Learning Map Where we’re up to

Types of rocks

Your child can sort rocks into three kinds: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. They can say how each one forms. Weathering and erosion are two different steps.

In curriculum terms

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

Ages are typical, not deadlines — follow your child’s pace. How to help at home →

How to tell they’ve got it

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

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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

Where this fits in the official school curriculum — our best automated guess, not yet checked by a person.

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

All Earth's Systems skills →