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History, Civics & Social Studies · Grade 7

Sources, Causation and Historical Arguments

Using the Black Death of 1347–1351 as a case study, learners judge sources for reliability and usefulness, separate long-term causes from triggers, trace intended and unintended consequences, and build a causal argument that ranks causes with evidence.

  • 4 lessons
  • About 105 minutes
  • Sources and causation check: 9 questions
  • Ways to answer: fill in the blanks, choose an answer, highlight a text, pin a map, match pairs and type a number
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What learners will discover

  • Source a document (author, date, audience, purpose, context) and distinguish its reliability from its usefulness for a specific question.
  • Classify causes as long-term or immediate (triggers) and as economic, social, political or environmental.
  • Explain the causes, spread and consequences (intended and unintended) of the Black Death using evidence.
  • Write a causal argument that ranks causes or consequences and supports the ranking with evidence.

Lessons

  1. Reliable or useful? 6 steps3 practiceabout 25 min
  2. The language of causation 6 steps4 practiceabout 25 min
  3. Consequences: intended and unintended 6 steps4 practiceabout 28 min
  4. Building a causal argument 5 steps3 practiceabout 27 min
  5. Sources and causation check 9 questions at the end

Keep exploring

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Guide for grown-ups