7th grade Social Studies: how to help at home
What your child learns in 7th grade social studies in the Alabama Course of Study, and simple things to try at home.
Focus areas this year
- Course: World History and Geography: Geographic Principles and Ancient Civilizations
- Geography skills and early humans
- River valley civilizations
- Ancient Greece and Rome, India and China
Easy ways to practice social studies at home
- Follow a current event together and ask who is affected and why people see it differently.
- Build a timeline of a family event or a historical topic they are studying.
- Use an atlas or online map to trace a trade or travel route.
- Ask “Whose voice is missing from this story?” when reading about the past.
What each unit covers
Maps, Graphs & Data
Reading map scales and legends, choropleth maps, scatter graphs and correlation (and why correlation does not prove cause), and what population pyramids say about a country's age and growth. The data in the questions are made up for practice.
Time & Evidence
Counting years in BCE and CE, centuries and calendars, artifacts and archaeology, and judging primary and secondary sources about the ancient world.
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.
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.
Mesopotamia
Children learn about life between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers: city-states, irrigation, writing, laws and technology.
Mesopotamia & Egypt
Why civilizations grew along the Tigris, Euphrates and Nile, cuneiform and hieroglyphs, Hammurabi's Code, pharaohs and pyramids.
Ancient Egypt
Children learn how the Nile shaped life in Egypt, who held power, how writing and building worked, and what we know from archaeology.
Ancient Israel & Kush
The origins and central teachings of Judaism, key figures and the Diaspora, how Judaism endured, and the kingdom of Kush on the Nile: its iron, trade, pyramids and rule over Egypt. Religions are described factually and neutrally.
Empires of the Americas & Africa
The Maya, Aztec (Mexica) and Inca, Cahokia, and the trading kingdoms of Africa such as Ghana, Mali and Great Zimbabwe. Maya people and many other nations are living communities today.
Ancient India & China
The Indus Valley and Yellow River, Chinese dynasties and the Mandate of Heaven, Confucius, Hinduism and Buddhism, and inventions such as paper and zero.
Greece & Rome
Athens and Sparta, direct and representative democracy, the Roman Republic and Empire, and the Greek and Roman ideas found in US government.
Assyria, Phoenicia & Persia
The Assyrian Empire and its army and library, the Phoenician traders and their alphabet, and the Persian Empire of Cyrus and Darius, with its satrapies, Royal Road and coins.
World Maps & Globes
Using maps, globes and other geographic tools: latitude and longitude, hemispheres, continents and oceans, map projections and scale.
World Regions
Location, place, region, movement and human-environment interaction, and how they shape the way people live in different parts of the world.
What the report card levels look like at home
- Beginning
- Just getting started with this idea. Short, regular practice with lots of support helps most.
- Approaching
- Understands parts of it and is building confidence. Keep practicing the tricky parts.
- Meeting
- Has it! Mixed review now and then keeps it strong.
- Exceeding
- Applies it confidently, even in new or harder situations. Try challenge mode and real-life problems.
Your child’s teacher decides the level on the report card. Read the Alabama report card guide.
Common questions
Follow a current event together and ask who is affected and why people see it differently. Build a timeline of a family event or a historical topic they are studying. Keep sessions short, about 10 to 15 minutes, and stop on a success.
The Alabama Course of Study 7th grade social studies units include Maps, Graphs & Data, Time & Evidence, First Farmers, Where Civilizations Grew, Mesopotamia, Mesopotamia & Egypt.
Free printable 7th grade social studies practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.