Antibiotic Resistance and the Future of Medicine

This WebQuest will take on an interactive route in which the students will be given a scenario to work around.

It’s a certain time in history; a terrifying sickness is sweeping across villages: people develop strange swellings, high fevers, and die within days. Panic spreads faster than the disease. It's your mission to figure out what that sickness is and knowing how to fight it. Students will be given records containing patient records of symptoms, descriptions and drawings. The challenge the students need to tackle is using modern biology knowledge about sicknesses that occurred in the past and the records given to diagnose the disease and present your findings.

You should:

1. Gather evidence from the historical records given.

2. Research possible diseases that fit (cholera, smallpox, plague, influenza...).

3. Compare your findings to modern science.

4. Reveal the true identity of the disease: the Black Plague.

5. Propose medieval + modern strategies to contain it.

Step 1: Collect Clues

• Read teacher-provided case files: fever, buboes, black spots, quick death.

• Study maps of trade routes & outbreaks.

• Analyze drawings or medieval woodcuts.

Step 2: Compare Possibilities

• Could it be smallpox? Cholera? Leprosy? Search about multiple diseases and compare to what's observed.

• Rule out diseases using modern symptoms knowledge.

Step 3: The Breakthrough

• Discover evidence of rats and fleas in villages.

• Link it to the bacterium Yersinia pestis (the Black Plague).

Step 4: Recommend Actions

• Medieval solutions: quarantine, burning clothes, prayer, herbal remedies.

• Modern solutions: antibiotics, hygiene, rodent control, vaccines.

Students are graded on:

1. Historical and scientific accuracy: accurate description of symptoms, transmission (rats/fleas), and spread via trade routes and clear distinction between medieval beliefs and modern germ theory.

2. Use of evidence and investigation Skills: effective use of the records, and use of logical reasoning to eliminate other diseases, as well as the ability to connect clues to form a coherent explanation.

3. Critical thinking and analysis: the ability to question medieval explanations vs. scientific ones and strong comparisons between past responses and what modern medicine would do.

4. Clarity and organization of final work: final report/presentation is well-structured and easy to follow, and ideas flow logically with strong supporting details.

By discovering the Black Death, students recognize how biology, history, and medicine converge. They understand how inadequate germ theory shaped responses, and how modern science changes outcomes. Most importantly, they see how pandemics of the past affects present and future public health.

1. Lieferinxe, J. (1400s): image 1

2. Fürst, P. (1656). Der Doctor Schnabel von Rom [Engraving]. image 2

3. Hirschl, A.: image 3 

4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023). Plague. https://www.cdc.gov/plague/

5. World Health Organization. (2022). Plague fact sheet. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/plague