7th Grade Math Curriculum: Lessons and Objectives

7th Grade Math Lessons

Skills Summary

At the 7th grade level, your child will learn to solve problems by setting up proportions. These problems may include ratios related to length, area, time or distance. For example, your child might be asked to figure out how far a train can travel in 7 hours if it already traveled 150 miles in 2 hours.

As 7th graders continue learning about the number system, they will add, subtract, multiply and divide rational numbers, which include negative integers, decimals and fractions. In the geometry focus area, students solve problems involving the surface area and volume of 3-dimensional figures. They also learn the formulas for finding the area and circumference of circles.

Additionally, your child will learn that the probability of an event can be represented by a decimal between 0 and 1 or a percentage between 0 and 100. He or she will understand that larger numbers show a greater chance that an event will happen.

In algebra, your 7th grader should know how to solve multi-step equations involving negative and positive rational numbers, including fractions and decimals. Your student will also need to convert between decimals, fractions and percentages, and he or she will need to use variables to represent quantities as well.

Lessons You Can Do with Your 7th Grader

At the 7th grade level, it's important to engage your child by making math as fun and interactive as possible. Students tend to gain a better understanding of math topics when you relate them to real life or link them to things they're interested in. For instance, have your child practice converting between fractions and decimals by helping you in the kitchen. Before you start baking, change some of the fractions to decimals and have your child convert them back to fractions to get the measurement for each ingredient. You could also have your child practice proportions by asking him or her questions like these:

• For every cup of milk we add, how many cups of sugar are needed?
• What is the proportion of butter to powdered sugar?

To practice geometry, draw a variety of figures on an outdoor, cemented area. Have your 7th grader use a ruler or a yardstick to determine the area of each shape. You could also use this method for reviewing adjacent, vertical, supplementary and complementary angles.