BBC - Schools - Indus Valley - Teachers and Parents

This website is designed for 7-11 year olds. It offers a series of online activities which help Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 to learn about the Indus civilisation.

The learning objectives are integrated in a four-level Flash activity. Once in the site, the children can independently work through the four levels.

Some children may find it more fun to work in pairs, as some activities require interpretation and may benefit from partner discussion.

The website covers KS2 QCA Scheme of Work Unit 16: How can we find out about the Indus Valley civilisation?

Download Lesson Plan (PDF)

Go to Mission	Introduction to the Mission The children are guided through the Flash activities by Professor Indus, a friendly archaeologist. He needs help to find and explore the lost city of Mohenjo-Daro. Relevant QCA learning objectives: - introduces pupils to words associated with archaeology - archaeologist, evidence, artefact
Go to Expedition	Expedition The children try to find the city with Professor Indus. They learn where the Indus civilisation was located and find out about the physical features of Indus valley. Relevant QCA learning objectives: - to locate the Indus Valley civilisation - about the environment of the Indus Valley and how this could have affected settlement patterns and lifestyles
Go to Lost City	Lost City Then Professor Indus and the kids visit the Lost City of Mohenjo-Daro to explore how it was planned and built. Relevant QCA learning objectives: - what was discovered during the excavations - the sort of questions that can be answered from archaeological discoveries - about how people lived in Mohenjo-Daro
Go to Get Digging	Get Digging After that, the children take part in an archaeological dig with Professor Indus where they uncover some important artefacts. They then interpret the artefacts to learn more about the Indus people. Relevant QCA learning objectives: - to use pictures of artefacts to find out about a particular aspect of life in Mohenjo-Daro
Go to Museum	Museum Then it's off to the museum where the children place their artefacts in the correct room and view Mohenjo-Daro's greatest - and most mysterious - treasure. Relevant QCA learning objectives: - to consider how objects are presented in museums - how and why artefacts are classified - to group pictures of artefacts into categories - that there can be more than one interpretation of the past, eg because of limitations of evidence
Go to Press Office	Press Office Once they've learned all about the ancient Indus civilisation, they can visit the Press office, where they'll learn how to tell facts from opinions before they produce and print their very own Indus newspaper! Relevant QCA learning objectives: - to summarise what they have found out about the Indus Valley civilisation - that there are gaps in evidence from the past
Print Timeline (PDF)	Timeline Print this Timeline of world history to see where the Indus civilisation existed in time. Relevant QCA learning objectives: - to use BC and AD appropriately - how the Indus civilisation relates to other historical periods and to the chronology of world history.