What Geographic terms describe various types of
natural resources?
What is a Resource?
 Basically, if something is useful to people, then it can
be called a resource.
 In a broad sense, resources can be places, people, or
things – for example – a library is a resource centre for
all kinds of information – just as a museum is a
resource to learn about local history.
 A Natural resource is any physical item on earth that
can is useful to people. Natural resource are the
natural products of the land, air and sea.
Definitions
 Resource – something that is useful to people
 Natural resources – a material found in nature that
has usefulness and economic value, such as trees,
water, minerals
 Technology – the use of scientific knowledge and
skills for useful, practical purposes to meet the needs
and goals of people
Resource Depletion
 People harvest and sell what is useful for profit, and
this puts great pressure on resources.
 It can lead to resource depletion
 For example – Wild animals are becoming endangered
species (or even extinct)
Tropical Rainforest and Resource
Depletion
 People can destroy natural resources and they can also
protect or replace them.
 Complex plant and animal communities are wiped out
when TROPICAL RAINFORESTS are cleared and
burned in South and Central America, Africa and Asia.
 Tropical Rainforest – a large forest in an area with
heavy rainfall and very warm temperatures
 Resource Depletion – the use of a resource until
there is none left
Endangered Species
Silkworm
Did you know?
 Did you know that silk fabric is woven from tiny
threads extruded by the silkworm?
 Until Chinese discovered how to gather and weave
these filaments, the silkworm was just another leafeating insect, not the valuable natural resource behind
a billion dollar industry.
Resources and Technology
 Whether or not people can turn something into a
natural resource depends upon Technology.
 Consider rock as a natural resource used by societies
with different technologies. Early humans searched
for rocks suitable for pounding or scraping meat.
Later, they learned to use a stone to chip softer rocks
into sharp spears points and arrowheads.
 Several thousand years ago, stonecutters in Egypt used
special tools to measure and shape rock into building
blocks for the pyramids.
High Technology
 Many electronic devices that we rely upon are operated
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by microchips. Computers, cellphones, and
telephones are just three examples
The simple chips in personal computers are created
using thin slices of silica.
Silica is a type of mineral that can erode to become
sand.
More complex chips used in telephone switching
circuits are ”grown” in laboratories.
To make electronic circuits, both types of chips are
etched with tiny lines using robotic tools.
Sand to Silica
3 types of Natural Resources
 Natural resources can be neatly divided into three
groups.
 Renewable
 Non-renewable
 Flow
Renewable Resources
 Renewable resources can replace themselves in a fairly
short time.
 Living resources such as plant and animals can renew
themselves through reproduction. Natural cycles also
work to replace soil resources and purify the air and
water. This, too, can take place fairly quickly, unless
there has been serious damage done to the resource.
Non-renewable resources
 Other natural resources cannot replace themselves
because they form over millions of years.
 Non-renewable resources , which include all types of
material from within the earth. Supplies of nonrenewable resources such as metallic minerals
(gold/silver/copper) and energy fuels (coal/oil/natural
gas) must be stretched by recycling them.
Flow Resource
 A flow resource doesn’t fit either category well.
 It is a natural resource because its movement can be
harnessed for energy; however, a flow resource must
be used when and where it occurs in nature
 Our society has learned to create electrical energy
from running water, wind, tides, and solar radiation.
Using flow resources this way requires advanced
technology and offers an opportunity to break our
dependence on petroleum as a major source of energy.
Thinking it over
 Make a chart to show how three different levels of
technology have used rocks and minerals as a natural
resources
High Technology
Advanced Technology
Simple Technology
Run Out?
 Are humans so smart that we can always use
technology to find a new resource if we run out of
the old one?
 Discuss this question with you partner; then, put
your thoughts down on paper.