Worksheet

When the Rains Moved: From the Indus to the Ganges

Grade 6 geography: follow a timeline and a podcast script to compare the Indus and Ganges plains using climate, land-use and population data.

Grade 6Social StudiesInteractive · Printable

Aligned toGEO.6.3

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Single worksheet
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1 C3 Framework standard
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10 questions
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Details

Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 6
Subject: Social Studies
Question types: Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students use a timeline and climate, land-use and population data to compare the Indus and Ganges plains.
Students explain how people adapted to and changed their environment as the climate shifted.
Students argue a claim about climate and human choices using evidence from several sources.

How to use

Read the timeline first, then the podcast script, and have students mark each date the script mentions before they answer on their own.

Curriculum

C3 Framework standard covered

GEO.6.3

Use population, climate and land-use data to compare world regions and explain how people adapt to and change their environment.

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When the Rains Moved: From the Indus to the Ganges

Use a timeline, a podcast script and regional data to compare two great river plains.

The timeline

This timeline appears in the show notes of a history podcast. Use it to answer the questions.

South Asia's River Plains (dates are archaeologists' estimates)
Date	Event
About 7000 BCE	Mehrgarh farmers grow wheat and barley
About 2600–1900 BCE	Indus cities are at their largest
About 2200 BCE	Monsoon rains begin to weaken
About 1900–1700 BCE	Most big Indus cities shrink or empty
About 1900–1300 BCE	Villages spread east toward the Ganges
After about 1000 BCE	Iron tools used to clear Ganges forests
About 500 BCE	Kingdoms with big cities on the Ganges

About how many years passed between the first farming at Mehrgarh and the start of the time when Indus cities were at their largest? years

Which pair of timeline events shows a possible cause followed by a possible effect?

A. Monsoon rains begin to weaken → big Indus cities shrink
B. Iron tools clear Ganges forests → big Indus cities shrink
C. Indus cities at their largest → monsoon rains begin to weaken
D. Kingdoms grow on the Ganges → Mehrgarh farmers grow wheat

The podcast script

Read part of the script. Then use it, the timeline and the data table.

Rivers and Rains, Episode 12: When the Rains Moved

1Welcome back. I'm your host, Mateo Ruiz. Today we're comparing two great river plains of South Asia. In the west is the plain of the Indus River, mostly in what is now Pakistan. Far to the east is the plain of the Ganges River, in northern India and Bangladesh. Between much of the two lies a dry land of sand and scrub called the Thar Desert.

2Start with the Indus plain. It's dry. Most of its water comes from the Indus and its branches, which carry melting snow from the Himalayas and rain from the summer monsoon. A monsoon is a seasonal wind; between about June and September it blows moist air in from the ocean. On the Indus plain, people have long planted wheat and barley in the cool season, on land the summer flood has soaked.

3By about 2600 BCE, the people of the Indus Valley had built large, planned cities such as Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. Historians estimate that Mohenjo-daro may have held about 40,000 people. Builders laid out straight streets and covered drains, and they raised whole neighborhoods on brick platforms above the flood level.

4Then the climate changed. Mud from lake bottoms and rock layers in caves suggest that, after about 2200 BCE, the summer monsoon grew weaker for a long time. Some rivers in the eastern part of the Indus region seem to have dried up or changed course. In the centuries that followed, most of the big cities were left empty or shrank into small towns. At the same time, the number of small farming villages grew farther east, toward the Ganges plain, where more rain fell. Scientists still debate how much the climate caused these changes; problems with trade may also have played a part.

5The Ganges plain gets far more monsoon rain, and in ancient times forest covered much of it. Historians think that after about 1000 BCE, farmers with iron axes and plows cleared more and more of that forest and planted rice in flooded fields. By about 500 BCE, kingdoms with large cities had grown up along the river. Today the Ganges plain is one of the most crowded farming regions on Earth.

Circle the sentence from paragraph 4 that shows people adapting to a drier climate by moving.

Some rivers in the eastern part of the Indus region seem to have dried up or changed course.In the centuries that followed, most of the big cities were left empty or shrank into small towns.At the same time, the number of small farming villages grew farther east, toward the Ganges plain, where more rain fell.

Three Regions Today (rounded modern estimates)
Region	Yearly rain	Main farm water	Main crops or uses	People per sq mile
Lower Indus plain, Sindh	about 6 in	Canals from the Indus	wheat, cotton, rice	about 900
Thar Desert, India	about 4 to 12 in	Rain and wells	goats, camels, millet	about 200
Ganges plain, Bihar	about 45 in	Monsoon rain, rivers	rice, wheat, corn	about 2,900

Which statement compares the regions correctly, using the data table?

A. The Thar Desert holds more people per square mile than the Indus plain.
B. The Indus and Ganges plains get about the same rain each year.
C. The Indus plain is both the wettest and the most crowded region.
D. The region with the most rain also has the most people per square mile.

Using the data table, about how many more people per square mile live on the Ganges plain than on the lower Indus plain? more people

Sort each fact. Is it information about climate (rain, seasons, weather) or about land use (how people use the land)?

The summer monsoon grew weaker after about 2200 BCE.Farmers cleared forest to plant rice in flooded fields.The Ganges plain gets about 45 inches of rain a year.Canals carry Indus water to fields in Sindh.People in the Thar herd goats and camels.Moist ocean winds blow in between about June and September.

Climate	Land use

About 1800 BCE, a farming family in the eastern Indus region finds that the river branch beside their fields has dried up. Based on the script, which choice would most likely help them most?

A. Digging new covered drains under their street
B. Raising their house on a high brick platform
C. Moving east toward lands where more rain fell
D. Planting rice in flooded fields beside their home

Which statement shows continuity, something that has stayed much the same on the lower Indus plain from ancient times to today?

A. Farmers still rely mainly on the river's water, not on rain.
B. The monsoon brings the plain about 45 inches of rain.
C. Mohenjo-daro is still a large and crowded city.
D. Most people herd camels and goats instead of farming.

The host calls the Ganges plain "one of the most crowded farming regions on Earth." Which change on the timeline did the most to make that possible?

A. Indus builders raised neighborhoods on brick platforms.
B. Farmers used iron tools to clear forest for rice fields.
C. Farmers at Mehrgarh began to grow wheat and barley.
D. The summer monsoon grew weaker over the Indus region.

Make a claim

Use the timeline, the script and the data table.

10.

Claim: In ancient South Asia, changes in climate shaped where people lived more than people's own choices did. Do you agree, disagree or partly agree? Give at least two pieces of evidence from the timeline, the script or the data table, and explain your reasoning.