Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Tipping, and I am really looking forward to learning with you today all about the earliest civilizations, the Indus and the Shag.

So shall we get started? Let's go.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to describe the location of the River Indus and what was found there in 1921.

Before we start, I would like to introduce you to some keywords.

We'll be using these keywords during the lesson, so it might be a good idea to write these words down.

The keywords we'll be using today are India.

Pakistan.

Valley.

Fertile.

I'm going to say those again, and I'd like you to repeat them after me.

India.

Pakistan.

Valley.

Fertile.

Good job.

Now let's think in more detail about what these keywords mean.

Here are the definitions for each of our keywords.

So India is a country in Southern Asia, surrounded on three sides by the Indian Ocean.

Pakistan is a country in Southern Asia that shares a border with India.

A valley is a flat area of land where a river flows between hills or mountains.

Soil is fertile when it is very good for growing lots of healthy plants.

Pause the video here to make a note of these keyword.

And when you are ready to continue, press play.

These are the learning cycles that we'll be working through together in today's lesson.

Where is the Indus Valley? Why was the Indus Valley important? So in the first learning cycle, we're going to explore where the Indus Valley is.

In the countries that we call Pakistan and India today, there is a powerful river called the River Indus.

It flows from high land in the Himalayan Mountains all the way to the Arabian Sea, which is a journey of over 2,000 miles.

You can see here on the map where the River Indus flows through India and Pakistan.

Have a good look there.

Can you see where the Indus River is and how it flows down to the Arabian Sea? Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Which two countries does the Indus River flow through? France, Pakistan, Spain, India.

What do you think? If you thought it was Pakistan and India, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

A valley is a flat area of land where a river flows between hills or mountains.

The flat land around the River Indus and between the mountains is known as the Indus Valley.

So you can see on this image here where the River Indus is and the mountains, and then the valley.

The Indus River is a very long river.

It flows for nearly 2,000 miles.

The river floods the Indus Valley in the summer, and this makes the land around it very fertile and good for growing plants and food.

And this is very useful for the people today who live in Pakistan around the River Indus.

Can you see the photo there of the River Indus during a flood, how it covers the valley? Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Which river flows through the in River Valley? Euphrates River, River Nile, the Indus River.

Pause the video here, have a quick discussion with your partner and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said the Indus River, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

Now this brings us to our first learning task.

I'd like you to match the word to the definition.

So the words we have are Pakistan, valley, and fertile, and the definitions are soil that is very good for growing lots of healthy plants.

A country in Southern Asia that shares a border with India, a flat area of land where a river flows between hills or mountains.

So pause the video here.

Give yourself enough time to match the word to the definition and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did that go? Shall we have a look at the matches? So Pakistan is a country in Southern Asia that shares a border with India.

A valley is a flat area of land where a river flows between hills or mountains.

Fertile, soil that is very good for growing lots of healthy plants.

So fertile soil.

Well done for completing that learning task.

We're now ready to move on to the second part of our lesson.

We're going to explore why the Indus Valley was so important.

The River Indus was very important for ancient people.

People used the river to drink water, to wash and to grow crops.

The river would have flooded in ancient times and made the land around it fertile then too.

5,000 years ago, the ancient Egyptian civilization existed around the River Nile, and the ancient Sumerian civilization existed around the Euphrates and Tigris.

This is because the civilizations began with people learning how to farm the land.

So have a look at that map there that shows the Nile, the Tigris, the Euphrates, and the Indus River, how important those rivers are to those civilizations, the ancient Egyptians, the ancient Sumerians, and the Indus.

In 1921, archaeologists began to look for evidence of an ancient civilization in the Indus Valley and started to dig at a place called Harappa.

Harappa is in a place that's now called Pakistan.

So have a look there.

Can you see where Harappa is? How close it is to the Indus River? Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Which sentence describes Harappa correctly? Harappa is a long river in Pakistan.

Harappa is a place in the Indus River Valley.

Harappa is a long river in India.

So pause the video here, have a quick discussion with your partner.

And when you're ready to continue, press play.

What did you think? If you said that Harappa is a place in the Indus River Valley, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

The first thing that was found was a unique stone stamp seal.

It had an animal like a unicorn and some words in a language we do not know.

A stone seal is a square or rectangular object used for stamping the same image onto things like clay.

The archaeologists soon found lots more evidence that there had been an ancient civilization in the Indus Valley.

Have a look at that photo of a stamp seal that was found at Harappa.

What do you think of it? What can you see? Now, historians think that people started farming the fertile land around the Indus River around 8,000 years ago.

And over that time, the farmers, they got better and better at farming.

Have a look there at that photo that's taken from space.

It shows the green fertile land around the Indus River.

So you can see where the Indus River is flowing, and that green land, that fertile land around it.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

In the Indus Valley around 8,000 years ago, historians think that people started to what? What did they start to do? Pause the video here.

Have a go at completing that sentence.

And when you're ready to continue, press play.

How did that go? Shall we take a look at an example? So in the Indus Valley, around 8,000 years ago, historians think that people started to farm the fertile land around the Indus River.

Well done if you were able to complete that sentence.

Over time, the farmers got better and better at farming, and this led to the beginning of the Indus Valley civilization, around 5,000 years ago.

This is around the same time that the ancient Egyptian and ancient Sumerian civilizations existed.

The ruins found in the city of Harappa in 1921 were the first evidence ever found from the ancient Indus Valley civilization.

Let's have a look at that photo of the ruins there.

Can you imagine how exciting it would've been to find those ruins of a whole city? Archaeologists have continued to find lots of evidence, including the ruins of houses, streets, and wells in the ancient city of Harappa, showing that they were well organised and practical.

The Indus Valley civilization existed at the same time as those ancient Egyptians and ancient Sumerians.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Can you read the sentences below? Put a tick or a cross to show if they are true or false.

In 1921, ruins were found at a place called Harappa.

Harappa was an ancient Egyptian city.

Farming in the Indus Valley led to a civilization.

The Indus Valley civilization began 1,000 years ago.

So pause the video here.

Have a discussion with your partner.

Read through these sentences and put a tick or across to show if they are true or false.

So a tick for true and a cross for false.

And press play when you are ready to continue.

How did that go? Shall we take a look at which are true and which are false? So in 1921, ruins were found at a place called Harappa.

That's true.

Harappa was an ancient Egyptian city.

That's false.

farming in the Indus Valley led to a civilization.

That's true.

The Indus Valley civilization began 1,000 years ago.

That's false.

So her wrapper was an ancient Indus city, and the Indus Valley civilization began 5,000 years ago.

Well done if you were able to spot the correct and the false sentences.

This brings us to our second learning task.

I'd like you to add labels to the map below to show what you have learned about the Indus Valley and what has been found there.

So you can see that map there showing the Indus Valley.

You can see where the river is, where Pakistan and Harappa and India are.

And can you use all of these words, valley, Pakistan, India, and fertile? So pause the video here.

Give yourself enough time to add labels to the map below to show what you have learned about the Indus Valley and what has been found there.

And try to use all of these words, valley, Pakistan, India, and fertile.

And press play when you are ready to continue.

How did that go? Were you able to add labels to the map? And could you use all of those words? Well, let's have a look at an example, shall we? So you could have had the River Indus flows through India and Pakistan today.

People began farming in the Indus Valley 8,000 years ago.

The Indus Valley is fertile because the river floods.

Ruins of a 5,000-year-old city were found at Harappa in 1921.

The Indus Valley civilization began around 5,000 years ago.

Well done for completing that learning task.

Before we finish this lesson, let's summarise what we've learned about the Indus Valley.

The Indus is a powerful river that flows through the countries we call Pakistan and India today.

The River Indus floods, creating fertile land that is good for farming.

8,000 years ago, ancient people learned to farm the land in the Indus Valley.

In 1921, archaeologists found ruins of an ancient civilization at Harappa, which existed at the same time as the ancient Egyptian and ancient Sumerian civilizations.

The more they dug, the more evidence they found of the ancient Indus Valley civilization, beginning around 5,000 years ago.

Thank you for joining me in the lesson today.

We've certainly learned a lot about the Indus Valley.

I hope to see you in the next lesson.

See you next time.