VC2S4U06

rocks, minerals and soils are important Earth resources and have observable properties that enable them to be used in a variety of ways

• examining different soils from local areas and using magnifying glasses to observe their non-living components, such as pebbles and sand, as well as living things such as plant matter, earthworms and insects, and describing ways that living things, including humans, depend on soils for things such as food production, habitats, and for storing and filtering water
• recognising that minerals are the building blocks of rocks and that the different characteristics of rocks depend on the minerals within them
• exploring the school grounds or a local area and observing or collecting different types of rocks, and describing similarities or differences such as texture, colour, grain and crystal size
• identifying rocks as key components of built and natural environments and recognising uses of minerals, such as for gemstones in jewellery, graphite in pencils and table salt in food
• investigating Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ use of different rock and mineral types and how they were and continue to be used, for example the use of igneous rocks for stone blades and sedimentary rocks for grindstones and in pigments
• investigating which rocks or minerals are quarried or mined locally or regionally, and how those resources are used