Lesson · Grade 7 · Social Studies
The Indus Valley: How Water Helped Cities Rise and Fall
- Grade 7
- Social Studies
- 1 min 20 s
- British Columbia
- BC7-SS-11
A simple labelled map shows the Indus River flowing from snowy mountains to the Arabian Sea. Floods leave rich soil, and by about 2600 BCE planned cities such as Harappa and Mohenjo-daro have grown, with grid streets, baked-brick houses, covered drains, trade by sea to Mesopotamia and seals in a script no one can read yet. After about 1900 BCE the cities slowly empty, and the map shows what historians think played a part (less rain, a drying river and less trade) as people move into smaller villages.
Concept: The Indus Valley
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In one sentence
The question this lesson answers
How did the cities of the Indus Valley rise and fall?
The Indus River flows from high mountains down to the Arabian Sea.
Transcript
What the lesson says
How did the cities of the Indus Valley rise and fall?
The Indus River flows from high mountains down to the Arabian Sea.
Today this land is mostly in Pakistan and northwest India.
Each summer, rain and melting snow made the river flood.
The floods left rich soil, so farmers could grow extra food.
By about 2600 BCE, villages here had grown into big cities.
Two of the biggest were Harappa and Mohenjo-daro.
The cities were planned, with straight streets laid out in a grid.
Houses were built of baked bricks, made in a standard shape.
Covered drains along the streets carried waste water away.
Traders sailed with goods as far as Mesopotamia.
Their seals carry a script that no one can read yet.
After about 1900 BCE, the big cities slowly emptied.
Historians think less rain, a drying river and less trade all played a part.
Many people moved away into smaller villages.
River water helped this civilization rise, and less water helped it fall.
Curriculum
Where this fits
- British Columbia, Grade 7
Social Studies, Ancient world to the 7th century: features and characteristics of civilizations and factors that led to their rise and fallBC7-SS-11
Previous: Ancient Egypt and the NileNext: Ancient China and the Yellow River
The outcomes and strands follow the British Columbia curriculum.
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