Natural Resources
Natural resources are materials from nature that humans use, such as water, minerals, soil, forests and fossil fuels.
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Natural resources are materials from nature that humans use, such as water, minerals, soil, forests and fossil fuels.
- Renewable resources can be replaced
- Non-renewable resources run out
- Sustainable management is key
🧠 Quick quiz
Three questions. Score 2 or more to complete the topic.
What is Natural Resources?
Within Earth & Environmental Science, which covers our planet, its resources and ecosystems, and how people can protect the environment, this topic explains Natural Resources. Earth and environment topics show how the planet’s systems shape landscapes, climate and life, with models that make these processes visible.
Check that you can explain Natural Resources in your own words and give one example from everyday life. If you can do that, you have understood the core idea.
Understanding Natural Resources helps you explain the environment around you and weigh up how people can protect it.
Natural Resources in detail
Natural resources are materials from nature that humans use, such as water, air, soil, minerals, fossil fuels, forests, fish and sunlight. Renewable resources can be replaced naturally within a human lifetime if used sustainably, such as wood, fish and solar energy. Non-renewable resources, such as coal, oil and minerals, exist in limited amounts and take millions of years to form.
Some, such as wind and sunshine, are inexhaustible. Resource use has grown with population and living standards, causing depletion and environmental damage. Sustainable management involves reducing consumption, using renewables, recycling and using resources efficiently. Resources are unevenly distributed, which affects trade and conflict.
How the interactive helps you understand Natural Resources
Watch the pie chart in the interactive. Use any sliders or buttons it offers to change the values and see how the pie chart responds.
Before you change anything, predict the result. Then change one value at a time and check whether your prediction was right. This is a quick way to build a correct mental model of Natural Resources.
Real-life uses and examples
- Explain how Natural Resources affects the landscape or climate near you.
- Link Natural Resources to a real environmental problem and a possible solution.
- Use a diagram of Natural Resources to describe the steps of a process in order.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Describing a process without the timescale it works over.
- Presenting one cause as the only cause of an environmental change.
- Learning the definition without testing it. Use the quiz and the interactive to check that you can apply the idea.
Frequently asked questions about Natural Resources
What is Natural Resources?
Natural resources are materials from nature that humans use, such as water, minerals, soil, forests and fossil fuels.
What are the most important points about Natural Resources?
The main points are: Renewable resources can be replaced; Non-renewable resources run out; Sustainable management is key.
Why is Natural Resources useful?
Understanding Natural Resources helps you explain the environment around you and weigh up how people can protect it.
How can I practise Natural Resources?
Open the interactive at the top of this page and change the controls one at a time. Predict the result before each change, then take the three-question quiz. A score of two or more marks the topic as complete on this device.
Which topics are related to Natural Resources?
Related topics in Earth & Environmental Science include Solar Power, Geothermal and Biomass Energy, Minerals and Mining.