Introduction
Pandemics have been significant in shaping history throughout the years. The effect of these infectious diseases on our societies greatly helped in medical advancements and changed societies remarkably with the challenges and resilience that come along with them. Thus, learning about pandemics is crucial in understanding how to learn from the past to protect our future. It is when science, medicine, and society intertwine to save the lives of many. But what causes a pandemic? How do they spread? How do people deal with them? Throughout this WebQuest, you will discover the impact of pandemics and will explore how people respond to them.
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Task
Choose one of the following pandemics: The Black Death, The Spanish Flu, and COVID-19. Your task will be to create an informative brochure that includes the causes, symptoms, and major events of this pandemic. Ways of prevention as well as the society’s response to this pandemic should also be included. You will then be asked to present this brochure to the rest of the class.
For reference, this is what a brochure looks like:
Process
This page is divided into four sections. Kindly go to the section of the pandemic you will be working on and answer the following questions on your brochure. Make sure to check the brochure section to know how to create one.
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The Black Death
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What are key dates and events that happened during this pandemic?https://hosted.lib.uiowa.edu/histmed/plague/plaguetimeline.html#:~:text=1331%2D34%3A%20Plague%20outbreak%20in,link%20between%20Europe%20and%20Asia.
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What are the causes of this illness? https://www.genome.gov/27546229/dissecting-the-cause-of-the-black-death
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What are the symptoms that come with this disease? https://www.cdc.gov/plague/signs-symptoms/index.html#:~:text=Bubonic%20plague%3A%20Patients%20develop%20fever,of%202%20to%208%20days.
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Do treatments exist to cure this disease? https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1540/medieval-cures-for-the-black-death/
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Are there ways to prevent this illness? https://www.history.com/news/quarantine-black-death-medieval
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How did society react to the pandemic? https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/plague/effects/social.php
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The Spanish Flu
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What are key dates and events that happened during this pandemic? https://www.nursing.upenn.edu/history/publications/calm-cool-collected/1918-flu-timeline/
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What are the causes of this illness? https://www.britannica.com/event/influenza-pandemic-of-1918-1919
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What are the symptoms that come with this disease? https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21777-spanish-flu
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Do treatments exist to cure this disease?https://virus.stanford.edu/uda/fluscimed.html#:~:text=Treatment%20and%20Therapy&text=The%20treatment%20was%20largely%20symptomatic,10%2F3%2F1918).
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Are there ways to prevent this illness? https://www.nature.com/articles/d42473-020-00443-y
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How did society react to the pandemic? https://www.nber.org/digest/may20/social-and-economic-impacts-1918-influenza-epidemic
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COVID-19
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What are key dates and events that happened during this pandemic? https://www.cdc.gov/museum/timeline/covid19.html
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What are the causes of this illness? https://www.pennmedicine.org/for-patients-and-visitors/patient-information/conditions-treated-a-to-z/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid19
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What are the symptoms that come with this disease? https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/symptoms-causes/syc-20479963
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Do treatments exist to cure this disease? https://www.cdc.gov/covid/treatment/index.html
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Are there ways to prevent this illness? https://www.cdc.gov/covid/prevention/index.html
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How did society react to the pandemic? https://social.desa.un.org/everyone-included-social-impact-of-covid-19#:~:text=If%20not%20properly%20addressed%20through,the%20medium%20and%20long%20term.
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Brochure
- How to create a brochure? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCcPDSE6vLw
Evaluation
You will be graded based on the following criteria:
| Criteria | Excellent (5 points) | Good (4 points) | Satisfactory (3 points) | Needs improvement (2 points) | Poor (1 point) |
| Content | Information is correct, complete, and cited properly. | Information is correct with some minor errors. | Information includes some inaccuracies. | Information is mostly inaccurate. | Information is incorrect and incomplete. |
| Design | Design is very creative, easy to read, and includes images and appropriate color choices. | Design is creative but still requires improvement in the layout of the text. | Design is mostly creative but lacks images and colors. | Design lacks creativity and the format is mostly inconsistent. | Design is not creative, is difficult to read, and is not well-structured. |
| Grammar and Spelling | No grammar mistakes. | Very few grammar mistakes but no effect on the flow of the text. | Some grammar mistakes that affect the flow of the text. | Recurrent grammar mistakes that make the text hard to read. | Many grammar errors that make the text hard to understand. |
| Completeness | Includes the answers to all the questions. | Includes the answers to all the questions but some details are missing. | Some questions remained unanswered. | Many questions remain unanswered and lack details. | Text is incomplete and lacks the answer to most questions. |
| Organization | Information is well organized and presented in a logical order. | Information is clear but could be more organized. | Information in some sections is unorganized and unclear. | Information in many sections is unclear, making it difficult to follow. | Information is disorganized and lacks coherence. |
Conclusion
Congratulations! You have now reached the end of this WebQuest in which you have learnt about the most significant pandemics throughout history. You were able to learn about their causes, symptoms, responses, and preventative measures. This should have helped you better understand how these infectious diseases have shaped not only modern medicine but also our current societies.
Kindly complete the following quiz to ensure you have understood the effect of these pandemics and how they have spread. There are three quizzes. Please pick the one related to the pandemic you have worked on.
The Black Death:
The Spanish Flu:
COVID-19:
Credits
Resources:
Mark, J. J. (2025). Medieval cures for the Black Death. World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1540/medieval-cures-for-the-black-death/
Signs and symptoms of plague. (2024, May 15). Plague. https://www.cdc.gov/plague/signs-symptoms/index.html#:~:text=Bubonic%20plague%3A%20Patients%20develop%20fever,of%202%20to%208%20days.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2025, February 10). Influenza pandemic of 1918–19 | Cause, Origin, & Spread. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/influenza-pandemic-of-1918-1919
The Black Death: Timeline. (n.d.).
Dissecting the cause of the Black Death. (n.d.). Genome.gov. https://www.genome.gov/27546229/dissecting-the-cause-of-the-black-death
1918 Influenza pandemic (Spanish flu). (2024, October 29). Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21777-spanish-flu
Decameron web | Plague. (n.d.). https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/plague/effects/social.php
The 1918 Influenza Pandemic: Responses. (n.d.). https://virus.stanford.edu/uda/fluscimed.html#:~:text=Treatment%20and%20Therapy&text=The%20treatment%20was%20largely%20symptomatic,10%2F3%2F1918).
1918 Flu timeline. (n.d.). https://www.nursing.upenn.edu/history/publications/calm-cool-collected/1918-flu-timeline/
Preventing influenza pandemics. (n.d.). Nature. https://www.nature.com/articles/d42473-020-00443-y
Social and economic impacts of the 1918 influenza epidemic. (n.d.). NBER. https://www.nber.org/digest/may20/social-and-economic-impacts-1918-influenza-epidemic
CDC Museum COVID-19 timeline. (2024, July 8). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/museum/timeline/covid19.html
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) - Symptoms and causes. (n.d.). Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/symptoms-causes/syc-20479963
Types of COVID-19 treatment. (2024, December 20). COVID-19. https://www.cdc.gov/covid/treatment/index.html
How to protect yourself and others. (2024, July 12). COVID-19. https://www.cdc.gov/covid/prevention/index.html
Everyone included: Social Impact of COVID-19 | Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD). (n.d.). https://social.desa.un.org/everyone-included-social-impact-of-covid-19#:~:text=If%20not%20properly%20addressed%20through,the%20medium%20and%20long%20term.
Tutorials by Manizha & Ryan. (2022, November 3). How to make a brochure in Canva 2025 (Step by Step) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCcPDSE6vLw
Genetic clues to what really caused Black Death. (2011b, September 12). NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna44489863
World Health Organization: WHO. (2020, January 10). Coronavirus. https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus
News-Medical. (2021, May 7). Current pandemics. https://www.news-medical.net/health/Current-Pandemics.aspx
How to choose a perfect brochure type for your business. (n.d.). FlippingBook. https://flippingbook.com/blog/guides/brochure-types
Client challenge. (n.d.). https://stock.adobe.com/search/images?k=the+end
Teacher Page
Hello, my name is Chloe Batrouni and I am a Biology teacher at the GEMS Wellington international school in Dubai.
For any inquiries, kindly contact me through the following email: batrouni.chloe@gmail.com