Grade 4 Social Studies: how to help at home
What your child learns in Grade 4 social studies in the Ontario Curriculum, and simple things to try at home.
The Big Ideas this year
- A1 Application: Past and Present Societies: Compare key aspects of life in a few early societies (to 1500), including at least one First Nation and one Inuit society, each from a different region and era and representing a different culture, and describe some key similarities and differences between these early societies and present-day Canadian society
- A2 Inquiry: Ways of Life and Relationships with the Environment: Use the social studies inquiry process to investigate ways of life and relationships with the environment in a few early societies (to 1500), including at least one First Nation and one Inuit society, with an emphasis on aspects of the interrelationship between the environment and life in those societies
- A3 Understanding Context: Characteristics of Early Societies: Demonstrate an understanding of key aspects of a few early societies (to 1500), including at least one First Nation and one Inuit society, each from a different region and era and representing a different culture, with reference to their political and social organization, daily life, and relationships with the environment and with each other
- B1 Application: Industrial Development and the Environment: Assess some key ways in which industrial development and the natural environment affect each other in two or more political and/or physical regions of Canada
- B2 Inquiry: Balancing Human Needs and Environmental Stewardship: Use the social studies inquiry process to investigate some issues and challenges associated with balancing human needs/wants and activities with environmental stewardship in one or more of the political and/or physical regions of Canada
- B3 Understanding Context: Regions in Canada: Identify Canada’s political and physical regions, and describe their main characteristics and some significant activities that take place in them
Easy ways to practise social studies at home
- Look at a map of your community and find places you visit.
- Ask an older relative or neighbour what the area was like when they were young.
- Read stories from many communities, including Indigenous authors, and talk about what is the same and different.
- Talk about how rules and jobs help a community work.
What each unit covers
Early Societies
Meet societies from before 1500 CE: ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, medieval Europe, the Mali Empire, the Maya, and the First Nation Haudenosaunee and the Inuit, whose descendants live in Canada today, and compare how each was organized.
Daily Life Long Ago
What people ate, wore and lived in, how children learned, and how life differed for different people (a Roman senator and an enslaved person, a noble and a peasant), compared with life today.
People & the Land
How rivers, deserts, mountains, forests and Arctic seasons shaped food, homes and travel for societies such as ancient Egypt, Greece, the Haudenosaunee and the Inuit, and how to investigate this with maps and evidence.
Governing & Getting Along
How early societies were governed (a pharaoh, the Athenian assembly, feudal kings and nobles, Haudenosaunee clan mothers and the Great Law of Peace), and why groups worked together or came into conflict.
Inventions & Evidence
Writing, calendars, aqueducts, printing, qajaqs and farming methods, plus how historians learn from artifacts, art and primary and secondary sources.
Canada's Physical Regions
Canada's landform, vegetation and climate regions, such as the Western Cordillera, Interior Plains and Canadian Shield, and how each shapes farming, mining, forestry, fishing and recreation.
Jobs & Industries
The four economic sectors (gathering resources, making goods, providing services and working with information), and examples of Canadian industries in each.
Industry & the Environment
Effects of dams, mines, oil, forestry and fishing on the environment, sustainability actions by companies and citizens, and weighing different perspectives about land and resource use.
Provinces, Territories & Directions
Provinces, territories, municipalities and First Nations governments, challenges and opportunities in different regions, and using cardinal and intermediate directions such as northeast and number and letter grids.
Provinces & Regions
Canada's 10 provinces and 3 territories and their capitals, and its physical regions (like the Cordillera, Interior Plains and Canadian Shield) and their natural resources.
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 4 child with social studies?
Look at a map of your community and find places you visit. Ask an older relative or neighbour what the area was like when they were young. Keep sessions short, about 10 to 15 minutes, and stop on a success.
What does my child learn in Grade 4 social studies in Ontario?
The Ontario Curriculum Grade 4 social studies units include early societies, daily life long ago, people & the land, governing & getting along, inventions & evidence, canada's physical regions.
Free printable Grade 4 social studies practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.