{"id":6075,"date":"2026-09-24T21:13:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T18:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/?p=6075"},"modified":"2026-09-30T21:16:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T18:16:19","slug":"new-simulation-the-black-death-a-history-skills-challenge-for-grade-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/key-stage\/year-7-history\/new-simulation-the-black-death-a-history-skills-challenge-for-grade-6\/","title":{"rendered":"*NEW* Simulation: The Black Death: A History Skills Challenge for Grade 6"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How well can your students <strong>think like historians<\/strong>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/main_area\/games\/black_death\/\">This revamped ActiveHistory Black Death simulation<\/a><\/span><\/strong> turns a medieval plague into a fast-paced <strong>20-minute historical skills challenge<\/strong> for Grade 6 students. Rather than simply testing factual recall, students tackle a series of challenges designed to measure three key areas of historical thinking:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">?? <strong>Visual Literacy<\/strong> \u2014 interpreting maps and images as historical evidence<br \/>? <strong>Source Analysis<\/strong> \u2014 identifying and interpreting what historical sources reveal<br \/>? <strong>Historical Reasoning<\/strong> \u2014 weighing evidence, spotting mistakes and making informed decisions<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Students work through <strong>20 self-marking challenges<\/strong>, receiving immediate feedback as they go. Their results are automatically broken down into the three skill areas, giving both student and teacher a much clearer picture of <strong>where they are succeeding and where they need to develop<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And there\u2019s a useful bonus for teachers: at the end, the simulation automatically generates a <strong>personalised performance comment<\/strong>, based on the student&#8217;s results, which can be copied directly into a markbook or reporting system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A fun activity for students \u2014 but one that gives teachers <strong>meaningful evidence of historical skills, not just a score<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-30-at-20.15.08-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"668\" src=\"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-30-at-20.15.08-1024x668.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6076\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-30-at-20.15.08-1024x668.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-30-at-20.15.08-300x196.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-30-at-20.15.08-768x501.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-30-at-20.15.08-1536x1001.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-30-at-20.15.08-2048x1335.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-30-at-20.15.08-460x300.jpg 460w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How well can your students think like historians? This revamped ActiveHistory Black Death simulation turns a medieval plague into a fast-paced 20-minute historical skills challenge for Grade 6 students. Rather than simply testing factual recall, students tackle a series of challenges designed to measure three key areas of historical thinking: ?? Visual Literacy \u2014 interpreting&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/key-stage\/year-7-history\/new-simulation-the-black-death-a-history-skills-challenge-for-grade-6\/\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6076,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,212,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-medieval","category-visual-literacy","category-year-7-history"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6097,"url":"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/historical-periods\/industrial-revolution\/the-american-civil-war-an-interactive-history-simulation\/","url_meta":{"origin":6075,"position":0},"title":"The American Civil War: An Interactive History Simulation","author":"Russel Tarr","date":"October 6, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Can your students make the decisions that would win the American Civil War? What would you do if you were advising Abraham Lincoln or Jefferson Davis during one of the most important conflicts in American history? Our new American Civil War Interactive Simulation gives students the opportunity to step into\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;1750-1900 (Year 9 History)&quot;","block_context":{"text":"1750-1900 (Year 9 History)","link":"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/category\/historical-periods\/industrial-revolution\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/stage01_presidential_power_fort_sumter.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6087,"url":"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/historical-periods\/industrial-revolution\/keep-your-head-surviving-the-french-revolution-an-interactive-history-simulation\/","url_meta":{"origin":6075,"position":1},"title":"KEEP YOUR HEAD! \u2013 Surviving the French Revolution: An Interactive History Simulation","author":"Russel Tarr","date":"October 2, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"What would you do to survive the French Revolution? Would you speak out against Robespierre, help a suspected enemy of the Republic, or keep your head down and hope nobody notices you? The Reign of Terror (1793\u20131794) was a frightening period in French history. Political suspicion, denunciations, food shortages and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;1750-1900 (Year 9 History)&quot;","block_context":{"text":"1750-1900 (Year 9 History)","link":"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/category\/historical-periods\/industrial-revolution\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/intro.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/intro.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/intro.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/intro.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/intro.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/intro.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5819,"url":"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/historical-periods\/early-modern\/new-simulation-which-16th-century-ruler-are-you\/","url_meta":{"origin":6075,"position":2},"title":"*NEW* Simulation: Which 16th Century ruler are YOU?!","author":"Russel Tarr","date":"January 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I've designed a new self-contained unit of study for Grade 7 History which familiarises students with four of the greatest rulers of the period in an engaging and rigorous way, with a piece of extended writing answering the key question being the final outcome. Try it out and let me\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;1450-1750 (Year 8 History)&quot;","block_context":{"text":"1450-1750 (Year 8 History)","link":"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/category\/historical-periods\/early-modern\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"?","src":"https:\/\/static.xx.fbcdn.net\/images\/emoji.php\/v9\/t6d\/2\/16\/1f600.png","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":422,"url":"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/key-stage\/year-7-history\/year-7-history-skills-historical-evidence\/","url_meta":{"origin":6075,"position":3},"title":"Year 7 History Skills &#8211; &#8220;Historical Evidence&#8221;","author":"Russel Tarr","date":"October 10, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"A new worksheet \/ lesson plan. As a first homework, students produce a scrapbook of personal evidence consisting of photos, certificates, tickets and so on - but with no written explanation. In the follow-up lesson, the scrapbooks are swapped around and students have to deduce things about each other from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;1000-1450 (Year 7 History)&quot;","block_context":{"text":"1000-1450 (Year 7 History)","link":"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/category\/historical-periods\/medieval\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4499,"url":"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/history-teachers\/five-techniques-for-building-visual-literacy-in-the-history-classroom\/","url_meta":{"origin":6075,"position":4},"title":"Five techniques for building visual literacy in the History Classroom","author":"Russel Tarr","date":"August 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"OVERVIEW\u00a0 Political cartoons are a mainstay of the history classroom and provide a wonderful tool not only for starter and plenary activities, but invaluable raw material for helping students draw deductions, compare interpretations and substantiate their own judgements by bringing in additional background knowledge. They also provide an accessible way\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;History Teachers&quot;","block_context":{"text":"History Teachers","link":"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/category\/history-teachers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4543,"url":"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/historical-periods\/medieval\/voyages-of-discovery-simulation-updated-and-improved\/","url_meta":{"origin":6075,"position":5},"title":"Voyages of Discovery Simulation: Updated and Improved","author":"Russel Tarr","date":"October 28, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I have updated my new \"Voyages of Discovery\" simulation in response to user feedback to include more locations, additional varied tasks, and fresh information about West African Empires in the Middle Ages \/ Early Modern period to complement the current focus on Asian and European History. It's now a pretty\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;1000-1450 (Year 7 History)&quot;","block_context":{"text":"1000-1450 (Year 7 History)","link":"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/category\/historical-periods\/medieval\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/Miscellaneous\/menus\/Year_8\/voyages_of_discovery.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/Miscellaneous\/menus\/Year_8\/voyages_of_discovery.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/Miscellaneous\/menus\/Year_8\/voyages_of_discovery.gif?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/Miscellaneous\/menus\/Year_8\/voyages_of_discovery.gif?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-30-at-20.15.08-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6075"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6075\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6077,"href":"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6075\/revisions\/6077"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.activehistory.co.uk\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}