CSI London: The Bubonic Plague Edition

Author: Lisa Nguyen
CSI London: The Bubonic Plague Edition
Subject Areas: History
Grade Level: 7th
Objective: By doing the role play, recording the parts using flip cams and watching the video of the ten cases, students will be able to develop a hypothesis and a conclusion for the cause of the Bubonic Plague during the Renaissance.
Materials Needed:
1. Script
2. CSI worksheet
3. Flip Cams
Procedures:
Day 1:
1. Ask the students if they have ever wondered how diseases originate?
2. Explain to the class that they will be doing a role-play to figure out the reason for the Bubonic Plague that began around 1330. The parts will be videotaped and then played back to the class. The students will watch all ten cases. Connect it to previous learning by explaining that the Bubonic Plague was a major concern during the Renaissance, and the people's lives they have been studying. Explain that it was also known as the Black Death because of the black spots it produced on the skin. Have them realize that the Bubonic Plague was a terrible killer loose across Europe, and that medieval medicine had nothing to combat it. During the video, the students will be medical examiners and crime scene investigators, from the London Board of Health and Police Department. Explain to the students that it is their responsibility to take notes during the scenes so they can help figure out the cause of this deadly disease. Remind them that when taking notes, write down the characters, setting and clues they see or hear.
3. Assign parts and description of the clues for each character. Allow students to write their skit, practice and record the ten cases using flip cams. Once all videos are completed, teacher should create a PowerPoint presentation to showcase all of the crime scenes.
Day 2:
4. Explain to the class that they should remain in their seats, taking notes during the videos. Have the students create a hypothesis before showing the videos.
5. When the role-play video is complete, instruct the students not to talk about the role-play video. Have students go through their notes individually, and come up with a conclusion on what the cause of the Bubonic Plague was.

Assessment: Collect the CSI worksheet as the evaluation. Check for understanding. Did they support their hypothesis with information from the role-play (5 points)? Did they take notes for each section (3 points per section)? Did they come up with a reasonable conclusion (5 points)? Accept reasonable answers such as the following: rats, fleas, the fleas on the meat, animals, and person to person.
Rubric: One point is given for each possible pairing of the food chain on the last slide of the power point. A total of 6 points is possible. In addition, there will be a total of 4 points for notes.

Pairings: Points Possible Points Earned
Hypothesis 5
Case 1 3
Case 2 3
Case 3 3
Case 4 3
Case 5 3
Case 6 3
Case 7 3
Case 8 3
Case 9 3
Case 10 3
Conclusion 5
TOTAL: 40