Grade 9 Social Studies: how to help at home
What your child learns in Grade 9 social studies in the Prince Edward Island Curriculum, and simple things to try at home.
The Big Ideas this year
- Citizenship, Power, and Governance. Learners will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship and the origins, functions, and sources of power, authority, and governance.
- Culture and Diversity. Learners will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of culture, diversity, and worldview, recognizing the similarities and differences reflected in various personal, cultural, racial, and ethnic perspectives.
- Individuals, Societies, and Economic Decisions. Social studies provides learners with the knowledge and skills necessary to make personal economic decisions and to participate in the process of societal economic decision-making.
- Interdependence. Learners will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the interdependent relationship among individuals, societies, and the environment — locally, nationally, and globally — and the implications for a sustainable future.
- People, Place, and Environment. Learners will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the interactions among people, places, and the environment.
- Time, Continuity, and Change. Learners will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the past, and how it affects the present and the future.
Easy ways to practise 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
Thinking Like a Geographer
Practises the disciplinary thinking used throughout Grade 9 social studies: what makes a place significant, how people and the environment affect each other, continuity and change, and weighing implications.
Maps, Graphs & Data
Practises analysing geographical information with geographical tools such as maps, graphs and data tables, and communicating it clearly.
World Climates and Biomes
Practises what controls climate (latitude, elevation, nearness to water, winds and currents), the world’s major biomes, reading climographs, and how climate and people affect each other.
Where People Settle
Practises how natural and human factors influence where people settle, and how settlement patterns look on a map.
A Changing Population
How an aging population, small-town decline and city growth affect people, government strategies on immigration and families, the 'rule of 70', and how people in Canada respond to global population issues.
Sustainability & Our Choices
Practises the factors that contribute to environmental issues and ways that individuals and communities can become more sustainable.
Globalization
Practises the benefits and challenges of globalization, past and present, and its effect on culture.
Global Citizenship
Practises the factors behind global inequalities, the link between human rights and globalization, and how to analyse current issues from several points of view.
Social Action
Practises how people affect societal change locally and globally, and how to plan action on an issue using the concepts of geographical thinking.
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 PEI 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 Prince Edward Island Curriculum Grade 9 social studies units include thinking like a geographer, maps, graphs & data, world climates and biomes, where people settle, a changing population, sustainability & our choices.
Free printable Grade 9 social studies practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.