7th grade Social Studies: how to help at home
What your child learns in 7th grade social studies in the Oregon State Standards, and simple things to try at home.
Focus areas this year
- World history from 600 to 1900
- Trade, empires and exchange
- Geography and changing borders
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
Medieval Europe
How medieval Europe was organized (kings, nobles, knights and peasants), the role of the Church and guilds, the Magna Carta, the Black Death, and how change came to the feudal system.
The Islamic World
The early Islamic world and its cities, scholars and discoveries (such as algebra and optics), the exchange of knowledge through trade and translation, and the Ottoman Empire.
Trade Routes & Beliefs
The Silk Road and Indian Ocean trade, how religions and ideas spread, the Islamic Golden Age, medieval Europe and the Magna Carta, up to about 1450.
Renaissance & Reformation
The rebirth of art and learning in Italy, how the printing press spread ideas, the Reformation, and how questioning led to new science.
Japan: Land, Beliefs & Values
Japan's islands and mountains, its farming and fishing, and the Shinto, Buddhist and Confucian ideas that helped shape how people lived and what they valued.
African Kingdoms & Empires
Ghana, Mali, Songhai, Great Zimbabwe, the Swahili coast, Benin and Ethiopia from about 600 to 1900, trade across the Sahara and the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic slave trade and African resistance to colonization.
Aztec, Inca & Conquest
The Aztec (Mexica) and Inca empires, Cahokia and the Maya after 600 CE, the Spanish conquest and its effects, and Native resistance. Many Indigenous languages of the Americas are spoken today.
Empires of Asia
China from the Tang to the Ming, the Mongol Empire, feudal Japan, the Mughal and Ottoman empires, Korea and the Khmer, and how technology and trade spread ideas.
Exploration & Empire
European voyages of exploration, the Columbian Exchange, colonialism in the Americas, Africa and Asia and resistance to it, the expulsion of Jewish communities and the origins of antisemitism.
Age of Revolutions
The Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment, revolutions in England, America, France, Haiti and Latin America, the Industrial Revolution, and the end of slavery and serfdom.
World Timeline 600–1900
Ordering events in world history from the Tang dynasty to the Berlin Conference, across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas.
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 Oregon 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 Oregon State Standards 7th grade social studies units include Medieval Europe, The Islamic World, Trade Routes & Beliefs, Renaissance & Reformation, Japan: Land, Beliefs & Values, African Kingdoms & Empires.
Free printable 7th grade social studies practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.