Exploring Ancient Cultures Class Summary 3/24/14

with Kim Rodgers

Ancient India

This week we began our exploration of Ancient India through the waterways that tie Ancient Mesopotamia to India through trade. We discovered how important water was to their survival, providing not only trade routes through the Indus River, but also fertile soil for farming and clean drinking water through the use of wells. 

Ruins of Mohenjo-Daro were discovered in the Indus River Valley in the 1920s, which revealed a complex system of drains that extended through the city. The students were also delighted to hear that they had toilets! We focused on the homes of the city which were built out of mud bricks. We used clay to carefully cut our bricks into sizes which will be useful when building our own Mohenjo-Daro next week. We talked about how they might have made the bricks, using sand, dirt, grasses, and water to form the right consistency. I was toying with the idea of making our own, but maybe when it warms up a little! It seemed too messy of a project to do indoors.

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Here is a link to explore containing many photos of the ruins of this ancient city. Next week we will assemble our own version, looking specifically at how important their drainage system was to life during that time. 

See you next week!

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