What Children Should Know in 7th Grade Math
While the specific standards in each state differ, seventh-graders should learn certain math principles and concepts to prepare themselves for eighth grade and high school math. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics notes that middle school is when children form solid opinions and conclusions regarding their mathematical competence and ability. Having students gain a firm understanding of seventh-grade-level math is essential if you want those opinions and conclusions to be positive, which promotes further learning.
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Operations and Numbers
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By the end of the seventh grade, your student should be able to use fractions, percentages and powers, such as squared and cubed numbers. She should have a firm understanding of positive and negative integers and how to add, subtract, multiply and divide them properly. She should also be able to represent the quantitative relationships between proportions and ratios, which requires knowledge and understanding of both.
Algebra, Geometry and Measurements
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Seventh-grade math is often considered "pre-algebra," which prepares students for the algebra they'll learn in later grades. Seventh-grade algebra uses the numbers and operations learned to create tables, equations and graphs for solving problems with factors like fractions and percentages. A common algebraic practice that benefits your seventh-grader is learning to reasonably explain and show how he got a solution to a problem, rather than simply writing the answer without showing the work involved. He should also learn geometric concepts like volume, mass and area and how they relate to various geometric shapes. These algebraic and geometric concepts are also linked together in seventh grade through the Pythagorean theorem.
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Statistical Data and Probability
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With the graphing, equations and tables your seventh-grader learns through pre-algebra, she will also learn how to understand, describe and show the relationships between a graph and the data and numbers included in it. Through a basic understanding of statistics and how they relate to math, she'll also begin learning probability by understanding patterns in the statistical data that point to one result over another.
Activities
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Certain activities and exercises help promote a healthy understanding of seventh-grade-level mathematics. Have your child or student estimate his height. Have him hold a yardstick standing on end and measure the yardstick's shadow. After then measuring the student's shadow, have him use his knowledge of proportions to calculate his actual height and compare it to his previous estimation.
To better understand percentages and fractions, have your child record one of his favorite half-hour TV shows and write down how many commercials there are, the total minutes and seconds of commercial content and the total minutes and seconds of the actual show. He can then use these times to calculate the percentage of show versus commercials in that half-hour span.
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References
- National Council of Teachers of Mathematics: Standards for Grades 6-8
- National Council of Teachers of Mathematics: Math Standards and Expectations
- South Carolina Education Oversight Committee; What Your 7th Grader Should Be Learning; Spring 2005
- Education.com; 7th Grade Math --- What to Expect; Julie Williams
- Math Forum: California Mathematics Standards, 7th Grade
Resources
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