India: Monsoon
Web Quest Challenge
Water in India is a matter of extremes, veering between
drought and floods, life and death. There is no other place on the planet with such wide vacillations
between wet and dry. Water weighs so heavily on the Indian mind that the Hindu faithful see the country’s
rivers as sacred. Yet, at the same time, mastery of these holy rivers has been vital to India’s existence.1
Against this background this is a Web Quest Challenge for
students to explore many aspects of the
monsoon in India, begin to understand the importance of
the monsoon to the very existence of the
people, its place in the culture and some of the current
issues in its management on the macro scale in
the day to day lives in rural and urban areas.
1. Watch the
introductory video:
2. Listen to music
The monsoon is celebrated with song and dance in the popular culture
aka bollywood movies and pop
music as well as in classical music traditions.
Suggested search terms: Raag Megh Malhar or bollywood rain songs
o Do you know
any other songs about rain?
o How do you
feel when it rains?
o What season is most important to you and
why?
3. The Damned- read the following
article and answer the questions:
Some places have too much water and some none at all.
o What can we do? Explore issues around building big dams to manage
water in the article
o Other countries have also dammed rivers to try and manage the
water supply. Can you find
examples
from other countries and compare outcomes?
4. Read at least two of the articles here: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/series/thirstygiant/index.html
Answer the following questions:
o What are problems India faces when it comes to water? Too much rain, too little rain?
o What are problems India faces when it comes to water? Too much rain, too little rain?
o How are
people in rural areas affected? Do urban dwellers fare better?
o How would you cope with either too much
rain or not enough drinking water?
5. 2012 Floods and Drought
As the above author mentions India veers between drought and floods – but 2012 saw both extremes at around the same time in different parts of the country. Write a 3 or 4 sentence summary about how the floods and drought affected India in 2012.
Suggested search terms: India Monsoon floods 2012 and India drought 2012
6. The Challenge
o Are there any solutions to weathering an
unpredictable monsoon?
The who the monsoon works website is down
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