartBoard or a pull down map)
After the students have mapped the locations on Google Earth they, as a group, will have
to make inference about why and how the disease spread the way that it did.
After giving them about five to ten minutes to discuss, we will have a group discussion.
Here we will talk about how trade and the movement of people allowed the disease to
spread so widely and so easily. I really want to focus my questioning so that they can
make self-discovery. I want them to be able to make the connections themselves so that
they will be able to more easily learn it. I also want to pull up a story map (found here:
https://cps-gis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?
appid=f214752ef3664dbf92249c84784b3971&webmap=5dac4dfd35bf4c3cbf4891d9f86
14bb9) that does a good job of showing how the Bubonic Plague spread through Asia, the
Middle East, and Europe. I would use this as a wrap up for the lesson.

Students should leave this lesson with an understanding of how trade and the movement of
people can cause disease to spread easier. They will also have gained a deeper understanding of
the Bubonic Plague and how to read and interpret primary sources.
EVALUATION
I want to evaluate the students using both summative and formative assessment. In terms of
formative assessment, I will collect the handouts where they wrote down the information about
the primary sources and grade them for completion. I just want to make sure that students are
understanding how to read primary sources. This will satisfy objective 1. I will also give the
students participation grades for the lesson based on how they communicated with their group
and with discussion and how well their groups overall were able to map the locations on Google

Earth, which satisfies objective 2. For the summative assessment I will include a questions about
the spread of disease and the impact of trade and human movement on the unit exam. The will
have to directly relate back to the lesson and the things they learned during it. This will satisfy
objective 3.
LESSON EXTENSIONS
This lesson could be extended in a World History and European History class when teaching the
Age of Exploration. You could make connections between the spread of the Bubonic Plague and
the spread of diseases that the explorers brought to North and South America.
MATERIALS PROVIDED
1. Handout #1: the information form about the primary sources.
2. Primary sources in hardcopy or digital

RESOURCES
Fisher, D. & Frey, N. (2011). Chapter 5 Why Ask? Questioning Strategies in the Classroom in
Improving Adolescent Literacy. (3rd Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Morgan, Kenneth O. (1984). The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Teaching with Google Earth. (n.d.). From:
http://serc.carleton.edu/sp/library/google_earth/index.html
Primary Sources Provided to Students:
Ursollina, Testament of a Mother during the Black Death [Will], in Children and Youth in
History, Item #181. Annotated by Shona Kelly Wray. Accessed from:
https://chnm.gmu.edu/cyh/primary-sources/181
Gabriele de Mussi, On the Plague. Adapted from: George Deaux, The Black Death 1347. New
York: Weybright and Talley, 1969. Chapter IV, pp. 75ff. Accessed from:
http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/plague/perspectives/de_mussi.
php
Petrarch on the Plague. Adapted from: George Deaux, The Black Death 1347. New York:
Weybright and Talley, 1969. Chapter IV, pp. 92-94. Accessed from:
http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/plague/perspectives/petrarca.p
hp
Marchione di Coppo Stefani, The Florentine Chronicle. Accessed from:
http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/osheim/marchione.html
Pistoia, Ordinance of Sanitation in a Time of Morality. Accessed from:
http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/osheim/pistoia.html

Ordinance of Laborers, 1349. Adapted from: White, Albert Beebe and Wallace Notestein,
eds. Source Problems in English History. New York: Harper and Brothers Publishers,
1915. Accessed from: http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/seth/ordinance-labourers.asp
Medieval Sourcebook: Procopius: The Plague, 542. Adapted from: Procopius, History of the
Wars, 7 Vols., trans. H. B. Dewing, Loeb Library of the Greek and Roman Classics,
(Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1914), Vol. I, pp. 451-473. Accessed from:
http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/source/542procopius-plague.asp
The Black Death in England, 1348. Adapted from: Chronicles, translated by Edith Rickert, in
Chaucer's World (ed E Rickert, C C Olson and M M Crow) Oxford University Press
1948. Accessed from: http://www.mytimemachine.co.uk/blackdeath.htm
Story Map about Bubonic Plague:
Title: Medieval Trade Networks and the Black Death Story Map
Author: Janae Nakata
URL: https://cps-gis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?
appid=f214752ef3664dbf92249c84784b3971&webmap=5dac4dfd35bf4c3cbf4891d9f8614bb9
Google Earth: https://www.google.com/earth/
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Background information relating to the Bubonic Plague can be found within the Story Map that I
mentioned in the lesson. It includes a lot of useful information that can be brought into class.
Background information relating to the primary sources can be found, for most of the sources, on
the webpage where the sources are hosted. Teachers can also reference broad history books about
European countries. For example The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain, gives a brief but
informative description of how the Black Plague effected England.

Primary Sources Used in this Lesson

In this lesson I plan to handout 8 different primary sources. I thought it beneficial to list the
names and URLs of the primary sources so that they can be easily accessed. I also included the
full citations in the Resources section of this lesson.
Testament of a Mother during the Black Death [Will]
https://chnm.gmu.edu/cyh/primary-sources/181
Gabriele de' Mussi on the Plague
http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/plague/perspectives/de_mussi.php
Petrarch on the Plague
http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/plague/perspectives/petrarca.php
Marchione di Coppo Stefani, The Florentine Chronicle
http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/osheim/marchione.html
Pistoia, Ordinance of Sanitation in a Time of Morality
http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/osheim/pistoia.html
Ordinance of Laborers, 1349
http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/seth/ordinance-labourers.asp
Procopius: The Plague, 542
http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/source/542procopius-plague.asp
The Black Death in England, 1348
http://www.mytimemachine.co.uk/blackdeath.htm

Google Earth Map Example:

Handout
Names of Group Members:

Primary Source Information Forms

As you read the primary sources about the Bubonic Plague, answer the questions
on this sheet. You will complete one sheet per sources, per group. If you have any
questions feel free to ask me.

1. What is the title of the sources and who is the author?

2. Sum up the main points of the source in two to three

sentences.

3.

What location (or locations) does the author mention that

was effected by the plague?