This term we have been finding out about Medieval history. We began today’s session by making a concept map of our prior understanding of the Black Death and its relationship to aspects of Medieval life. We then created a series of questions which we raised in order to clarify our understanding of the disease and its place in medieval history.
These are our questions which helped to direct and focus our further research:
1. Where in the world did the Black Death start? What was the route of infection and how did it get to Britain?
2. How serious was it? What were the symptoms? How many people died? Is the Black Death still a danger today?
3. What did people believe were the causes of the Black Death at the time What actions did people take?
We talked about the range of primary and secondary sources that we might access and the need to cross-reference and check the information, together with an awareness of author bias or agenda. We made use of a range of resources, from websites to library books and animated Horrible History DVDs to online quizzes.
“M” and “A” were free to choose how to best record their responses to the questions raised. “M” decided to create a written account of the Black Death, using the Keynote application on a MacOSX and printing out a booklet for future reference, while “A” created a drama and Q and A session in front of our Promethean Activboard with puppets who “taught” their audience about various aspects of the Medieval Plague whilst making use of maps and images projected onto the interactive whiteboard behind. Each to their own, as we say!
For those of you who fancy researching your own response, you might find the following links useful:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/middle_ages/black_01.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consequences_of_the_Black_Death
