Supporting the lives of half a billion people, the Ganges is one of the most important rivers in the world and also one of the most polluted. The following lesson plan was developed to provide students with an opportunity to explore and learn about the river by engaging with multimedia content. Students learn about the significance of the Ganges for supporting different economic, social, and cultural activities in India, the environmental challenges that the river is now encountering and the underlying reasons for those problems, and the lives of people who depend on the river.
Students conclude the topic by researching a local waterway and comparing/contrasting the historical and contemporary economic, cultural, and environmental patterns observed.
The in-class activities take around 70 minutes and can also be extended with additional assignments. I use it with high school students in my junior World Geography course as a vehicle for exploring a range of social and economic topics in India.
Part one - around 10 minutes
To begin the lesson, it would be useful to devote time to allowing students to collect and articulate their pre-existing general knowledge about rivers around the world with a focus on eliciting information regarding the importance of different river systems to supporting human activities, the challenges posed to rivers, and societal homage paid to particular rivers throughout history. The teacher may then proceed to further collect student pre-knowledge about the Ganges river specifically. This discussion will be beneficial to revisit later when relating the Ganges to other river systems.
Part two - around 60 minutes
The content learning of the lesson relies on two resources and an accompanying worksheet that I have developed. The first resource is an extract from from a New Yorker article by George Black ("What It Takes to Clean the Ganges") and the second a National Geography Live video with Pete McBride (Chasing Rivers, Part 2: The Ganges").
The article extract - included in the worksheet handout - is a useful starting point, familiarizing students with the course of the river in vivid language and its religious significance to Hindus and origin story according to mythology. It also provides background knowledge on the environmental condition of the river and some of the activities responsible for the situation. After reading, the teacher can conduct a short discussion with students to ensure content understanding.
The Nat Geo Live video, meanwhile, powerfully immerses students into the experience of the river itself. The accompanying worksheet questions will facilitate student learning as McBride takes the viewer on a stimulating journey from the source of the Ganges to its mouth. Along the way, students are acquainted with the lives of people at different sections of the river, take in religious and spiritual activities and festivals that take place on the river, learn about different industries (e.g. leather tanneries) located on the Ganges, and are familiarized with environmental problems caused by these religious and economic activities and the scientific data backing up such observations.
After viewing the video, students can break down and discuss the different topics that came up. These discussions can be complemented with additional resources of time permits. In examining Varanasi and the use of the Ganges with respect to cremation/reincarnation, this Morgan Freeman-narrated National Geographic video adds depth. And these Guardian and BBC video resources provide additional information regarding the environmental challenges posed to the river and associated health problems in humans.
Another possibility is to draw attention to the role of Indian environmental activists in seeking to spark policy responses to protect the Ganges. This Guardian article covers one activist who died after a hunger strike aimed at raising awareness of the issue. This would also be an opportunity to discuss the role of non-violent civil disobedience in India and the impact of Mahatma Gandhi in this regard.
Regarding the use of the Ganges for sin purification purposes, students can also be pointed to this story from the early 2000s in which McDonald's settled a lawsuit for serving non-vegetarian fries.
Students can also be steered to considering possible solutions to the pollution problems but also the limitations and obstacles to successfully enacting different proposals. In this vein, students can explore the Nanami Gange project of the Modi government and its shortcomings in combating the concerns.
Local Waterway Research - Homework
After learning about the Ganges, students carry out research on a local waterway as a vehicle for examining environmental issues in their own community and exploring global connections.
The assignment:
Research the historical and contemporary development of the closest major waterway to your location in terms of economic, cultural, and environmental patterns. To what extent was/is the waterway polluted and why? What have governments done or not done to address this pollution? What economic activities take place along the waterway? Discuss in around 200-300 words.
Students can share their findings in the subsequent lesson.
Further learning
Students can read the full-length New Yorker article on the Ganges.