What resources are found in your area? A natural resource is something found in nature that is necessary or useful to humans. Forests, mineral deposits, and fresh water are all examples of natural resources.

Geographers divide natural resources into three main categories: 1. Renewable 2. Nonrenewable 3. Unlimited Renewable resources are those things that nature can replace such as trees or plants. Non renewable resources can’t be easily replaced. Minerals and fuels like coal and oil are put in this category.

 Unlimited resources are things that will never run out. They are often used to produce energy such as sunlight and wind.

 What is an economy?  An economy consist of the production and exchange of goods and services among a group of people.

 Economic systems are different ways that people use resources to make an exchange for goods and services.  What does that mean in your own words?

 There are four basic economic systems.  Traditional economy is where goods and services are traded, but money is rarely exchanged. This is the oldest economic system. The Inuit people of Northern Canada still use a traditional economy.

 Command economy is one in which production of goods and services is decided by the central government. Cuba, North Korea, and Russia are all example of command economies.

 A market economy is where the production of goods and services is determined by supply and demand of consumers. A good example of this type of economy in the United States.

 The last type of economy is a mixed economy where they use a combination of command and market economies. Mixed economies can include Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, Germany.  Do you think the United States is a market or mixed economy?

 To measure economic activity one of the most important measures is Gross Domestic Product.  It measures the total value of all goods and services produced in a country in a year.  The difference between developing and developed nations is according to their GDP.

 Trade first began with primitive civilizations and began to develop more with the Greeks and Romans.  Early trade networks started because people who did not have certain resources (for example salt) wanted them. They also had to give something up for exchange.

 Products or resources sold to other countries are called exports and products or resources that come into a country are called imports.  For the most part developing countries have raw materials, while developed countries sell high level technology or goods and services.