Ancient+India+Webquest

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= Ancient India: Back to the Future =

Introduction
Ancient India was a place of great beauty and mystery, a place that witnessed the birth of two great world religions, a unique culture that survives to this day, and numerous scientific and medical advancements. The ancient Indians also lived during a very uncertain time when unpredictable weather and nomadic invaders forever changed their way of life, their beliefs, and their future. Although archeologists have made important discoveries about this land and people that existed so long ago (~2500 BCE), much remains to be discovered. What a help it would be if the people of ancient India had created and stored time capsules for modern-day researchers to find and examine, time capsules that contained important artifacts from their religions, their culture, their empires, artifacts that would reveal what life in ancient India was really like...

The Task[[image:http://www.stutzfamily.com/mrstutz/indus/logo1.gif width="350" height="344" align="right" caption="external image logo1.gif"]]
You are a researcher that has been transported back in time to ancient India. Your mission is to construct a time capsule containing artifacts and information to bring back to the future for study. Because the civilizations of ancient India offer so much to sift through, many teams will go back on this mission to find, analyze, compare and contrast various items, concepts and works of art, then decide which to bring back in the limited space of your time capsule. Focus on the following aspects of ancient Indian civilization: At the end of this Internet-assisted time-traveling experience, make a wikipage and explain to the class what you determined to be the most important artifacts and information to bring back. These final presentations should entail a multi-media time capsule on your wikipage containing artifacts that you can discuss, and share with the entire class.
 * the daily life and medical advancements of ancient India
 * the origins, beliefs and spread of Buddhism
 * the origins, beliefs and spread of Hinduism

The Process

 * 1) Go to the following website and enjoy the slide show about the excavated ancient Indian city of Mohenjodaro, which you can also read about in your textbook.
 * Mohenjodaro 1
 * 1) Now that you have an appreciation for what ancient Indian civilization looked like, imagine that you are actually there through the miracle of time travel.

Your mission
> is to build a __time capsule__ filled with the artifacts and information you think is most important and most revealing of what life was really like in ancient India. Since time capsules have limited space, you will focus your efforts on three aspects of ancient Indian civilization: daily life, medical care and religion. > ===To find out about daily life and medical care=== > visit the following websites, read about Harappan civilization, examine the various artifacts and read their descriptions. Based on all that you have seen and read, you and your team members must determine which 2-3 artifacts should be brought back to the future in your time capsule. Consider what would best reveal what daily life was like for the ancient Indians and what seemed most important to them. __Be prepared to detail your reasoning, answer questions about your presentation, and explain why you didn't choose other items__. > ====Ancient India Daily Life/Medicine websites:==== > > ===For religion=== > you first need to decide which religion you want to study: **Hinduism** or **Buddhism**. Next, go to the following sites and learn all you can about the origins, beliefs and spread of either Hinduism or Buddhism. Then, for the religion your team chose, determine the following: > You will have many choices to make as you go about this project. So, it is expected that you will have good reasons for choosing the items and information that you bring back in your time capsule, reasons you will explain during your presentation. Now, on to your research...and remember: you're expected to also use the books and reference materials we have in the library in addition to the websites below!
 * <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica;">[|Daily Life in Indus Valley in Ancient India]
 * <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica;">[|Daily Life in the Aryan Civilization]
 * <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica;">[|Daliy Life in the Gupta Empire]
 * <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica;">Ancient Indian Medicine (this site also has info on science & math)
 * <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica;">[|Harappan Civilization]
 * <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica;">Ancient Harappa in 3-D
 * <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica;">Some readings on the Indus River Valley civilizations
 * <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica;">What object can you put in your time capsule that best symbolizes the religion?
 * <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica;">Which person **or** gods most influence(d) the religion?
 * <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica;">Which work of art best reveals the religion?
 * <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica;">What two beliefs make either Hinduism or Buddhism different from your own religion **or** different from each other?
 * <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica;">Which one religious document should be brought back in your time capsule?
 * <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica;">What are the two most positive aspects of the religion?
 * <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica;">What is the most surprising thing you learned about the religion?
 * ====Mr Stutz's [|religion notes are here]====

Hinduism websites:

 * <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica;">Guide to Hinduism
 * <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica;">Brahma the Creator
 * <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica;">[|The Rig Veda]
 * <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica;">[|The Upanishads]

Buddhism websites:

 * <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica;">Basic Buddhism
 * <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica;">[|Sidhartha Gautama]
 * <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica;">Bhagavan Gautama Buddha
 * <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica;">A Basic Buddhism ||

The Hindu god Shiva

Tips on organizing your findings: Make sure to take notes regarding what will go in your time capsule, because what you write down will form the content of your presentation. Why you chose what you chose is all important. Keep your notes together in class so that you can easily refer to them.

OTHER RESOURCES: > [] > [] > []

> ==Evaluation== > <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica;">You will be graded on your presentation to the class. The following chart shows what is expected in each area of the presentation: > <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica;">

> ==Conclusion== > <span style="font-family: verdana,arial,helvetica;">Through this project you have gained insight and knowledge about another time, another place, and different ways of viewing the world. We hope this experience has generated a greater understanding and appreciation of other cultures, your group members who helped, and the WebQuest learning experience.