AC9S8U04 Year 8 Science

This Content Descriptor from Year 8 Science provides the specific knowledge and skills students should learn. Use it to plan lessons, create learning sequences, and design assessments that align with the Australian Curriculum v9.

describe the key processes of the rock cycle, including the timescales over which they occur, and examine how the properties of sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks reflect their formation and influence their use

Elaborations

• 1 comparing the observable properties of different types of rocks and identifying them using a provided dichotomous key
• 2 exploring the major processes of the rock cycle including weathering, erosion, deposition, melting, crystallisation, uplift, heat and pressure in the formation of different types of rocks
• 3 analysing the role of forces and heat energy in the formation of different types of rocks and comparing how quickly or slowly different processes can occur
• 4 examining fossil evidence, such as body, trace or opalised fossils, to predict how and when a rock was formed
• 5 explaining the uses of different types of rocks with reference to their properties and formation
• 6 exploring the traditional geological knowledges of First Nations Australians that are used in the selection of different rock types for different purposes
• 7 investigating how First Nations Australians have used quarrying to access rocks for use as or production of everyday objects such as grindstones, hammerstones, anvils and cutting tools
• 8 exploring how the mining of ores and minerals impacts on local environments and examining environmental rehabilitation initiatives

Related Achievement Standards