The Indus Valley: planned cities, drains and an unread script

Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Evidence from Mohenjo-daro (cards A to D). Card A, a summary by archaeologists, in our words: Mohenjo-daro was built about 2500 BCE beside the Indus River, in what is now Pakistan. Its streets ran in a grid pattern. Many houses had their own wells, and there was also a large central well. Covered drains ran under the main streets. The city was abandoned about 1900 BCE. Card B, size: the city covered more than 250 hectares. One hectare is a square 100 meters long on each side. Card C, building notes: most buildings were made of fired brick, which is baked in a kiln. Fired brick holds up to water better than sun-dried mud brick. Many buildings stood on raised platforms of mud brick. The Indus River flooded in some years, and archaeologists suggest the platforms may have protected buildings from floods. Card D, what is missing: seals from Mohenjo-daro carry short rows of signs, but nobody can read them. No Indus writing has been read, so the people of the city left no words we understand about their drains, wells or rulers.

2. 1.

   Card A says the streets ran in a grid and covered drains lay under the main streets. What does that suggest to Ari about how the city was built?

   • The drains were added later to repair a grid that floods had ruined
   • The streets and drains followed one plan made before building
   • A king ordered each street and each house to look exactly alike
   • Each family dug its own drains wherever it happened to have room
3. 2.

   Card A says Mohenjo-daro was built about 2500 BCE. This year is 2026 CE. About how long ago was the city built, Bo asks?

   • About 470 years ago
   • About 5,000 years ago
   • About 2,500 years ago
   • About 4,500 years ago
4. 3.

   Cards B and C describe the size of the city and its bricks. Which claim do they support, Esme asks?

   • The city was the largest in the world of its day, with the finest walls
   • The city was large and its builders used a brick that resists water
   • The builders picked fired brick because mud brick resists water better
   • The raised platforms show that floods did not reach any part of the city
5. 4.

   Card C says the Indus River flooded in some years. If the river rose into the city, what would the raised platforms most likely have done, Jun asks?

   • Kept the buildings above the water that rose into the city
   • Collected water under the houses so families could drink it later
   • Marked out the places where each street of the grid should begin
   • Stopped the river from ever leaving its banks and entering the city
6. 5.

   Card D says no Indus writing has been read. What does that mean for how Kira can learn about Mohenjo-daro?

   • Learn from the buildings and objects that archaeologists studied
   • Learn from what visitors from other lands wrote about the city while it stood
   • Learn from records Indus scribes made about the drains, now translated
   • Learn nothing about the city, because no writing has been read
7. 6.

   Card B says the city covered more than 250 hectares, and one hectare is 100 meters by 100 meters. How many square meters is 250 hectares, Luz asks?

   • 250,000 square meters
   • 25,000 square meters
   • 100 square meters
   • 2,500,000 square meters
8. 7.

   Card D says seals carry rows of signs that nobody can read. What does Milo learn from the seals?

   • The signs are just decoration, so the city had no writing
   • The signs may be writing, but no one knows what they mean
   • The signs are read, and they name the rulers who governed the city
   • The seals show that the city was ruled by one powerful king
9. 8.

   Card A says houses had wells and card C says buildings stood on raised platforms. What do the two cards show together, Noah asks?

   • The platforms and wells were built to copy the plan of a faraway city
   • Water shaped the building plans, both inside the city and when it rose
   • The builders had no plan for water and simply let the houses flood
   • The wells were built to hold back the Indus River during its floods
10. 9.

    Card A says many houses had their own wells, plus a large central well. What difference would that make to a family's day, Tala asks?

    • Families still walked to the river for each drink they needed
    • Water was close at hand, so less time went to fetching it
    • The covered drains were no longer needed anywhere in the city
    • The whole city had to share one well found in its middle
11. 10.

    Card A says the city was abandoned "about" 1900 BCE. Why does a writer say "about" for a date like that, Zee asks?

    • The archaeologists were not sure that the city had ever existed
    • The writing on the seals gives a rough date for the end
    • Dates for ruins are estimates made from what is found
    • The city was left slowly, one family at a time, over many years