PENNSVALLEY
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Lesson 14:
What Are Natural Resources?
Our country is fortunate to havemany natural resources. Natural resources are useful materials
found in or on the earth. Some useful (and needed) materials are air, water, soil, forests, plants, ani-
mals, minerals, and people.
Resources can be either
renewable
or
nonrenewable
. A renewable resource can be
replaced; a nonrenewable resource cannot be
replaced. Once a nonrenewable resource is
usedup, it isgone forever.Managingour natural
resourceswisely is called
conservation
.
Forests, plants, animals, and people are
living renewable resources. New trees and
animals can be grown to replace those that
peopleuseup.Air, water, and soil arenon-living
renewable resources. For example, water is
usedbyplantsandanimalsaspart of their living
processes. The water is renewed by means of
thewater cycle, as shown in the illustration.
Nonrenewable resources cannot be
replaced once they are used. Some nonrenew-
able resources are fossil fuels (such as coal,
natural gas, and oil) iron ore, and sand. For
example, sand is a resource used to make
glass.But once it is used, it cannot be replaced.
The same is true forminerals, suchas gold.You
will learnmore about your natural resources as
youwork through each chapter in this book.
ACTIVITY:
Our natural resources can be either renewable or nonrenewable. From the reading, place the names
of the resourcesunder their appropriategroup.Notice thatmost of our renewable resourcesaregrown
andmost of our nonrenewable resources aremined!
renewable resources
nonrenewable resources
1.
1.
2.
2.
3.
3.
4.
4.
5.
5.
6.
6.
TheWater Cycle
Geography Skills
