Web Scavenger Hunt: "Survivor" -- Black Death edition!

Web Scavenger Hunt: “Survivor” -- Black Death edition!

Subject Matter
History & Social Science

Grade Level
Seventh

Lesson Objective
Learners will demonstrate understanding of the progress of the Black Death and explain its impact on social structures and population with 80% accuracy.

Subject Matter Content Standard

7.6 (7): Map the spread of the bubonic plague from Central Asia to China, the Middle East, and Europe, and describe its impact on global population. 

Background 
From the middle of the 14th century to nearly twenty-five years later, the bubonic plague ravaged medieval Europe.  Priests barred the door against their flocks, farmers left their crops, and parents abandoned their children as they ran from the terror of the Black Death.  Mortality rates suggest that many of these fearful fleers hid in vain.  However, as fascinating and apocalyptic as the scenario is in our imagination, not everyone was stricken with the disease: there were "survivors!"  These lucky--or unlucky?--folks passed over by the Black Death were left to pick up the pieces of feudal, Western European society.  What was going on in their day-to-day lives while humanity regrouped from the devastating plague, the seeming wrath of God?

Use the following resources to guide your Web Scavenger Hunt

HistoryGuide.org. Lectures on Ancient and Medieval European History. "Satan Triumphant, the Black Death."

Brown University's Department of Italian Studies. The Decameron Web. "Social and Economic Effects of the Plague."

University of Calgary Applied History Research Group. Multimedia History Tutorials. "The Spread of the Black Death (graphic -- map)."


Essential Question

How did the Black Death impact society?

These are the target questions which will help you complete this Web Scavenger Hunt. Use the webpages above to answer them, and you will track down the "survivors" of the Black Death!

What was the origin of the plague and how did it spread to Western Europe?

Is there a Western European country you would characterize as the epicenter of population devastation by the Black Death’s first pandemic outbreak (1347-1351)?

In what ways did different social strata respond to the Black Death?

What was the plague’s immediate impact on the societies it infected (how did everyday life change)?

What impact on society does the map depicting the plague’s spread, coupled with your knowledge of the infection’s timeline, suggest about how it would feel psychologically to survive the Black Death?

Identify at least two phenomena of social behavior inspired by fear and religion during the first outbreak of bubonic plague in Western Europe.

How did the Black Death impact the economy of the feudal social structure?

What social demographic were the true “survivors” of the Black Death—and what happened after their survival?

Can the plague itself can be called a “survivor,” too? What evidence do you have to support your answer?

Critical Response (5 points)

Choose two of the questions below the Essential Question and answer them in a comment on this blog post. Your reply to each question must be in the form of three-to-five complete sentences—no fragments.  Make sure you fully answer the two questions you have chosen.  When you have finished answering your questions, comment thoughtfully and appropriately on at least one other student’s reply.