Black Death Simulation Game (step by step booklets)

The black death of 1347 was one of the worst pandemics in human history. This activity is a two day lesson that allows students to act out a 13 step interaction as if they were living during the time of the Bubonic Plague. Set up for roughly 26 students, each student has a step booklet they must follow to interact with other classmates as if they were a member of the Italian community in the 1300's. Each student portrays a different type of profession that fits with the time period. Their profession requires the students to carry out their daily workload step by step, and as the game progresses, students will be randomly selected to sit back down, simulating the victim tally of the actual event. It becomes harder and harder for the remaining students to continue carrying out their daily profession, and the end of the game requires all students to examine the surviving professions and re-organize the new community into a working system. This assessment is a great way for students to understand the economic and social impacts of losing so much of the population within such a short time frame.