Grade 7 Social Studies
6 units matched to the BC Curriculum.
Big Ideas
- Geographic conditions shaped the emergence of civilizations.
- Religious and cultural practices that emerged during this period have endured and continue to influence people.
- Increasingly complex societies required new systems of laws and government.
- Economic specialization and trade networks can lead to conflict and cooperation between societies.
Units
Unit 1
First Farmers
The long story of early humans, how farming began about 12,000 years ago, domestication, food surpluses, and how settling down led to specialized jobs and the first cities.
Learning standard: Human and environmental factors that shaped early civilizations: the shift from hunting and gathering to agriculture
Unit 2
Where Civilizations Grew
How geography shaped Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley and Shang China along their rivers, plus Greece, Rome and the Maya. Includes a reading passage about the Nile flood.
Learning standard: Geographic conditions and the rise of civilizations: river valleys, Greece, Rome and the Maya
Unit 3
Laws & Government
Hammurabi's code (with a reading passage), Athenian democracy, the Roman Republic and Empire, the Mandate of Heaven, and Egypt's social pyramid.
Learning standard: Systems of law and government: Code of Hammurabi, Athenian democracy, the Roman Republic and Empire; social structures
Unit 4
World Beliefs
Where and when major religions and philosophies began (Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Christianity, Islam), their key figures, texts and ideas, described respectfully and factually.
Learning standard: Origins, core beliefs and spread of religions and philosophies that continue to influence people
Unit 5
Trade Networks
Specialization, barter and the first coins, the Silk Road and sea routes (with a reading passage and goods table), and how trade led to both cooperation and conflict.
Learning standard: Economic specialization and trade networks such as the Silk Road; cooperation and conflict between societies
Unit 6
Inventions & Timelines
Writing systems, the wheel, aqueducts, paper, concrete and other innovations, plus timeline skills: ordering BCE and CE dates, finding the years between BCE dates, and naming centuries.
Learning standard: Technologies and innovations of ancient civilizations; chronology using BCE and CE
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