Think of the many things you use each day. Let’s Make a List: 1.Air to breathe 2.Water to drink and bathe 3.Pencils to write 4.Clothes to wear 5.Refrigerator to store our food Everything we listed is either a material found on earth or made from a material found on earth.

Materials found in nature that are useful to people are called natural resources. Examples: minerals, rock, water, air, soil, oil, plants, animals, sunlight, and wind.

Natural Resources

Classify a natural resource as renewable or nonrenewable.

Natural resources can be divided into two categories: 1.Renewable 2.Nonrenewable

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A nonrenewable resource is a natural resource that cannot be easily replaced. Earth materials like rocks and fossil fuels took millions of years to form. When we use them up, they will be gone forever. Minerals, rocks, oil, coal, and natural gas are all nonrenewable resources.

A renewable resource is a natural resource that can be replaced. People are not likely to use up and run out of a renewable resource. Sunlight, wind, and trees are renewable recourses. In many places, people use energy from renewable resources like the sun or wind to make power in an effort to save earth’s nonrenewable resources.

Renewable Non-Renewable

Complete Brain Pop Activity Page: Natural Resources

Think about what might happen if we completely used up all of Earth’s nonrenewable resources. What would life be like in general? What changes would you have to make in your personal life?

Decide if the following resources are renewable or nonrenewable. 1.Gas 2.Wood 3.Plastic

Analyze how different earth materials are used to solve human problems or improve our way of life.

Natural resources that are found in the ground are called earth materials. Earth materials include: 1. Minerals4. Oil 2. Rocks5. Coal 3. Ores6. Natural Gas

A mineral is a solid nonliving material found in the ground. MineralHow it is used Aluminum To make wires, cans, car and airplane parts, and sports equipment Calcite To make cement and concrete for buildings, sidewalks, and bridges CopperTo make wire Halite (salt) To make food taste better, to preserve food, to melt ice on roads and walkways Iron To make steel for cars, ships, buildings, tools, appliances

Click image to view Study Jams Video on Minerals.

Rock is a solid, natural material made up of one or more minerals.

Rocks are often used as building materials. RockHow it is used Granite For buildings, countertops, statues, tombstones LimestoneAs a building stone and to make concrete Marble As a building stone and for statues, floors, and bathroom tiles Pumice In toothpastes, scouring cleansers, and polishing materials SlateFor roofs, chalkboards, and walkways

Ore is a type of rock that contains metal. Iron, copper, and aluminum are all found in ores.

People get minerals, rocks, and ores by mining them, or digging them out of the ground. Minerals, rocks, and ores are nonrenewable resources because it can take millions of years for them to form. If we use them all up they will be gone forever. We must use nonrenewable resources wisely. Granite Quarry Inside an iron and zinc mine

Oil, coal, and natural gas come from deep inside the earth, well below other minerals, rocks, and ores. Oil and natural gas are drilled from deep inside the earth. Coal is dug up from underground mines.

People use oil, coal, and natural gas as fuels. A fuel is material that can be burned to release energy or heat. Car and truck engines burn gasoline, which is made from oil. People burn natural gas to heat their homes. Power plants burn coal for electricity.

Coal-fired power plants provide about 46% of consumed electricity in the United States. This is Castle Gate Power Plant near Helper, Utah.

Oil is also the material used to make most plastics. Can you name some things that are plastic? 1.Toys 2.Food Containers 3.Sunglasses 4.Computer Keyboards

Oil, coal, and gas are called fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are a source of energy that formed from the remains of living things that died millions of years ago. Fossil fuels are also nonrenewable resources.

Lets look at this chart to see how the decaying bodies of dead plants and animals become fossil fuels.

Fossil Fuels

Complete Brain Pop Activity Page: Fossil Fuels

Explain how you and your family use at least 3 different earth materials.

List one earth material that you use and tell how you use it.

Name an earth material that is used to produce heat.