Grade 7 Science: how to help at home
What your child learns in Grade 7 science in the Alberta Curriculum, and simple things to try at home.
The Big Ideas this year
- Unit A, Interactions and Ecosystems: living things depend on each other and on their environment, and people affect ecosystems
- Unit B, Plants for Food and Fibre: how plants grow, how people use them, and how to grow them sustainably
- Unit C, Heat and Temperature: heat is the movement of particles, and it can be transferred and controlled
- Unit D, Structures and Forces: structures are designed to carry loads safely, and forces act on them
- Unit E, Planet Earth: evidence from rocks, fossils and landforms shows how Earth has changed over time
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.
How Plants Work
The parts of seed plants and what they do, photosynthesis, gas exchange, transpiration and pollination, and how plant structures suit where a plant grows.
Plants We Use
How people use plants for food, fibre and medicine, crops grown in Alberta such as wheat and canola, changing land use and the effects of growing only one crop.
Growing Crops Well
Fertilizers and soil nutrients, selective breeding, crop rotation, chemical and biological pest control and farming practices that protect soil and water.
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.
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.
Rocks & Minerals
Rocks and minerals, describing minerals (lustre, hardness), the three main kinds of rock, the rock cycle, weathering and erosion and how mountains form.
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.
Fossils & Earth's History
How fossils form, what they tell scientists, the order of rock layers, the geological time scale and the difference between sudden and gradual change.
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 Alberta 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 Alberta?
The Alberta Curriculum Grade 7 science units include ecosystems, food chains & energy, cycles & succession, people & ecosystems, how plants work, plants we use.
Free printable Grade 7 science practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.