Introduction - Natural Resources
A. What Are Natural Resources?
You use Earth’s natural resources every day. When you eat cereal with milk for breakfast, you use natural resources from plants and animals. When you ride the bus or drive to school, you use energy resources (fuel). When you drink lemonade or soda, you use water resources.
Some natural resources can be found everywhere and all over the planet. Examples are sunlight and oxygen. Many resources exist in small geographic regions. For example, copper (what we use in electrical wiring) exists in the western United States, but not in the eastern U.S. The United States has a lot of coal (a fossil fuel), but most of South America does not.
Some resources are renewable, which means they are naturally replenished in the environment. Most of the resources we use are non-renewable, which means they can run out.
Some natural resources can be found everywhere and all over the planet. Examples are sunlight and oxygen. Many resources exist in small geographic regions. For example, copper (what we use in electrical wiring) exists in the western United States, but not in the eastern U.S. The United States has a lot of coal (a fossil fuel), but most of South America does not.
Some resources are renewable, which means they are naturally replenished in the environment. Most of the resources we use are non-renewable, which means they can run out.
Vocab Alert:
Renewable resource: a resource that is naturally replenished in the environment.
Nonrenewable resource: a resource that is not replenished in the environment and can run out.
Renewable resource: a resource that is naturally replenished in the environment.
Nonrenewable resource: a resource that is not replenished in the environment and can run out.
Example: GroundwaterYou learned that on Earth, fresh water exists only in lakes, rivers, streams, glaciers, and in the ground. Some areas have more ground water than other areas.
Watch the video on the right about groundwater. What do we know about it? What do we not know about it?
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1. Carrying Capacity -
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2. Carrying Capacity - Relationship to Natural Resources |
NGSS STANDARD:
MS-LS2-1. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.
MS-LS2-1. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.