The document provides a reading and writing worksheet about the Black Death plague during the Middle Ages in Europe. It includes a descriptive text about how the plague originated in Asia and was transmitted to Europe via infected fleas on rats. The text is adapted for middle school students to build their reading comprehension around topics like how the plague spread geographically and the various forms it took. Students are asked questions to answer during and after reading to demonstrate their understanding.

1. READING AND WRITTING WORKSHEET
SOCIAL STUDIES
THIRD ERM
NAME: _________________________________GRADE: 6___ DATE: ________TEACHER: _____________________
Type of text: Descriptive Format: Continuous
Source: Black death – The Bubonic Plague (Text adapted by Esmeralda Ferti) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72KsjWUCUJQ
Topic: The middle ages Comprehension goal: How has the geographical distribution of Europe
changed?
Reading level: Literal, inferential and critic
Reading strategies:
Before the reading:
1. Reading goal: What am I going to read for?
2. Prior knowledge activation: What do I know about the topic? ? Who is the author?
During the reading:
1. Select information
2. Answer the questions
After the reading:
1. Cartographic representation
Reading skills Learning Evidence
 Recover explicit information in the content of
the text.
 Selects relevant information about the text.
Multidisciplinary evidences.
 Extracts relevant information about Black death from a text and represents it in a mapping tool.
BEFORE:
Our reading objective will be to read the following text to recognize the Black death and the consequences for the population in
Europe. Before reading the text let's activate previous knowledge about the subject. What do you know about Black death? Who
is the author? What does the author intend to do?
DURING:
Next, you will read a text about Black death? You must answer the questions.
2. Before reading and answer, read the questions:
a) Where did the plague come from?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
b) How did the Tartars decide to share their suffering with the Genoese people?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
c) How did the plague travel to Europe?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
d) Which were the three forms that the Black Death was transmitted?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
e) Which was the most deadly plague?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
f) In relation to the use of language: Is there any particular word? Does any word acquire a different meaning than usual?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. BLACK DEATH – THE BUBONIC PLAGUE – LA PESTE
Text adapted by Esmeralda Ferti
The Black Death was one of the worst natural disasters in history. In 1347 A.D., a great plague swept over Europe and ravaged (shatter,
smash) cities causing hysteria and death. One third of the population of Europe died. It is believed the plague originat ed in the Gobi
Desert (Mongolia, Asia) and moved west with Mongolarmies and traders. The primary “criminal” in transmitting thisdisease were oriental
rat fleas carried on the back of black rats. According to a traditional story, the plague got to the town of Caffa, a Crimean port on the
Black Sea where Italian merchants from Genoa maintained a prosperous trade center. Crimea was inhabited by Tartars, a people of the
steppe (a dry, treeless region of central Asia). When the plague struck the area in 1346, tens of thousands of Tartars died.
Perhaps superstition caused the Muslim Tartars to blame their misfortune on the Christian Genoese who inhabited Caffa. Or perhaps a
Christian and Muslim had become involved in a street fight in Caffa, and the Tartars want ed revenge. In any case, the Tartars sent an
army to attack Caffa, where the Genoese had fortified themselves in big and strong walls. As the Tartars blockaded Caffa, plague struck
their army and many died. The Tartars decided to share their suffering with the Genoese by using huge catapults to lob the infected
corpsesof plague victims over the walls of Caffa. The decomposing corpseslittered the streets, and the plague quickly spread throughout
the besieged city. The Genoese decided they must flee (escape); they boarded their galleys (ships) and set sail for Italy, carrying rats,
fleas, and the Black Death with them to Europe.
Identify the Black Death spread routes
of with red color.
Testimoniesof thetime
The plague traveled on trade routes and
caravans. Its path of death was generally
from south to north and east to west passing
through Italy, France, England, Germany,
Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Finland, and
eventually reaching Greenland. If the plague
had just stayed in one city, the containment
might have spared Europe. Unfortunately,
the plague spread when people fled to other
cities. In crowded cities it was worse
because rats lived in the garbage thrown
onto the streets. But, in the Middle Ages, no
one knew what caused the plague or how to
cure it. (Corzine, 1997)
Fleas` information
Fleas are blood sucking parasites. They have the potential of spreading dangerous diseases to humans and other animals. It is possible
the first flea was native to Africa and traveled by boat on the back of a rat to different destinations around the world. Even though there
are many different types of fleas, they all have similar body parts; eyes and legs help them survive the dangers of their lif e. A flea
undergoesfourdifferent life cycles to become an adult. The Black Death, also known asthe Bubonic Plague, is one of the deadly diseases
that the flea can spread to man and animals.
HowwastheBlackDeathtransmitted?
The Black Death was transmitted as following:
The septicemic and bubonic plagues were transmitted with direct contact with a flea (by the bite). When the flea bit the person in the
flesh, he would probably have symptoms of Bubonic Plague. When the flea bit the person in a vein, he would probably have symp toms
of Septicemic Plague, meaning that the bacteria enters directly in the circulatory system.
Fleas, humans, and rats served as hostsfor the disease. The bacteria (Yersiniapestis) multiplied inside the fleablocking the flea'sstomach
causing it to be very hungry. The flea would then start voraciously biting a host. Since the feeding tube to the stomach was blocked, the
flea was unable to satisfy its hunger. As a result, it continued to feed in a frenzy (fury). During the feeding process, infected blood
carrying the plague bacteria, flowed into the human's wound (herida / picadura). The plague bacteria now had a new host. The flea soon
starved to death. The person started having swellings in the groin (ingle) and armpits. Then, black patches broke out all over the body.
The pneumonic plague was transmitted differently than the other two forms. It was transmitted through droplets sprayed from t he lungs
and mouth of an infected person. More specifically, the pneumonic plague was transmitted through airborne droplets of saliva coughed

3. up by bubonic or septicemic infected humans. In the droplets were the bacteria that caused the plague. The bacteria entered t he lungs
through the windpipe and started attacking the lungs and throat.
TheBlackDeathdisease
The Black Death came in three forms, the bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic. At first, it looked like a normal cold, but each different
form of plague killed people in a vicious way. All forms were caused by a bacterium called Yersinia pestis.
- The pneumonic plague was the second most commonly seen form of the Black Death. The pneumonic and the septicemic plague were
probably seen less than the bubonic plague because the victims often died before they could reach other places (this was caused by the
inefficiency of transportation). The mortality rate for the pneumonic plague was 90-95% (if treated today the mortality rate would be 5-
10%). The pneumonic plague infected the lungs. Symptoms included slimy sputum tinted with blood. Sputum is saliva mixed with mucus
exerted from the respiratory system. As the disease progressed, the sputum became free flowing and bright red. Symptoms took 1 -7
days to appear.
- The septicemic plague was the rarest form of all. The mortality was close to 100% (even today there is no treatment). Symptoms were
a high fever and skin turning deep shades of purple due to DIC (disseminated intravascular coagulation). According to Dr. Mat t Luther,
Vanderbilt University Medical Center"The plague often caused DICin severe forms, and DIC can be fatal. The picture above demonstrates
what DIC can look like. In its most deadly form DIC can cause a victims skin to turn dark purple. The black death got its name from the
deep purple, almost black discoloration." Victims usually died the same day symptoms appeared. In some cities, as many as 800 people
died every day.
There were so many dead that the living could not make it to bury each one individually, in a coffin and with a proper religious service.
So, there were practiced massive fosses burials. Source: History opens windows, The Middle Ages, Author: Jane Shutter, ISBN 157572489-8.
AFTER:
Once the reading is over, look at the video My old friend rat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72KsjWUCUJQ and based on the
information presented identify at least five (5) places in which the rats have had repercussions in the population. Follow the example.
Britishnaturalist JohnBurke thought
that rats came from Norway.