Learning Map

Types of Rock

Know the three main types of rock — igneous (formed when lava or magma cools), sedimentary (formed from layers pressed together), and metamorphic — and that fossils are found in sedimentary rock

How to tell they’ve got it

Tick these off as you see them — no test required.

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Try this together

If your child finds different rocks on a beach walk, can they sort them and explain that some formed from cooled lava, some from layers pressed together over time, and that fossils are found in the layered ones?

Where this sits on the map

Stuck here? Check the skills it builds on first. Confident? Here’s what it unlocks.

Builds on
Earth Is Made of Rockages 5–7Rock types build on knowing Earth is made of rock
What Is a Volcanoages 5–7Igneous rock concept links to lava cooling from volcanoes
Earth's Layersages 7–9Rock types benefit from knowing Earth has hot interior (explains melting for igneous)
Properties of materialsages 7–8Volcanic rock types topic parallels curriculum rocks classification
Types of Rockthis skill · ages 7–9
Unlocks
The Rock Cycleages 9–11The rock cycle connects the three rock types already learned
Rock Layers & Relative Datingages 9–11Dinosaurs rock strata/relative dating benefits from knowing rock types (igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic)

solid = must come firstdashed = helps

Curriculum alignment

Candidate matches to official curriculum codes — machine-suggested, unreviewed (v0.1).

This skill sits outside the F–6 Australian Curriculum — no candidate code matched (v0.1). No NSW K–6 outcome code matched (v0.1). No Victorian Curriculum 2.0 code matched (v0.1).

Nearby on the map

All Volcanoes & Earthquakes skills →