Grade 7 Science: how to help at home
What your child learns in Grade 7 science in the Nova Scotia Curriculum, and simple things to try at home.
The Big Ideas this year
- Environmental Action. Learners will analyse particle theory in relation to substances in environments.
- Environmental Action. Learners will analyse the interconnectiveness of living things and the environment, in relation to the concept of Netukulimk.
- Environmental Action. Learners will investigate factors that affect species adaptation and evolution.
- Environmental Action. Learners will implement an environmental stewardship plan.
- Engineering Structures. Learners will test the strength and efficiency of shapes and materials used in construction.
- Engineering Structures. Learners will test various forces affecting structures.
- Engineering Structures. Learners will construct a structure in response to a design challenge.
- Geological Evolution. Learners will analyse how geographic features are formed and changed.
- Geological Evolution. Learners will analyse factors that affect coastline change.
Easy ways to practise science at home
- Turn everyday questions into investigations: “Which paper towel holds the most water?”
- Read a science news story together and ask what evidence it gives.
- Look up how a household machine works, such as a bike gear, a lamp or a fridge.
- Have your child draw and label a diagram of something they just learned.
What each unit covers
Ecosystems
Biotic and abiotic parts of an ecosystem, how they interact, and the limiting factors and carrying capacity that decide how many organisms an ecosystem can support.
Food Chains & Energy
Producers, consumers and decomposers, food chains and webs, how energy shrinks as it passes up a chain (about 10% each step), and what happens when part of a chain changes.
People & Ecosystems
How agriculture, harvesting and technologies affect ecosystems, such as monoculture, overfishing, invasive species and runoff, and ways to protect and restore balance. Includes reading simple data about an environmental measure.
Netukulimk & Interconnected Life
Practises how living things and their environment are connected: food webs, energy flow, populations, relationships and human impact. It includes Netukulimk, the Mi’kmaw approach of taking what is needed from the land and sea in a way that keeps everything healthy for the future. Indigenous content is light and will be reviewed with community partners.
Particles & Mixtures
The particle theory of matter, the states of matter, pure substances versus mixtures, and homogeneous versus heterogeneous mixtures.
Heat & Particles
Heat as energy linked to particle motion, temperature, expansion and contraction, changes of state, and the ways heat is generated (friction, electricity, burning, chemical reactions and the Sun).
Structures & Forces
Solid, frame and shell structures, centre of gravity and stability, symmetry, and the size, direction and point of application of forces, including tension, compression, torsion and shear.
Safe Structures
Why structures fail (overloading, fatigue, corrosion, freeze-thaw), choosing materials, how engineers assess and maintain safety, the engineering design process, and social, economic and environmental factors in design, including ergonomics.
Restless Earth
Earth's layers, plate tectonics, earthquakes and volcanoes, fossils in rock layers, and the order of major events in Earth's 4.6-billion-year history. Includes how First Nations oral histories and scientific evidence together date the great 1700 earthquake.
Natural Selection
Variation, inherited versus acquired traits, adaptations, and how natural selection changes populations over generations, with fossils and other evidence. Includes reading data from a predator–prey model.
Changing Coastlines
Practises how Nova Scotia’s coastlines are shaped by erosion and deposition, the tides of the Bay of Fundy, storm surges and sea-level rise, and how people protect the shore with salt marshes, dykes, living shorelines and seawalls.
What the report card levels look like at home
- Minimal
- Just getting started with this idea. Short, regular practice with lots of support helps most.
- Satisfactory
- Understands parts of it and is building confidence. Keep practising the tricky parts.
- Good
- Has it! Mixed review now and then keeps it strong.
- Very good to excellent
- 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 Nova Scotia report card guide.
Common questions
Turn everyday questions into investigations: “Which paper towel holds the most water?” Read a science news story together and ask what evidence it gives. Keep sessions short, about 10 to 15 minutes, and stop on a success.
The Nova Scotia Curriculum Grade 7 science units include ecosystems, food chains & energy, people & ecosystems, netukulimk & interconnected life, particles & mixtures, heat & particles.
Free printable Grade 7 science practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.