Grade 9 Social Studies: how to help at home
What your child learns in Grade 9 social studies in the Newfoundland and Labrador Curriculum, and simple things to try at home.
The Big Ideas this year
- Citizenship, power and governance. Students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship and the origins, functions, and sources of power, authority, and governance.
- Culture and diversity. Students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of culture, diversity, and world view, recognizing the similarities and differences reflected in various personal, cultural, racial, and ethnic perspectives.
- Individuals, societies and economic decisions. Students will be expected to demonstrate the ability to make responsible economic decisions as individuals and as members of society.
- Interdependence. Students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the interdependent relationship among individuals, societies, and the environment—locally, nationally, and globally—and the implications for a sustainable future.
- People, place and environment. Students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the interactions among people, places, and the environment.
- Time, continuity and change. Students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the past and how it affects the present and the future.
Easy ways to practise 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
Land Claims and Self-Government in Labrador
Grade 9 explores land claim agreements, self-government and reconciliation in Newfoundland and Labrador. Ask your child how rights and responsibilities connect, and why each community’s story is its own.
Canada's Landscapes
Canada's main landform regions, how glaciers, erosion and plate tectonics shaped them, and how landscape and resources have influenced where and how people live.
Indigenous Peoples & Canada
Treaties and unceded land in BC, the Indian Act, residential schools and the potlatch ban, and the ongoing work of reconciliation. This unit describes hard history factually, without graphic detail; consider talking it through together.
Migration & Population
Push and pull factors, famine, gold rushes and urbanization, why the world's population grew in the 1800s, and how migration to Canada and BC shaped communities.
Using Resources Wisely
What sustainable development means, quotas and reclamation, the circular economy, how governments, industries, advocacy groups and individuals influence resource use, and the life cycle of everyday products such as a phone.
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 practising 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 Newfoundland and Labrador 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 Newfoundland and Labrador Curriculum Grade 9 social studies units include land claims and self-government in labrador, canada's landscapes, indigenous peoples & canada, migration & population, using resources wisely.
Free printable Grade 9 social studies practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.