Social Studies

Grade 4 
Big Ideas: Students explore historical and contemporary issues from different perspectives, analyzing such events to examine the present, make connections with the past and consider the future. The focus is on mapping, First Nations cultures, and the Europeans' exploration of Canada. Highlights include mapping skills: hemispheres, continents and oceans; European explorers; Inuit and Coastal First Nations peoples of British Columbia; and Interior First Nations peoples of British Columbia. 

Grade 5 
Big Ideas: Designed to encourage independent thought and increase awareness of Canada's diverse historical, cultural, political and environmental landscapes, the course also outlines strategies for reading and researching informational texts, developing comprehensive arguments and analyzing data. Highlights include timelines, mapping, immigration, gold rush, railway, fur trade, immigration, government and the constitution, prominent Canadians, resources, sustainability, and the Industrial Revolution. 

Grade 6 
Big Ideas: This course introduces the concept of responsible citizenship: materials and discussions explore current world events and challenging societal issues, such as human rights, child labour, poverty, media use and resource management, in Canada and around the globe. Students are expected to participate in class discussions. Highlights include global citizenship, cultural identity, ethnocentrism versus multiculturalism, United Nations, global trade, child labour, settlement patterns, population distribution and economic systems, government and judicial systems, quality of life and environmental problems. 

Grade 7
Big Ideas: Students embark on a visual and kinesthetic journey through the ancient world, beginning with the evolution of early humans and ending with Imperial Rome. With an emphasis on how different ancient cultures fit into the overall timeline of prehistory and history, students focus on noticing patterns in material culture, learning to make inferences about meaning and function from ancient evidence, appreciating the origins of cultural artistic and literary paradigms that one encounters today, and developing critical-thinking skills through the analysis of current and historical events. Highlights include an introduction to archeology; evolution of hominids; invention of farming; Mesopotamia; newspaper projects on ancient Egypt, China or India; bronze age Greece; and ancient Greece and ancient Rome. 
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West Point Grey Academy

4125 West 8th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C., V6R 4P9
Tel: 604-222-8750  

Since 1996, West Point Grey Academy has gratefully resided on the Jericho Lands, the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam Indian Band), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) Nation and sə̓lílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nation. Honoured to learn and play on these beautiful lands, we endeavour to be a leader in Indigenous education. In creating shared understanding and opportunities, we hope to help foster a more equitable society for all.