1. Notebooks Out Major Categories of Natural Resources – notes
Key Concepts – notes

2. What are the major categories of natural resources?
Soil
Land use
Agriculture
Water
Usable
Fish and wildlife
Includes uncultivated plants
Forest
Energy
Minerals
Recreational
Sum It Up! Natural Resources are objects, materials, creatures or energy found in nature and used by humans

3. “usefulness” can change over time and from place to place (society).
“usefulness” if affected by customs and technology.

4. Soil Water Fish & Wildlife
Land use
60% of US land is useful for food and fiber production
Of that 60%, only 17% is useable for crop production
Land use planning is an ongoing challenge as population expands
Must be usable by humans to be a natural resource
121 vertebrate species have become extinct since colonial times
408 threatened or endangered species (2006)
“threatened” means “declining in number”
“endangered” means “survival in danger”

5. $1.1 billion/ year are generated in state revenue from hunting and fishing licenses
Plus! Related gear and equipment sales

6. Forest Energy Minerals Recreational 1/3 noncommercial forestry
A “mature forest” has very little wood product
ecosystem
2/3 usable commercial forestry
Nonrenewable, renewable, alternative
Coal production increased in the 1990s in the US
Oil: 1 barrel = 36 gallons = 159 litres
Examples: iron, copper, bauxite, lead, zinc, tin, mercury
Unspoiled nature to swim, camp, hike, hunt & fish

7. Key Concepts Preservation Conservation
An attempt to prevent the use of a natural resource
Aim is to “preserve” or keep it intact as it is or was
Conservation
An attempt to use a natural resource in a way to minimize water
Aim is to maintain the resource in as good of condition as possible

8. Carrying Capacity Food Web
The ability of an ecosystem to provide food and shelter for a given population.
Food Web
A group of plants and/ or animals
related to each other by the fact that one feeds or depends for food on the next

9. Systems thinking
Interconnectedness
The whole versus parts