What students learn in AC9S3U02
This unit helps students build a clear, usable understanding of The observable properties of soils, rocks and minerals and investigate.... The goal is not to memorise one answer pattern. Students should be able to explain the idea, recognise it in a new example and apply it in a short practice or worksheet task.
- Start with the main idea: compare the observable properties of soils, rocks and minerals and investigate why they are important Earth resources.
- Use concrete examples, pictures, oral explanation and short written responses before moving to independent practice.
- examining different soils from local areas and using magnifying glasses to observe their components, such as pebbles, sand or plant matter as well as living things such as earthworms and insects 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 or crystal size
- Finish with mixed questions so students must choose the correct strategy rather than copy the last example.
Curriculum coverage and elaborations
The content description and elaborations below show the curriculum ideas taught in this unit. Items marked as teaching context support lesson planning but may not appear in the initial eight-question activity.
- Content description: compare the observable properties of soils, rocks and minerals and investigate why they are important Earth resources
- E1: examining different soils from local areas and using magnifying glasses to observe their components, such as pebbles, sand or plant matter as well as living things such as earthworms and insects
- E2: 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 or crystal size
- E3: recognising that minerals are the building blocks of rocks and that the different characteristics of rocks depend on the minerals they are made up of
- E4: identifying rocks as key components of the built and natural environment and recognising uses of minerals such as gemstones in jewellery, graphite in pencils, and table salt in food
- E5: investigating First Nations Australians’ knowledges of different rock and mineral types, and how they were used such as for stone blades, grindstones and pigments (teaching context)
- E6: describing ways in which living things including humans depend on soils, such as for food, growing plants, providing habitat for organisms, and holding and cleaning water
- E7: examining information on plant tags and exploring the vocabulary used to describe soils and different plant soil requirements
- E8: investigating which rocks or minerals are quarried or mined locally or regionally and how those resources are used
How to use this unit
Read the topic guide, use the teacher slide for instruction, then complete the Worksheet, Practice and Test. These three activities use the same eight-question unit bank.
Teacher resource
AC9S3U02 teacher slide
Use this one-page PDF to introduce the key idea, vocabulary and teaching sequence before students begin the activities.
Open teacher slide (PDF)Common mistakes to watch for
- Describing what is seen without connecting it to a question, pattern or prediction.
- Using everyday words only and missing simple scientific vocabulary.
- Changing more than one thing in an investigation, which makes the comparison unfair.
International curriculum mapping
This table gives closest-topic mapping for search and planning. The Australian Curriculum code is exact; overseas entries are broad equivalents because each jurisdiction structures outcomes differently.
| Region | Curriculum | Closest mapping |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | Australian Curriculum v9.0 | AC9S3U02 — compare the observable properties of soils, rocks and minerals and investigate why they are important Earth resources |
| Victoria | Victorian Curriculum F-10 | Year 3 Science: closest match in Earth and space sciences. Use this page as a VIC-aligned practice and worksheet reference. |
| NSW | NSW Curriculum | Stage 2 Science: closest content focus for The observable properties of soils, rocks and minerals and investigate... and related outcomes. |
| United States | Common Core / NGSS | Grade 3 NGSS science closest topic match for The observable properties of soils, rocks and minerals and investigate.... |
| England / UK | National Curriculum | Key Stage 2 / Year 3: closest programme-of-study match for The observable properties of soils, rocks and minerals and investigate.... |
| Canada | Provincial and territory curricula | Grade 3 closest topic match. Canada varies by province, so use this as a broad Ontario/BC-style learning outcome reference. |
| New Zealand | New Zealand Curriculum | Level 2 Science: closest achievement-objective topic for The observable properties of soils, rocks and minerals and investigate.... |
| India | NCERT / CBSE | Class 3 closest NCERT/CBSE topic match for The observable properties of soils, rocks and minerals and investigate.... |