Station 1
Monsoons: Seasonal winds
called monsoons dominate
India’s climate. From October
to February, winter monsoons
from the northeast blow dry air
westward across the country.
Then, from the middle of June
through October, the winds
shift. These monsoons blow
eastward from the southwest,
carrying moisture from the
ocean in great rain clouds. The
powerful storms bring so much
moisture that flooding often
happens. When the summer
monsoons fail to develop,
drought often causes crop
disasters.
The cycle of wet and dry
seasons brought by the monsoon
winds was unpredictable. If
there was too little rain, plants
withered in the fields and people
went hungry. If there was too
much rain, floods swept away
whole villages.
Station 2
Translating the Indus Valley Written
Language
Image #1
Image #2
Unfortunately historians have not found a Rosetta Stone for
the Indus Valley Civilization and therefore we cannot translate
their written language.
Why is the Rosetta Stone So Important?
The Rosetta Stone is a carved stone that helped decode hieroglyphics.
The stone contained fragments of passages written in three different
scripts: Greek, Egyptian hieroglyphics and Demotic Egyptian. The
Greek passage stated that all three scripts were identical in meaning.
Because Greek was well known, the stone was the key to deciphering
the hieroglyphs, a language that had been considered dead for two
thousand years. Twenty five years later, French Egyptologist Jean
Francois Champollion successfully deciphered the hieroglyphics, using
the Greek as a guide. This enabled further study of Egyptian
hieroglyphics which had previously been indecipherable. The Rosetta
Stone became an important bridge to understanding the history and
culture of ancient Egypt.
#1
#2
Mohenjo-Daro, Indus
Valley Civilization
Station 3
Babylon, Mesopotamia
Station 3
#3
#4
Station 4
Name _______________________________________
Period #: _____
River Civilization: Indus Valley Civilization
Station 1:
List the geographic features in the area of the Indus Valley and then fill out how
each positively and negatively affected them.
Geographic Feature
Positive Effects (+)
Negative Effects (-)
What is the name of the river(s) the Indus settle upon?
What is a monsoon? How do monsoons affect India?
Station 2: Indus Valley Civilization Writing System
Use the two Images to fill out the chart and questions below.
What might the
Indus people be
trying to say in this
image?
What can we learn
about the Indus by
looking at this
Image?
Image #1
Image #2
What system of writing does the Indus writing remind you of?
What would make translating the Indus system of writing easier?
Station 3:
Use images 1-4 to help you answer the questions below.
What is the major difference between the layout of the Indus Valley city (#1) and
the Mesopotamian city (#2)?
Describe the great Indus achievement shown in picture and reading #3.
What are some things that might have enabled the Indus to accomplish this
achievement (#3)?
What are some things you notice about the Indus Valley city shown in image #4?
Station 4:
Read the textbook passage out loud and fill out a 5Ws chart.
Who:
What:
Where:
When:
Why:
List some things that historians could discover that would help us
understand what happened to the Indus society?