This paper describes practices and lessons learned from a novel approach to promoting student literacies in both Indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) and Western science knowledge (WSK). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and their school communities within the South East region of Queensland were drawn together through their participation in the Queensland Department of Education, Training and Employment’s iDream Challenge. The iDream Challenge was a university-government partnership scheme to engage Indigenous primary school students in schooling aspirational programs using technology-based challenges, designed by university partners. The iDream challenge activities that this paper focuses on was designed by the authors, two academics from a south-east Queensland University who asked students to explore both Indigenous knowledge and Western Science knowledge about a misunderstood animal (i.e. sharks, bats, snakes). The goal of this challenge was to generate student literacies in both IKS and WSK through the investigation of their animal. The results highlight that the students perceived Indigenous knowledges as relational to both the social and natural environment. Rather than focusing on the misunderstood animal, student representations of Indigenous knowledges told of a deeper moral message of what it means to live as an individual alongside other entities within a community. This knowledge was perceived as having communal ownership. WSK was presented as ‘truth’ through short factoids about the misunderstood animal and was not linked as ‘belonging’ to any person, community or social construction. In all ten projects, the students combined these knowledges to advocate for their animal. These projects illustrate strong examples of student agency, engagement and enjoyment with their learning in this cultural interface, which also affirmed the strategic purpose of the iDream Challenge to promote student aspiration and engagement in schooling.