Find out how much your lifestyle depends on mining. This is an interactive activity in which students select common household items and materials, such as mobile phones or carpet, to access facts about them. The facts include such details as chemical nature, properties and uses as well as information about their origins in the earth, mining and production. Most examples of deposit locations are drawn from Queensland.

Educational value statement
Covers metals, energy resources, building materials, gemstones, fertilisers and plastics.

Key learning objectives

• Students identify some resources obtained from the Earth’s crust and describe ways they can be used.
• Students recognise that materials have a range of physical properties that can influence their use.
• Students identify common materials that originate within the Earth’s crust and are made available by mining.

Strands
Science Understanding: Chemical sciences; Earth and space sciences

Australian Curriculum content statements
Science: ACSSU032 (2); ACSSU074 (4); ACSSU003 (K-2); ACSSU031 (2)