Religion and Its Influence: The Origins of Hinduism and Buddhism

Students explore the religions of Hinduism and Buddhism. They learn the origins, beliefs, important people, and key features. They compare and contrast the two religions. Finally, they learn about the holiday Diwali and consider what it might be like to participate in such a celebration.

This learning experience is designed for device-enabled classrooms. The teacher guides the lesson, and students use embedded resources, social media skills, and critical thinking skills to actively participate. To get access to a free version of the complete lesson, sign up for an exploros account.

The Pack contains associated resources for the learning experience, typically in the form of articles and videos. There is a teacher Pack (with only teacher information) and a student Pack (which contains only student information). As a teacher, you can toggle between both to see everything.

Here are the teacher pack items for Religion and Its Influence: The Origins of Hinduism and Buddhism:

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Overview:

In this experience, students explore the religions of Hinduism and Buddhism. They learn the origins, beliefs, important people, and key features. They compare and contrast the two religions. Finally, they learn about the holiday Diwali and consider what it might be like to participate in such a celebration.

Objectives:

Describe the origins and beliefs of Hinduism.
Describe the origins and beliefs of Buddhism.
Compare and contrast aspects of Hinduism and Buddhism.

Two important world religions both began on the subcontinent of India—Hinduism and Buddhism. What do you know about these religions? If you don’t know very much, you’re about to learn a lot more in this experience!

Objectives:

Describe the origins and beliefs of Hinduism.
Describe the origins and beliefs of Buddhism.
Compare and contrast aspects of Hinduism and Buddhism.

Hindu Temple in India

Watch the Hinduism segment (0:39–2:20) and Buddhism segment (4:21–6:27) of the video The Five Major World Religions.

This video was a short introduction to two major world religions. Write a question you have about either religion. If someone has already posted your question, try to think of a different one.

Revisit students’ questions after the class has finished studying Hinduism and Buddhism to see if they have all been answered.

When everyone is ready to continue, unlock the next scene.

The Complete List of Learning Experiences in South Asia Unit.