Natural Resource Use Activity
7th Grade PSI Science
Name__________________________
Score ________/14
Objective: In this activity, you will investigate how much of different resources you will
use on average in your lifespan. You will also explore the implications of this in a world
with a growing population.
Part I: How much does the average American (you!) use in a lifetime?
First determine how much water you use in a lifetime. Go to the following website and
determine your water footprint. Just fill out the information based on yourself (1 person)
even if you have multiple people in your household.
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/change-thecourse/water-footprint-calculator/
Write down how many gallons/day of water you use. _________________________
Now assuming that the average lifespan is 79 years, determine how many gallons of
water you would use in a lifetime.
___________________________________________________________________
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7th grade PSI
Natural Resources & Human Impact
The infographic on this page is from The Minerals Education Coalition. It shows the
amount of mined materials an average American needs in their lifespan (79 years).
Research five of the minerals used in the average American’s life in order to fill out the
following table. A useful website to get you started is:
http://www.mineralseducationcoalition.org/minerals
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7th grade PSI
Natural Resources & Human Impact
Mineral
Quantity
Used in
Lifetime
Primary Uses
Primary
Exporter (by
country)
Renewable or Nonrenewable
Using the information from the water calculator and the baby infographic above, answer
the following questions.
Analysis
1) Does the average American rely on natural resources only from the United States?
Explain.
2) How many countries does it take to provide the five resources you researched?
3) Do you think humans in other less developed countries use as many natural
resources as the average American? Explain your reasoning.
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7th grade PSI
Natural Resources & Human Impact
Part II: How has the human population changed with time and is this related to
natural resource consumption?
At this point, it’s clear that one single human requires a lot of natural resources! We
know that there are many humans inhabiting the entire planet, each one requiring a
certain amount of natural resources that the Earth has. Research how the population has
changed over the last several decades both in the United States and around the world to
help you answer the following questions. Also research how the population in the United
States and around the world is projected to change in the future.
A few sites to help you get started:
http://www.census.gov/
http://www.prb.org/
Analysis
1) Describe how the population has changed over the last 50 years in the
a. United States
b. World
2) Based on what you have discovered about the population, how do you think the
amount of natural resources used on the planet has changed with time? Explain
your answer.
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7th grade PSI
Natural Resources & Human Impact
3) Do you think the amount of natural resources humans use will increase, decrease
or remain the same in the next 50 years. Explain your answer.
4) Do you think it’s possible for a renewable resource such as water to become
depleted or reach near depletion? Explain.
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7th grade PSI
Natural Resources & Human Impact