Grade 7 Science: how to help at home
What your child learns in Grade 7 science in the Ontario Curriculum, and simple things to try at home.
The Big Ideas this year
- A1 STEM Investigation and Communication Skills: Use a scientific research process, a scientific experimentation process, and an engineering design process to conduct investigations, following appropriate health and safety procedures
- A2 Coding and Emerging Technologies: Use coding in investigations and to model concepts, and assess the impact of coding and of emerging technologies on everyday life and in STEM-related fields
- A3 Applications, Connections, and Contributions: Demonstrate an understanding of the practical applications of science and technology, and of contributions to science and technology from people with diverse lived experiences
- B1 Relating Science and Technology to Our Changing World: Assess the impact of human activities and technologies on the environment, and analyse ways to mitigate negative impacts and contribute to environmental sustainability
- B2 Exploring and Understanding Concepts: Demonstrate an understanding of interactions between and among biotic and abiotic components in the environment
- C1 Relating Science and Technology to Our Changing World: Evaluate the environmental and social impacts of the use and disposal of various pure substances and mixtures
- C2 Exploring and Understanding Concepts: Demonstrate an understanding of the nature of matter, including the properties of pure substances and mixtures, and describe these properties using particle theory
- D1 Relating Science and Technology to Our Changing World: Analyse personal, social, economic, and environmental factors that should be considered when designing and building structures
- D2 Exploring and Understanding Concepts: Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between structural forms and the forces acting on them
- E1 Relating Science and Technology to Our Changing World: Assess the benefits of technologies that reduce heat loss, and analyse various social and environmental impacts of the use of energy from renewable and non-renewable sources
- E2 Exploring and Understanding Concepts: Demonstrate an understanding of heat as a form of energy that is associated with the movement of particles and is essential for many natural processes within Earth’s systems
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.
Cycles & Succession
How water, carbon and nitrogen are cycled through ecosystems, why cycling supports sustainability, and the difference between primary and secondary succession.
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.
Particles & Mixtures
The particle theory of matter, the states of matter, pure substances versus mixtures, and homogeneous versus heterogeneous mixtures.
Solutions & Separating
Solutes, solvents and solubility, what makes things dissolve faster, saturated and unsaturated solutions, concentration, why water is called the universal solvent, ways to separate mixtures, and some environmental effects of industrial separation.
Atoms & Elements
Elements versus compounds and mixtures, chemical symbols (H, O, Na, Cl, Fe, Au…), counting atoms in formulas like H₂O and C₆H₁₂O₆, metals and non-metals, and the basics of the periodic table.
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.
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).
Moving Heat
How heat is transmitted by conduction, convection and radiation, how the Sun's radiation heats different surfaces, and technologies such as insulation and double-pane windows that reduce heat loss.
Changing Climate
The greenhouse effect, evidence of climate change (real CO₂ measurements, glaciers, ice cores), human causes, actions that help, and the value of Indigenous knowledge of the land.
What the report card levels look like at home
- Level 1
- Just getting started with this idea. Short, regular practice with lots of support helps most.
- Level 2
- Understands parts of it and is building confidence. Keep practising the tricky parts.
- Level 3
- Has it! Level 3 is the provincial standard. Mixed review now and then keeps it strong.
- Level 4
- 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 Ontario report card guide.
Common questions
How can I help my Grade 7 child with science?
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.
What does my child learn in Grade 7 science in Ontario?
The Ontario Curriculum Grade 7 science units include ecosystems, food chains & energy, cycles & succession, people & ecosystems, particles & mixtures, solutions & separating.
Free printable Grade 7 science practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.