Skip to main content
Ministry of Education New Zealand
On this page
Important

Draft curriculum content

This page is based on the draft Year 7 content for Social Sciences, which is currently open for feedback. Schools are not required to implement changes until the consultation process is confirmed.

Have your say:

Consultation for Year 0 to 10 draft curriculum content

The Social Sciences help students understand how people live together, make decisions, and shape communities so they can participate thoughtfully in society. In Years 7 and 8, students build upon their prior learning and engage with more complex ideas and concepts, including governance, rights, and global connection.

Teaching is structured around 4 strands that focus on key areas of learning. In Year 7, these include:

  • History: Te Tiriti o Waitangi | The Treaty of Waitangi, the 1852 Constitution Act, the French or American Revolution, the Industrial Revolution
  • Civics and Society: democracy and government
  • Geography: rivers and glaciation, geology, tectonics, extreme environments
  • Economic Activity: financial decision making.

History#

Ideas to help at home

With your child, you could:

  • discuss the 3 articles of the Treaty, kawanatanga | governance, tino rangatiratanga | Māori self-determination, ōritetanga | equality, and the verbal article, wairuatanga | spirituality
  • talk about what happened in your area during and after the signings of Te Tiriti o Waitangi | The Treaty of Waitangi, including land disputes and protests
  • discuss how some rules and laws can be unfair to some groups and what people can do when they think a rule or law is unfair
  • discuss how new technologies can change societies in positive and negative ways, and compare examples learnt in class, such as the Industrial Revolution, with current technological changes
  • use words such as colony, franchise, revolution, declaration, privilege, industrial, urbanisation, reform.

What the teacher will focus on#

The teacher will focus on Te Tiriti o Waitangi | The Treaty of Waitangi and 1852 Constitution Act, the French or American Revolution, and the Industrial Revolution. For example, by the end of the year, your child may be able to:

  • discuss Te Tiriti o Waitangi | The Treaty of Waitangi, comparing different interpretations and explaining its impact on Māori mana | authority and rangatiratanga | leadership over land and resources
  • explain the conflict between Māori and settlers over issues like the expansion of European settlement, leading to the Northern War (1845–1846)
  • tell the stories of key people, such as Governors Hobson, FitzRoy, and Grey, and the rangatira, Te Ruki Kawiti and Tāmati Wāka Nene
  • describe the transition from Crown Colony to democratic self-government
  • explain the causes of the French or American Revolution, how power changed hands, and how this revolution influences ideas about government and society today
  • explain the origins of the Industrial Revolution (circa 1760–1840) and the technological, social, economic, and political changes that resulted
  • use different sources, like factory inspection reports and newspaper illustrations, to learn about children’s experiences in textile mills.

Civics and Society#

Ideas to help at home

With your child, you could:

  • talk about and compare different voting systems, such as MMP, FPP, and STV
  • discuss how voting is one way we can participate as citizens and explore other ways to take part outside of voting
  • talk about the contributions of people you know who were part of the government or pressure groups campaigning for change
  • use words like suffrage, policy, seats, electorate, petitions, protest.

What the teacher will focus on#

The teacher will focus on democracy and government. For example, by the end of the year, your child may be able to:

  • identify and explain democratic values like equality, inclusion, and freedom of speech
  • understand that a representative democracy is a system of government where people vote for leaders to make decisions and laws on their behalf
  • explain what makes New Zealand a representative democracy and how it works
  • take part in a mock election by creating parties, running campaigns, and voting in a secret ballot
  • explain why it’s important to be an active citizen and what it involves, for example, signing petitions, attending hui, volunteering
  • tell stories about people who have contributed to New Zealand as active citizens and helped build our bicultural and multicultural society
  • think critically about the role of the media in a democracy and the importance of having access to trustworthy news sources
  • take part in respectful discussion about contentious issues.

Geography#

Ideas to help at home

With your child, you could:

  • use Google Earth or an atlas to find the Amazon River in South America, the Waikato River in New Zealand, Lake Wakatipu in New Zealand, and the Matterhorn in Europe, and discuss:
    • where each place is located, including whether it is a continent or island and which country it belongs to
    • what the surrounding landscape looks like, for example, mountains, forests, or plains
  • use weather apps to look up temperatures for 2 contrasting places in New Zealand, such as Queenstown and Auckland, and talk about why different places have different climates.

Google Earth

What the teacher will focus on#

The teacher will focus on rivers and glaciation, geology, tectonics, and extreme environments. For example, by the end of the year, your child may be able to:

  • use maps, aerial photographs, and other sources to locate and describe major river systems, such as the Amazon, Waikato, and glacial landscapes, such as Lake Wakatipu, the Matterhorn
  • create diagrams to show how glaciers and rivers shape landscapes over long periods of time
  • conduct a case study of a river or glacier to show its location, impact on the landscape, and the impact the landscape and people have on each other
  • use diagrams to show the formation of tectonic landforms, for example, Kā Tiritiri o te Moana | the Southern Alps, the Rift Valley
  • explain how altitude, latitude, and distance from bodies of water combine to affect the climate
  • explain how the climate influences the ecosystem in extreme environments
  • interpret graphs, photographs, and numerical data to compare how people have adapted to the climate and landscape in two extreme environments.

Economic Activity#

Ideas to help at home

With your child, you could:

  • make a budget showing weekly income and expenses, and talk about unexpected costs and savings
  • discuss what is necessary to make informed money decisions, for example:
    • where you can find information
    • what might drive the choice to buy certain products
    • why it is a good idea to save money
    • how they could save for something they want
  • use an online currency converter to convert NZD into other international currencies.

What the teacher will focus on#

The teacher will focus on the process of making financial decisions. For example, by the end of the year, your child may be able to:

  • understand that people make financial decisions based on their needs, wants and other influences, such as values, personal circumstances, friends, peers, advertising
  • describe strategies for making informed financial decisions, for example, researching to work out value for money, setting savings goals, making a budget
  • make a personal budget, setting out their expenses and earnings
  • understand that people earn money in different ways, including income, borrowing, lending, and gifts
  • explain why people’s budgets are different and why they can change over time, for example, when having a child
  • use digital tools to find and interpret information about the current value of the NZD compared with another global currency, like the AUD or USD.