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Faith Explorer

Run the Faith Explorer MicroSim Fullscreen

About This MicroSim

The Faith Explorer shows eight faith traditions of South Asia as equal-sized tiles in alphabetical order: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism and Sikhism, plus a row of smaller communities, Jewish communities and Zoroastrians (Parsis). The order and the equal sizes are deliberate: the sim compares, it does not rank.

Pick a faith and a lens (Origins, Sacred texts, Place of worship, A major festival, or A core idea) to read a short card. Every card is written the way followers usually describe their own faith ("Muslims believe...", "In Sikh tradition..."), not as the book's own claim. Tick Compare to see two faiths side by side through the same lens. Each card is a starting point, not a full description: practice varies a great deal within every faith.

How to Use

  1. The sim opens in Compare mode with Sikhism (faith 1, orange) and Islam (faith 2, teal) through the Place of worship lens. Read both cards.
  2. Change the lens menu to Sacred texts, A major festival and A core idea, and read both cards each time.
  3. Tap a tile to change faith 2, or use the two faith menus. In Compare mode, tapping a tile sets faith 2; untick Compare to tap a tile and set faith 1.
  4. Untick Compare to read one faith's card in a larger size.
  5. For each pair you compare, write one sentence that names a similarity and one that names a difference, without using words like "better" or "truer."

Learning Objective

Students will be able to compare South Asian faith traditions on the same five dimensions (origins, sacred texts, place of worship, a major festival and a core idea), describing each in its followers' own terms and without ranking them.

Bloom level: Analyze (compare, distinguish).

Iframe Embed Code

<iframe src="https://aaryavvatts-lab.github.io/south-asian-culture-textbook/sims/ch05-faith-explorer/main.html" height="792px" width="100%" scrolling="no"></iframe>

Lesson Plan

Grade level: 9-12 (world history, world religions, ethnic studies, or a South Asian student club meeting)

Duration: 20 to 25 minutes

Activity:

  1. (3 min) Set ground rules as a group: describe, don't judge; no ranking; practice varies; anyone may pass on sharing personal beliefs.
  2. (8 min) In pairs, students choose two faiths and fill in a five-row table (one row per lens) using Compare mode.
  3. (7 min) Each pair writes two comparison sentences, one similarity and one difference, using neutral language ("Both...", "In contrast...").
  4. (5 min) Pairs share one sentence with the class. The teacher or club leader notes any wording that slips into ranking and asks the group how to rephrase it.

Assessment questions:

  1. Name the place of worship for Sikhism, Islam, Hinduism and Zoroastrianism.
  2. According to their Origins cards, which two faiths in the sim have old communities in Kerala?
  3. Compare the core ideas of Jainism and Buddhism in two sentences.
  4. Why does the sim show the faiths in alphabetical order with equal-sized tiles?
  5. Choose one lens and explain what it leaves out about how people actually live their faith.

Chapter 5: Faiths of South Asia