Natural Resources

Table of Contents:

Introduction………………………….Page 4

Biotic, Abiotic, Renewable, Non-renewable….Page 6

Hmmm….what are natural resources?

Natural resources are raw materials that we get from the Earth. Humans cannot make natural resources; instead, we make things out of them. These are examples of natural resources and how we use them:

Air – wind energy, tires

Animals – food (milk, cheese etc.) and clothing (sweaters, leather belts etc.)

Coal – electricity

Water – hydroelectric energy, drinking

Sunlight – solar power, photosynthesis

Natural resources that come from living things or organic materials are biotic (plants, animals, fossil fuels etc.). Whereas, abiotic resources derive from nonliving and inorganic materials (air, sunlight and water are abiotic resources). Renewable resources can replenish themselves naturally but non-renewable resources can’t be remade or regenerated fast enough to keep up with the demand of humans. All natural resources can be classified into seven categories: plants, animals, soil, minerals, air, water and energy sources.

To protect our natural resources, we can:

o Reduce – Disposing anything unnecessary in our environment

o Reuse – donate your old things to a charity instead of throwing it away

o Recycle – Put plastic, metal and stuff to throw away in recycling bins so they won’t be wasted