New
New
Year 10
Edexcel

New 19th century ideas about the causes of disease and illness

I can evaluate the impact of Germ Theory on explanations for the causes of disease in 19th century Britain.

New
New
Year 10
Edexcel

New 19th century ideas about the causes of disease and illness

I can evaluate the impact of Germ Theory on explanations for the causes of disease in 19th century Britain.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Miasma continued to be widely accepted as a cause of disease.
  2. Spontaneous generation suggested that decay and disease caused microbes to appear.
  3. Louis Pasteur's Germ Theory disproved spontaneous generation.
  4. Robert Koch proved certain bacteria cause specific diseases.
  5. Germ Theory was initially rejected by many British doctors.

Keywords

  • Microbe - any living organism which is too small to be seen without a microscope

  • Culture - bacteria grown under laboratory conditions

Common misconception

Germ Theory's accuracy meant that it was immediately accepted in Britain.

Many doctors still defended spontaneous generation and it took the additional proof provided by Robert Koch's work to convince many that microbes caused disease.


To help you plan your year 10 history lesson on: New 19th century ideas about the causes of disease and illness, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Ask pupils to compare the work of Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch. Ask whose contributions were more important for understanding of the causes of disease and illness. You may prompt pupils to think about links between their work and the reaction of others to their findings.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Having means that someone is unable to catch a particular disease.

Correct Answer: immunity

Q2.
How many of King George III's 15 children were inoculated?

Correct Answer: 15, fifteen, all of them, all

Q3.
Who discovered a vaccine for smallpox?

Correct answer: Edward Jenner
John Hunter
Thomas Sydenham
William Harvey

Q4.
Which disease did smallpox vaccinations involve infecting a person with?

Correct Answer: cowpox, cow pox

Q5.
Which statement is accurate?

Smallpox death rates fell immediately after a vaccine was discovered.
Correct answer: Outbreaks of smallpox continued for decades after the invention of a vaccine.
Vaccination was very quickly more popular than inoculation.

Q6.
Why did the British government prefer vaccinations to inoculation?

almost everybody in the UK preferred vaccinations
Correct answer: less time-consuming
Correct answer: safer and more effective
the reason why it worked was fully understood

Assessment exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is bacteria grown under laboratory conditions referred to as?

Correct answer: a culture
a microbe
a theory

Q2.
Match each individual to the correct description of their medical contributions.

Correct Answer:Henry Charlton Bastian,leading critic of Germ Theory in Britain

leading critic of Germ Theory in Britain

Correct Answer:John Tyndall,leading supporter of Germ Theory in Britain

leading supporter of Germ Theory in Britain

Correct Answer:Louis Pasteur,first developed Germ Theory

first developed Germ Theory

Correct Answer:Robert Koch,proved that microbes caused some diseases

proved that microbes caused some diseases

Q3.
A is any living organism which is too small to be seen without a microscope.

Correct Answer: microbe

Q4.
Which theory argued that microbes were the result of decay and disease?

Correct Answer: spontaneous generation, spontaneous generation theory

Q5.
What was a typhoid outbreak in Wales in the 1880s officially blamed on?

divine punishment
Correct answer: miasma
microbes

Q6.
Starting with the earliest, sort the following events into chronological order.

1 - Microbes were first observed.
2 - Spontaneous generation was used to explain the presence of microbes.
3 - Louis Pasteur developed Germ Theory.
4 - Robert Koch proved that certain microbes caused specific diseases.

Additional material

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