Science Earth's Systemsusually ages 9–11

Types of rocks

Use vocabulary for Earth's geological processes and rock types — igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic, erosion, weathering, deposition, fossil, sediment, strata, permeable, impermeable — and apply these when explaining how rocks form and how landscapes change over time

How to tell they’ve got it

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

Correctly classify igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks and explain in one sentence how each type forms
Use 'erosion', 'weathering', and 'deposition' correctly as three distinct stages in a sequence
Explain how fossils form using 'sediment' and 'sedimentary rock' correctly

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Try this together

Could your child explain the difference between a rock being weathered and being eroded — those are actually two different things?

Where this sits on the map

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

Builds on

Nothing on the map comes before this — it’s a starting point.

Types of rocksthis skill · ages 9–11

Unlocks

Erosion and weatheringages 9–10Measuring weathering and erosion rates requires 'weathering', 'erosion', and 'deposition' vocabulary

Finding patterns in dataages 9–10Interpreting patterns of Earth's geological features requires rock type and erosion vocabulary

How fossils formages 9–10Identifying evidence in rock formations and fossil layers requires sediment, strata, and fossil vocabulary

Earth's atmosphereages 10–11Modelling geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere interactions draws on geological vocabulary

solid = must come firstdashed = helps

Curriculum alignment

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

Show candidate curriculum codes · 2 ACARA · 2 VIC

Australian Curriculum v9 candidate

AC9S5U02medium confidenceYear 5 · Science understanding

describe how weathering, erosion, transportation and deposition cause slow or rapid change to Earth’s surface

AC9S3U02low confidenceYear 3 · Science understanding

compare the observable properties of soils, rocks and minerals and investigate why they are important Earth resources

Victorian Curriculum 2.0 codes & levels only

VC2S6U05low confidenceScience · Levels 5 and 6 · Science Understanding strand

VC2S4U06low confidenceScience · Levels 3 and 4 · Science Understanding strand

These are candidate alignments generated by semantic matching — machine-suggested and unreviewed (v0.1), not official or verified mappings. For official curriculum content see australiancurriculum.edu.au, curriculum.nsw.edu.au and f10.vcaa.vic.edu.au. Don’t rely on them for registration or compliance purposes.

Nearby on the map

Erosion and weatheringages 9–10 Finding patterns in dataages 9–10 Earth's atmosphereages 10–11 Rock layers and Earth's historyages 10–11

All Earth's Systems skills →