Natural Resources
Materials or substances in nature that are used by people are called natural resources. We use many different kinds of natural resources for a range of different purposes.
Rocks, soil, metals and wood are natural resources used to build houses and buildings. Plants and animals are natural resources that are often farmed to produce the food we eat and the clothes we wear. Fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas are also natural resources.
Some natural resources, like fossil fuels, take millions of years to form. We use these resources far quicker than they can be replaced. They are called non-renewable resources. Metals, rocks and soil are also non-renewable resources. When we take these resources from an area they will not form again for millions of years.
Other natural resources, like the energy in sunlight, wind and moving water, cannot be used up. They are called renewable resources. Animals raised on farms and crops grown for food are renewable resources too.
Trees in forests can be either non-renewable or renewable depending on how they are taken from nature. Deforestation is the process by which we clear large amounts of trees in an area to make way for another land use. In this case, the trees in the forest are a non-renewable resource as they take hundreds of years to grow and are not replaced.
If we plant and grow trees for their timber, then replant the trees again, the trees become a renewable resource as they are replaced at the rate they are used.
Related Printables.
What Are Natural Resources?
Fossil Fuels
Comprehension – Fossil Fuels and Electricity
Renewable Energy
Environmental Impacts
Solutions to Environmental Impacts
Local Environmental Impacts
Review – Using Earth’s Resources
Assessment Pack
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