AQA GCSE History: Britain Health & People - The Contributions of the Islamic Empire (Lesson 6)

This fascinating lesson looks at the contributions made by the Islamic Empire to the progress of medicine and healthcare in Western Europe during the Medieval period. Students will study the influence of key individuals such as Rhazes, Abulcasis, Avicenna and Ibn al-Nafis as well as how Islamic teachings promoted a more rational, evidence led way of thinking in the study of medicine which led to several new approaches and medical discoveries.

This is a fully resourced lesson which includes a printable fact sheet based on the GCSE AQA specification as well as worksheets, discussion tasks, engaging background information, warm up tasks and learning reviews.

The lesson includes the following:
Slide 1: Title slide – The significance of Islamic Medicine in the Medieval period.
Slide 2: Outline of the main lessons aims
Slide 3: As you come in activity: A blank map of the Islamic Empire and geography recall.
Slide 4-5: Learning Recap Activity – About the beliefs of the Christian Church.
Slide 6: Background information about the time of the Dark Ages in Europe.
Slide 7: Background information about the ‘Islamic Golden Age’.
Side 8-10: Source based analysis activities to discover the differences between Islamic and Christian approaches to medicine. Printable worksheet included.
Slide 11-12: Activity 1 – A worksheet and table to help students fully understand the contributions and significance of Islamic medicine.
Slide 13-14: Activity 2 – A table which asks students to compare the similarities and differences between Islamic and Christian approaches to medicine. Answers also given.
Slide 15: Example Exam Question - Similarity
Slide 16: Follow Up Challenge Questions
Slide 17: Useful class clips and reading links
Slide 18: Learning Review Quiz – Multiple Choice with answers revealed.
Slide 19: Final lesson discussion
Slide 20: Lesson Fact Sheet – based on the AQA GCSE specification.

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All images used in this lesson are in the public domain and are therefore copyright free at the time of publishing. Images which require attribution have been attributed in the notes section of each slide where the image appears. If you feel any errors have been made, please contact me at raschoolresources@gmail.com in the first instance to resolve any issues. My lessons are completed using PowerPoint and designed on widescreen formatting. Thank you.