How to read this page
Nova Scotia publishes its curriculum as long official documents written for teachers. This page is the same content, translated for the fridge door: each subject below shows this year's units and the skills inside them. If a skill sounds unfamiliar, that's the point — now you know what to ask about at dinner.
Mathematics this year
Math builds in layers, and this year's layer matters — each unit below leans on the ones before it. In Nova Scotia, that's Mathematics, Grade 9 — 4 units, 31 skills.
Number
- Powers as repeated multiplication
- The exponent laws
- Order of operations with exponents
Patterns and Relations
- Generalizing a pattern with a linear equation
- Translating and testing inequalities
- Modelling and identifying polynomials
See the full Mathematics, Grade 9 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
English Language Arts this year
Reading, writing, and speaking skills deepen this year — less "can they read it," more "what do they make of it." In Nova Scotia, that's English Language Arts 9 — 3 units, 25 skills.
Speaking and Listening
- Asking and responding to elaborating questions
- Participating constructively in discussion and debate
- Adjusting language to situation and culture
Reading and Viewing
- Reading widely across genres and cultures
- Accessing and selecting information for research
- Critically evaluating print and media texts
Writing and Other Ways of Representing
- Using writing to explore and reflect
- Choosing form and style for context
- Using writing-process strategies that work for you
See the full English Language Arts 9 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
Science this year
Science gets more structured this year — real investigations, real explanations, real vocabulary. In Nova Scotia, that's Science 9 — 4 units, 70 skills.
Reproduction
- The nucleus and genetic information
- Distinguishing sexual and asexual reproduction
- Genetic conditions we cannot yet cure
Atoms and Elements
- Changing conceptions of matter
- Atomic theory up to the Bohr model
- Common elements and their atomic structure
Characteristics of Electricity
- Properties of static charge
- Framing testable circuit questions
- Electrical energy and power costs
Space Exploration
- Apparent motion of celestial bodies
- Solar phenomena and their effects on Earth
See the full Science 9 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
French this year
French builds through listening, speaking, and simple reading — confidence first, grammar second. In Nova Scotia, that's Core French 9 — 2 units, 14 skills.
Communication
- Following increasingly complex directions
- Telling about an event
- Discussing your own tastes
Linguistic Elements
- Connectors, negation, interrogatives, and verb tenses
- Adjectives, adverbs, comparatives, and superlatives
See the full Core French 9 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →
Three ways parents use this list
Common questions
What does my child learn in Grade 9 in Nova Scotia?
Nova Scotia's official curriculum sets out Mathematics, English Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, French for Grade 9 — 164 specific skills in total. The big themes: Mathematics covers number and patterns and relations; English Language Arts covers speaking and listening and reading and viewing; Science covers reproduction and atoms and elements. The full list is on this page.
Is this the official Nova Scotia curriculum?
It's built from Nova Scotia's official program of studies, reorganized into plain language — and each subject links to a course page that quotes the ministry's own wording and links to the government source, so you can check our work. One honest caveat: we're not the ministry, curricula do change, and we can't guarantee this reflects the very latest revision, so confirm anything important against the live provincial curriculum data.
My child is finding one of these skills hard. What can I do?
That's normal — every skill on this page is one most kids wobble on at first. MapleMind teaches any of them one-on-one: a short lesson in plain words, a worked example, then solving together. It's free to start, on any device, in 14 languages.
Keep exploring
Knowing the list is half the job
The other half is the teaching — and that's what MapleMind does. Pick any skill on this page and see it taught properly, free, in under a minute.
MapleMind isn't affiliated with any ministry of education. We build these guides from each province's official program of studies and refresh them from time to time — but curricula change, and we can't guarantee this page reflects the very latest revision. Always confirm against the live provincial curriculum data. Last updated 2026-08-15.
Social Studies this year
Social studies widens the lens this year — history, geography, and how communities and governments work. In Nova Scotia, that's Citizenship 9 — 6 units, 24 skills.
Engaged Citizenship
- Selecting a need and planning the project
+ 1 more skill in this unit →Who Am I as a Citizen?
- Rights, responsibilities, and worldview
- How rights changed and the role of treaties
+ 2 more skills in this unit →Financial Citizenship
- Culture, money, and taxation
- Financial goals and informed choices
+ 2 more skills in this unit →Digital Citizenship
- Representation and omission in media
- Opportunities, risks, and your digital footprint
+ 2 more skills in this unit →Governance
- Worldview and Canadian values
- How governments in Canada are formed
- Working within and outside government
+ 3 more skills in this unit →Global Citizenship
- A global issue from differing perspectives
- Human rights and globalization
+ 2 more skills in this unit →See the full Citizenship 9 curriculum, with the ministry's own wording →