Natural Resources Chapter 10 Science

I. Natural resources support human activity. Natural resource is anything found in nature that people use. Resources are either renewable (can be replaced) or nonrenewable (cannot be replaced).

Renewable Resources Sunlight Wind Water Trees and Plants Animal waste

Non renewable Resources Coal Oil Natural Gas Uranium Minerals and rocks

Fossil fuels FF is a nonrenewable energy source formed from ancient plants and animals buried in Earth’s crust for millions of years. FF forms layers at the bottom of bodies of water and get compressed into the crust. Heat and pressure change it chemically into coal, oil, and natural gas. FF burn easily and can be very harmful to the environment.

U.S. Energy Sources Oil 41% Coal 25% Natural gas 20% Other 14%

Consumer Products Thousands of everyday products are made from natural resources. To maintain modern life and to protect the planet, people must use natural resources wisely.

2. Resources can be conserved and recycled Conservation involves reducing waste and reusing natural resources. Recycling involves recovering and extending natural resources. There are numerous conservation and recycling programs all over the world.

Conservation Protects, restores and manages resources Reduces pollution to the air, water and soil Two ways to conserve are reduce and reuse. Reduce: packaging, turning off water, reduce trash, turn off lights Reuse: refill water bottles and ziploc bags, donate old clothes

America’s Trash Paper 40.4% Yard trimmings 17.6% Metals 8% Plastics 8% Food 7.4% Glass 7% Other 11.6%

Recycle 90% newspapers printed on one Sunday saves 500,000 trees (a forest) One recycled bottle lights a 100 watt bulb for 4 hours Five 2 liter plastic bottles fills the inside of a ski jacket It takes less energy to make products from recycled materials!

3. Energy comes from other natural resources Nuclear energy Hydroelectric energy Solar Energy Geothermal energy Wind energy Biomass energy Hydrogen fuel cell energy

Nuclear Used to produce electricity Nuclear fission-nucleus of a radioactive atom is split forming lighter elements and releasing a huge amount of energy Use uranium atoms as fuel- 20 million times more energy than burning one molecule of natural gas-but produces nuclear waste for thousands of years

Hydroelectric Energy Electricity can be produced by moving water Examine the illustration of a hydroelectric dam on page 340 Environmental problems with the dam are habitat destruction and migration patterns Dams also supply less water downstream for crops and farm animals

Solar Energy Every day of sunshine could = 1.5 years of needed energy Solar cells changes light energy to electricity Solar panels are even used to power spacecraft Problems: very expensive and needs to improve technology for the world

Geothermal Energy Produced by heat within Earth’s crust Study illustration on page 342 Clean and renewable Problem: limited areas have access to it due to requiring hot water to be close to the surface

Wind Energy Wind farms are normally found on large flat land masses Clean and renewable Problem: depends on the direction and angle of the wind-unpredictable

Biomass Energy Organic matter from plant and animal waste can be used as fuel Sugar and starch in corn and potatoes are used to make ethanol Renewable Problem: takes a lot of space to convert and too expensive

Hydrogen Fuel Cells Hydrogen is the simplest atom made up of one proton and one electron It is split to produce electricity from the electron Used in space by NASA Renewable Problem: Flammable and expensive