The class is taking turns hosting ‘Aaron’ the class mascot, taking him on adventures. It is Little J’s turn, so Little J, Nanna, Big Cuz, and Old Dog take Aaron on Country to look for mica rock, and along the way they photograph the expedition. Distracted by the events of the day, Little J loses Aaron and the family enrols the help of Uncle Mick, a Search and Rescue officer, to return him.

Engage - Pose and respond to questions, and make predictions about familiar objects and events

Theme - MINERALS

After viewing Little J & Big Cuz, Episode 8 ‘Where’s Aaron?’, engage students with the following activities to support their investigation of rocks and minerals.

Ask students if they are familiar with the terms ‘Animal, Vegetable, Mineral’. List the terms on the IWB/board. Invite students to define what they think the terms mean and the difference between the three. Download the two student activity sheets for students to complete:

• Where do things come from: Is it Animal? Vegetable? Mineral? 
• Where do things come from 2: Is it Animal? Vegetable? Mineral? 

Have students discuss the differences between the three categories and propose an accepted definition for each. Concentrate on the understanding of a mineral, and introduce a scientific definition, such as a mineral is:

1. not a living organism (inorganic)
2. a solid (in its natural state).
3. an ordered structure like a crystal (as seen through a microscope)
4. formed by nature.

Sources of information

• What is a mineral?
• What is a mineral? 

Ask students to suggest names of other minerals they know, such as gold, diamonds, tin, copper, etc., and have the class test each suggestion against the definition. Use the resource, Rocks and Minerals, to check the facts about each suggestion.

Encourage students to pose and respond to questions about the difference between a rock and a mineral. Provide samples of rocks and minerals for students to make a comparison and observe differences.  Support matreails can be found at

• Rocks

Essentially, rocks are made up of different minerals (and sometimes fossilised carbon), but minerals are mainly made of a single mineral (and sometimes a combination of two minerals).

Enter the worksheets, information, images, and diagrams about minerals and rocks into the individual student’s science journal. The journal records all the observations, research, evaluations and reflections a student has about the science they discover.

“A science journal is a record of a students’ observations, experiences and reflections. Each entry is dated and annotated by the student. Annotations may include written labels, drawings, diagrams, charts, small specimens, photographs, and graphs. Student engagement and learning is evident in the science journal.”

Sourced from: Primary Connections, Linking science with literacy