Ancient India

Lesson Plans

Ancient India
Overview
Was the caste system of ancient India
fair? Do we have castes in our own
society? In this unit, students will play
the hand they are dealt in a castesystem card game and activity. They
will be divided into different castes and
will accumulate daily tasks based on
their social status. Students will have
to complete these tasks before they can
pursue noble learning and try to decode
Sanskrit and earn the right to vote and
create the laws of their society.
The total class time to complete the
activity should be about two, 50-minute
periods. You will measure student
learning through discussion and
observation.

Boat on the Ganges River,

India

Objective
Students will examine the role of the individual in relation to the general welfare within the
caste system of ancient India. (NCSS)
Students will be able to describe the caste system of ancient India and discuss the relative
merits and drawbacks of this system of cultural organization.

Materials
copies of reproducibles
(pages 7797) as
described on page 72
manila envelopes
glue sticks
markers or crayons
scissors

Shell Educational Publishing

tape

15 plastic tablespoons

2 buckets of water

15 pieces of graph paper

10 pairs of rubber gloves

15 large paper grocery

bags

about 35 Styrofoam cups

15 pieces of string, each
12 inches (30 cm) long

construction paper

a few straight pins

71

#9048 Hands-on History: Ancient Civilizations

Ancient India

Lesson Plans

Ancient India

(cont.)

Preparation
Total preparation time should be about 20 minutes for day one and 45 minutes for day two.
Day

One
Copy the Task Chart (page 77) for your evaluation purposes.
Enlarge a copy of Day One Easy Directions (page 78) and post it in the classroom.
Make enough copies of the Caste Slips (page 80) so that each student will receive one slip.
Make about 15 copies of the Task Cards (pages 8182) and cut them apart. You will need
five cards per student.

Day Two
Enlarge a copy of Day Two Easy Directions (page 79) and post it in the classroom.
Copy the Station Directions (pages 8388) and cut them apart.
Make about 15 copies of the Activity Sheets (pages 8991).
Make 10 copies of Learning Sanskrit (page 92), Sanskrit Decoder (page 93), Letter Scramble
(page 94), and Voting Ballot (page 95).
Make two copies of the Certificates (page 96) and cut them apart.
Copy the Habits of Mind Discussion (page 97) onto an overhead transparency sheet.
Organize a materials area with all of the items listed on page 71.

Directions
Day One
After reading the Read-Aloud Introduction (pages 7374) and the Day One Read-Aloud Directions
(page 75) to the class, distribute the Caste Slips and Task Cards. Allow students time to read and
discuss their cards. Start the activity by asking students to trade Task Cards as per the Read-Aloud
Directions. At the end of trading, record an open circle for each students cards on the included
Task Chart. Then hold the Day One Closure Discussion (page 75).
Day Two
After reading the Day Two Read-Aloud Directions (page 76), encourage students to get straight to
work on their tasks. They should find the posted Station Directions (pages 8388) for each task,
gather the materials they need, complete the task, and then show you the completed product. You
will fill in the circle for each task on the Task Chart.
When students have completed all their tasks, you may give them the Learning Sanskrit, Sanskrit
Decoder, and Letter Scramble sheets. Once students show you the decoded message on their
Learning Sanskrit sheet, give them a Voting Ballot and a Certificate. The message should be but
keep castes from changing.
Allow time for cleanup. Depending on time, you may want to hold the majority of the discussion
on the following day. Refer to the Habits of Mind Discussion (page 97) for closure.
#9048 Hands-on History: Ancient Civilizations

72

Shell Educational Publishing

Ancient India

Lesson Plans

Ancient India

(cont.)

Things to Consider
1. If students have little experience with word search puzzles, you may want to preview the
Separate Wheat task (page 84).
2. The whole activity requires the reading skills to follow written directions for many stations.
If using this game with a fifth grade class (or lower), you may need to spend some extra time
explaining the station directions.
3. You may want students to keep all of their completed work in manila envelopes to cut down
on the clutter in your classroom.
4. You can choose to penalize any off-task behavior by giving students additional Task Cards.

Read-Aloud Introduction
What would happen if you stood up right now and ran around the classroom
screaming like a turkey? Dont try ityoud probably get in a lot of trouble. What
if I did the same thing? Youd think I was pretty weird, but I wouldnt actually get
in trouble. Sounds pretty unfair, doesnt it? Is it right to have a different set of rules
for teachers than for students?
Then again, what would happen if students were allowed to run around screaming
whenever they wanted? Im pretty sure it would create total chaos and wed never
get to learn anything cool like the fact that the people of ancient India were the first
to use elephants in battles! You wouldnt get good grades or get into college, and
youd probably end up eating twigs and grass to save money.
But if a teacher did something like this, the world wouldnt actually come to an end.
You might think its unfair, but we need a separate set of rules to keep order in
school. You might even be able to think of rules that only apply to certain groups of
students. Do eighth graders have to follow exactly the same rules as sixth graders?
Just like in school, the people of ancient India had sets of rules that applied to
different groups. The rules people had to follow depended on the social status, or
caste, of their parents and ancestors. People had to follow these rules for their whole
lives. For example, if your father was a chamaar who made leather sandals, you
would be expected to make sandals, too, when you grew up. The people in ancient
India believed that if you were the best chamaar you could be, when you died you

Shell Educational Publishing

73

#9048 Hands-on History: Ancient Civilizations

Ancient India

Lesson Plans

Ancient India

(cont.)

Read-Aloud Introduction (cont.)

would be reborn to parents of a higher social statusmaybe in the next life you
would be a warrior. If you werent very good at making shoes, or if you tried to
change your caste, you would have to be reborn into the same job to try again.
The highest caste of all was the noble, or Brahman, caste. Once you had been
reborn as a Brahmin and had been the best Brahman possible, the people of
ancient India believed that you would not have to be reincarnated in this world
anymore. Instead of being reborn, you would become part of the energy of the
universe.
Is this a fair system? The caste system kept order in ancient Indian society, just
like the school rules keep order here. However, people in the caste system were
not all treated fairly. Only the highest castes members were allowed an
education or the right to vote. Only the educated could write laws and read the
religious texts, which were written in Sanskrit. If only Brahmans made the
laws, do you think these laws were fair to people in the other castes? If only
Brahmans got to vote, do you think the elections were always fair?
We are going to become citizens of ancient India. Its an election year and we
will vote on candidates for local governor. We will be born into different castes
and will try to follow the rules of society to live a good life. Maybe, if you can
finish all the tasks of daily life, you can learn Sanskrit, get to vote, and be able
to write the laws of your society!

#9048 Hands-on History: Ancient Civilizations

74

Shell Educational Publishing

Ancient India

Lesson Plans

Ancient India

(cont.)

Day One Read-Aloud Directions

This is a three-part game, and some people may not have enough time to
complete everything. The goal of the game is to finish your daily tasks with
enough time left to learn Sanskrit, vote, and write laws.
In the first part of the activity, we will figure out what tasks each person has to
complete tomorrow. First, I will randomly give each of you a Caste Slip that
will tell you your rank in society. There are five castes: Priests (Brahman),
Warriors and Nobles (Kshatriya), Merchants and Landowners (Vaishya),
Workers (Sudra), and Untouchables (Chandala).
Some people will be members of the higher castes and some people will be
members of lower castes. The Caste Slips are numbered with one representing
the highest caste and five representing the lowest.
Once you have a Caste Slip, each of you will draw five Task Cards from the
deck. These are the chores you have to complete to survive daily life.
Depending on your caste, you will be able to give away a certain number of
your Task Cards. Brahman may give away four cards; Kshatriya may give
away three; Vaishya may give away two; Sudra may give away one; Chandala
may not give away any of their Task Cards. You may give Task Cards to
anyone in a lower caste, but nobody can end up with more than 10 Task Cards.
Some of you may even end up with more than one of the same Task Card.
All of these steps are listed on the Day One Easy Directions sheet posted at the
front of the classroom.

Day One Closure Discussion

1. How many people have more than five Task Cards?
2. How many people have fewer than five Task Cards?
3. Does everybody think the number of tasks is fair?
4. Do you think it will be possible for people of the lower castes to complete their daily
tasks? What will they need to do to complete the tasks?

Shell Educational Publishing

75

#9048 Hands-on History: Ancient Civilizations

Ancient India

Lesson Plans

Ancient India

(cont.)

Day Two Read-Aloud Directions

If you look around the room, youll see Station Directions posted for each Task
Card. When we start, you will complete each task for which you have a card, if
you have more than one of the same Task Card, you will have to do the task
more than once.
Go as quickly as you can! If you finish all your daily jobs, you can pursue
noble learning. That means youll get a chance to decode a Sanskrit message
and trade the finished sheet with your teacher for a Voting Ballot. Once you
have voted, you may write laws. You may write any laws you like. Do you
think the people who win the game and write laws will make their laws fair or
will they make laws that keep them in power? Just like yesterday, there are
Easy Directions posted, and remember that Station Directions for each task are
posted as well.
Good Luck!

Day Two Closure Discussion

Use the Habits of Mind Discussion overhead to discuss and answer the following questions.
1. Give examples of the laws you created.
2. Do all these laws sound fair?
3. Raise your hand if you got to vote. Who won the election? How does this candidate
feel about the caste system?
4. Do you think there are castes or social levels in todays society? If so, what do you
think separates the levels?
5. What made it hard to changes caste in ancient India? What makes it hard to change
castes or social levels today?

#9048 Hands-on History: Ancient Civilizations

76

Shell Educational Publishing

Ancient India

Reproducibles

Task Chart

Shell Educational Publishing

77

Wheat

Water

Sweep

Shoes

Milk

House

Garbage

Farm

Eggs

Dinner

Clothes

Name

Baby

Directions: Draw an open circle for each Task Card a student has at the end of
day one. Fill In each circle as tasks are completed during day two.

#9048 Hands-on History: Ancient Civilizations

Ancient India

Reproducibles

Day One Easy Directions

1. Get a Caste Slip from your teacher.
2. Then, draw five Task Cards from the deck.
3. Read your Task Cards and decide which ones you
want to give away.
Brahmans may give away four cards.
Kshatriyas may give away three cards.
Vaishyas may give away two cards.
Sudras may give away one card.
Chandalas may not give away any cards.
4. Give the cards youre getting rid of to anyone in a
lower caste than you. No person may end up with
more than 10 Task Cards, though some people may
have to do certain tasks more than once.
5. Once you have finished trading cards, sit at your
desk to show that you have finished.

#9048 Hands-on History: Ancient Civilizations

78

Shell Educational Publishing

Ancient India

Reproducibles

Day Two Easy Directions

1. Review your Task Cards from yesterday.
2. Begin your tasks when your teacher says. Station
Directions are posted at each task.
3. If you finish all the tasks on your Task Cards, you
can learn Sanskrit by completing the Learning
Sanskrit activity sheet.
4. Once you have finished learning Sanskrit, show the
decoded message to your teacher to get a Voting
Ballot.
5. Once you have voted, you may collect a Certificate
from your teacher and begin writing laws!

Shell Educational Publishing

79

#9048 Hands-on History: Ancient Civilizations

Ancient India

Reproducibles

Caste Slips
1. Brahman
You are a priest, the highest caste in ancient
India! You are a vegetarian and you hire servants
to clear the streets of Chandalas as you walk so
that you will not be dirtied by their presence.

2. Kshatriya
You are a warrior, ruler, or aristocrat, the second
highest caste in ancient India. You own a good
deal of land and let members of lower castes
farm itas long as they give you a cut!

3. Vaishya
You are the business people and landlords of
ancient India. You are prosperous, though you
arent as learned as the Brahmans or as powerful
as the Kshatriyas.

4. Sudra
You are a farmer or simple worker. Luckily, youre
not a Chandalatheyre not even really in the
caste system. You, at least, are respectable.

5. Chandala
You do jobs that are considered impure by the
rest of the caste system. You are not allowed to
touch, or even throw your shadow on people of a
higher caste, lest you pollute them!
#9048 Hands-on History: Ancient Civilizations

80

Shell Educational Publishing

Ancient India

Reproducibles

Task Cards

Milk the Cow

Build a House

Separate Wheat

Farm Food

Fetch Water

Make Clothing

Shell Educational Publishing

81

#9048 Hands-on History: Ancient Civilizations

Ancient India

Reproducibles

Task Cards

(cont.)

Take Care of the Baby

Make Shoes

Take Garbage to
the Dump

Gather Eggs

Sweep the Palace

Cook Dinner

#9048 Hands-on History: Ancient Civilizations

82

Shell Educational Publishing

Ancient India

Reproducibles

Station Directions
Milk the Cow
Cows were sacred in ancient India. They were given respect and were
worshipped. It was against the Hindu religion to eat a cow and was an
impure job to process cowhides into leather or other goods. Even touching a
cow was not a job for Brahmans.
1. Using water from the bucket, fill one of the rubber gloves and tie the
wrist so that no water can escape.
2. Cut a 12-inch piece of string and tie it around the closed wrist of your
glove.
3. Using the string, hang it from the back of your chair and put a cup under
the glove.
4. Use a pin to prick a very small hole in one of the fingers of your glove.
Squirt the water into the cup but dont spill any! You need a full gloves
worth of water to successfully milk the cow. Show your teacher when
you are finished.

Build a House
Most people in ancient India lived in small huts. In this activity, you are going
to make a model of one of these huts.
1. Take a pair of scissors, a glue stick, and a Build a House Activity Sheet
to your desk.
2. Use markers or crayons to color the house as you like and then cut it
out.
3. Fold and glue the house following the directions on the activity sheet.
4. Show your completed house to the teacher.

Shell Educational Publishing

83

#9048 Hands-on History: Ancient Civilizations

Ancient India

Reproducibles

Station Directions

(cont.)

Fetch Water
In most ancient Indian villages, there was only one well in the middle of
town. Everyone except the Chandalas were permitted to get water at that
well. The Chandalas werent allowed to use the village well because the
other people thought they would pollute the well.
1. Take a Styrofoam cup and put it on your desk.
2. Use a plastic spoon to carry water from the bucket to a cup on your
desk. If you are an untouchable, you must fill two cups with water to
show that your task was more difficult.
3. When your cup is full, have your teacher check it.

Separate Wheat
When wheat grows, it looks like tall grass. The only parts that are good to
eat are the little seeds at the top. To separate the seeds from the stalk and
chaff, people in ancient India threw the wheat in the air! The heavy seeds
fell straight down, while the chaff blew away. They were left with a pile of
seeds!
1. Using graph paper, create a word search for the following words.
wheat
grain
husk
scythe
basket
separate

chaff
corn
seed
shuck
wind
bread

2. Show your completed word search to your teacher.

#9048 Hands-on History: Ancient Civilizations

84

Shell Educational Publishing

Ancient India

Reproducibles

Station Directions

(cont.)

Make Clothing
There werent any clothing stores in ancient India. Most people made their
own clothing, and if they wanted something special, they went to a tailor to
have clothing specially made. You will be making shirts out of paper grocery
bags.
1. First, hold the bag with the open end pointing down.
2. In the closed end, cut a hole big enough for your head to poke through.
3. In the sides of the bag, cut holes opposite each other for your arms. You
may need to cut open the front of the bag for it to fit you.
4. Finally, use markers to decorate your shirt.
5. When you have finished, wear your shirt to show your teacher that you
have completed the task.

Make Shoes
1. Take a Making Shoes Activity Sheet to your desk.
2. Follow the directions on the sheet.
3. When you have finished, show your teacher the completed sheet.

Shell Educational Publishing

85

#9048 Hands-on History: Ancient Civilizations

Ancient India

Reproducibles

Station Directions

(cont.)

Farm Food
Many of the people in the higher castes in ancient India were vegetarians,
which means that they didnt eat meat. It took a lot of farming to grow all the
grains and vegetables that people needed to survive!
1. On construction paper, draw a map of an ancient Indian village.
2. Your village must include the following things:
a town well
six houses with small gardens
a blacksmith shop
six large fields for farming
roads
tailor shop
huts for Chandalas on the outskirts of town, away from everything
else
3. Show your completed map to your teacher.

Take Care of the Baby

Some things never change. In ancient India, just like today, babies needed
food, water, and shelter. They also needed love. Its late at night and the
baby is crying and needs to be told a story in order to go to sleep.
1. Think of one of your favorite stories from when you were little.
2. On your own paper, either draw a cartoon of this story (with captions) or
write a brief version of it with illustrations.
3. Show your completed cartoon or illustrations to your teacher.

#9048 Hands-on History: Ancient Civilizations

86

Shell Educational Publishing

Ancient India

Reproducibles

Station Directions

(cont.)

Gather Eggs
Oh no!!! When you get to the hen house, your chickens have gone!
1. On construction paper, draw either a missing poster for your chickens or
create a wanted poster for the animal you think stole the chickens. What
types of animals do you think lived in ancient India?
2. Show your completed poster to your teacher.

Take Garbage to the Dump

In ancient India, just like today, garbage was carted away to the dump.
People of higher castes had regular collection times and would put out their
trash on the curb. Unfortunately, there were no dump trucks, and trash had
to be pulled in carts by hand or by donkeys. Mostly, this was a job for
Chandalas, and maybe some members of the Sudra.
1. Clean up after people doing other tasks. Help to clean the room for
seven minutes. You are on the honor system and may keep track of your
own time.
2. When seven minutes is up, tell the teacher you have completed the task.

Shell Educational Publishing

87

#9048 Hands-on History: Ancient Civilizations

Ancient India

Reproducibles

Station Directions

(cont.).

Sweep the Palace

While most people in ancient India lived in small huts, royalty often lived in
splendid palaces. The owners of these splendid palaces would not clean
them alone, they would have had people to help them!
Before you can sweep the palace floors, you need a floor plan.
1. On blank paper, draw a map of an ancient Indian palace. Be sure to
include a legend and color the map carefully.
2. Show your completed map to your teacher.

Cook Dinner
Yum! Food in ancient India usually didnt have any meat in itespecially if it
was for the upper castes, as being a vegetarian was part of the religion.
Instead, people used lots of spices. Did you know that water doesnt help
cool off your mouth when you eat something spicy? The best thing to eat is
rice!
1. Collect an Indian Food Menu Activity Sheet and a piece of construction
paper.
2. Complete the activity sheet at your desk.
3. Show your decorated recipe to your teacher.

#9048 Hands-on History: Ancient Civilizations

88

Shell Educational Publishing

Ancient India

Reproducibles

Name _____________________________________

Build a House Activity Sheet

1. Color the two pieces of your house.
2. Cut out the wall and the roof patterns below.
3. Roll the wall pattern into a circle and glue or tape the ends to hold it
together.
4. Pull the edges of the roof pattern together to fill the missing pie piece. Glue
or tape it so you have a cone shape.
5. Fold the tabs on the wall pattern and use them to glue or tape the roof to
complete your house.

Wall
Roof

Shell Educational Publishing

89

#9048 Hands-on History: Ancient Civilizations

Ancient India

Reproducibles

Name ______________________________________

Making Shoes Activity Sheet

Directions: In the space under each shoe, write a brief description of a person
you think would wear each shoe, including what caste the person would be in.

__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

#9048 Hands-on History: Ancient Civilizations

90

Shell Educational Publishing

Ancient India

Reproducibles

Name ______________________________________

Indian Food Menu Activity Sheet

Directions: Read the following four recipes for Indian food. Copy your favorite
onto a blank piece of paper and decorate it as if the paper were a poster for a
new Indian restaurant.
Sag Paneer
(sauted spinach with
cream and spices)

Chana Masala
(chickpeas with spice over rice)

Heat oil in a saucepan and saut

the chopped onions until light
brown. Add cumin seeds,
cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves,
cloves, ginger, garlic, sliced tomato,
and black pepper. Add spinach.
Add salt, cumin, tumeric, coriander,
and garam masala. Mix together
well. Add cream, tomato, cilantro,
and cheese. When cream boils,
cook for an additional minute and
a half.

Heat oil over a medium heat. Fry

onions until slightly browned.
Reduce heat to low. Add garlic,
curry, and paste. Stir and simmer
for two minutes. Add chickpeas,
liquid, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
Simmer for five to six minutes. Add
red pepper to taste. Add butter. Stir
and simmer until peas are soft.
Serve over rice.

Bengali Eggplant with

Mustard Seeds

Red Dal Curry

(lentil, tomato, and onion curry)

Soak ground mustard seed and

cayenne in one cup of water. Cut
the eggplant up into cubes. Heat
mustard oil in a saucepan, add
spice mix and after a few seconds,
add mustard and cayenne. Add the
eggplant and cook until tender. Add
a cup of yogurt and heat. Add a
pinch of black pepper.

Shell Educational Publishing

Bring water, lentils, serrano chilies,

tumeric, and salt to a boil. Cook for
35 minutes. In a separate frying
pan, cook onions, tomatoes, and
ginger until the tomatoes become
mush. Stir this mush in with the
lentils. Add spices and red chilies.
Cook to taste. Serve with rice.

91

#9048 Hands-on History: Ancient Civilizations