The AP World History teachers here at Shadow Ridge have been conducting a “Black Plague Simulation” for 10 years now. In honor of this school tradition, Mr. Pack and Mrs. Nichols have given their “inside scoop” to the experiment as the history teachers conducting it.
Currently, Pack is the assistant coach and defensive coordinator for Shadow’s three time State Champion Women’s Flag Football Team. He used to work at Kailua High School in Hawaii in 2012 until he switched over to Shadow Ridge in 2013 where he has been working ever since.
This is Mrs. Nichols’ third year at Shadow Ridge and her first year as an AP World History teacher and she is taking on the challenge in stride. Previously she was in California teaching for the past 20 years or so, and though she loves Vegas she still misses the ocean. Additionally, Mrs. Nichols mentions, “I am on the AP committee here at Shadow, and I just try to be there when my students need me.”
To explain what the black death simulation is, Pack says, “The idea is to mimic the spread of the Bubonic plague across Europe during the years 1348-1352 in my AP World History class.”
He goes on to further say that, “Students get to choose the town they will live in, such as London or Paris, and then they are randomly assigned a role in society such as being a peasant or a noble. As they trade for items there is a chance that they may contract the plague. If that occurs, they only have a 33% chance to recover. In addition, there are town events that happen each turn that may raise the death toll.”
The goal of this experiment for the students participating is to (1) survive the plague and (2) accumulate the most items/goods.
Nichols, though she gives credit to Mr. Pack for the experiment, uses this study to allow her students to engage and get a better understanding of the spread of the disease.
“The intention is that students get the feelings of paranoia, dread and fear about contracting the plague much like people felt in Europe during the height of the black death. Then students have an actual experience that they can relate to the content that we are learning about,” stated Nichols.
The black plague simulation is a useful and powerful educational tool. It is inspiring teachers such as Mr. Pack and Mrs. Nichols that allow Shadow Ridge Students to succeed and excel.
