The Black Death: how plague spread along trade routes, and what changed after

Grade 7 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   How plague spread (cards A to C; summaries in our words). Card A, what we know now: plague is caused by a bacterium, Yersinia pestis. It lives in rodents, and fleas that bite infected rodents can pass it to people. Today it is treated with antibiotics. Card B, the route, 1346 to 1351: the plague reached the Crimea, by the Black Sea, in 1346 and spread on trading ships. It came to Messina, a port in Sicily, in October 1347, to France and Spain by 1348, and across northern Europe in the following years. Card C, doctors at the University of Paris, in a report of 1348: they explained the sickness as bad air linked to the position of the planets. No one knew about bacteria or fleas as a cause until centuries later.

2. 1.

   Which order of the chain matches card A, Ari asks?

   • A person carries the bacterium, a flea bites it, and the flea then bites a rodent
   • A rodent carries the bacterium, a flea bites it, and the flea then bites a person
   • A rodent carries the bacterium and passes it straight to a person by biting
   • A flea makes the bacterium, and rodents then carry it to people
3. 2.

   Cards A and C both explain the cause. Why do scientists rely on card A, Bo asks?

   • It rests on later evidence about bacteria and fleas that the Paris doctors lacked
   • It was written first, in 1348, and earlier reports are usually more accurate
   • It is shorter and simpler than card C, so it is easier to follow
   • It was written by doctors, and doctors are right about most illnesses
4. 3.

   Were the Paris doctors of 1348 foolish to blame bad air, Esme asks?

   • Yes: modern medicine could have treated it, and they should have used it
   • Yes: fleas were easy to see, and the doctors ignored them
   • No: bad air really did cause the plague, as they said
   • No: they reasoned from what their day knew, which included no bacteria
5. 4.

   A student says, "Card B proves ships were the only way the plague spread." How strong is that claim, Kira asks?

   • Weak: card B says ships carried it to new ports, but does not rule out other routes
   • Strong: card B says the plague began in Messina and moved outward
   • Weak: ships cannot carry fleas, so card B is not usable
   • Strong: card B says the plague spread on trading ships, so no other way is possible
6. 5.

   What does card C show about the Paris doctors' time, Luz asks?

   • What trained doctors of 1348 believed about the cause of plague
   • That the doctors had read the findings about bacteria and fleas
   • What truly caused the plague, since doctors had studied the sickness
   • That no one in 1348 tried to explain the plague
7. 6.

   Why did port cities such as Messina meet the plague first, Milo asks?

   • Port cities were poorer, so more people there were bitten by fleas
   • Port cities had many doctors, who carried the plague from house to house
   • Trading ships docked there, and could carry infected rodents and fleas
   • Bad air blows in from the sea and settles in port cities first
8. 7.

   What changed between the doctors' report of 1348 and what we know now, Noah asks?

   • Doctors stopped trying to explain illnesses once plague was understood
   • Evidence about bacteria and fleas replaced bad air linked to planets
   • Planets are now thought to carry the fleas from port to port
   • Nothing changed, because both cards blame bad air for the plague
9. 8.

   Which statement could a Paris doctor of 1348 agree with, going by card C, Pia asks?

   • Plague is caused by a bacterium named Yersinia pestis
   • Plague comes from bad air, linked to the position of the planets
   • Plague is carried by fleas that bite infected rodents
   • Plague first reached the port of Messina in October 1347
10. 9.

    A student says, "Card A shows people in 1348 could have stopped the plague with antibiotics." How strong is that claim, Tala asks?

    • Strong: card A says antibiotics prevent each case of plague
    • Weak: card A says plague cannot be treated with any medicine
    • Strong: card A shows antibiotics work, so people in 1348 should have used them
    • Weak: card A says antibiotics treat plague today, and no one in 1348 had them
11. 10.

    Cards A and B together support which statement, Zee asks?

    • Antibiotics carried on the ships stopped the plague in 1347
    • The plague spread faster inland than along the coast
    • The plague spread because ships carried the Paris doctors from port to port
    • Trading ships could carry infected rodents and fleas from port to port