Natural resources
Obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and that their uses affect the environment
What a learner can do afterwards
- Name natural resources used for energy and fuels (coal, oil, gas, wind, sun, water)
- Describe how extracting and using these resources affects the environment (pollution, habitat loss, climate change)
- Distinguish between renewable (wind, solar) and non-renewable (fossil fuels) energy sources
The lesson
Everything you plug in or fuel up starts as a natural resource. Coal, oil, and natural gas come from deep underground. Wind, sunlight, and moving water are natural resources too. People turn all of these into electricity, petrol, and heat that we use every day.
Mia's family fills the car with petrol made from oil pumped out of the ground. The lights in her house might run on electricity from burning coal, or from a wind turbine spinning nearby.
Renewable resources like wind and sunlight keep coming back, so they don't run out. Non-renewable resources like coal, oil, and gas took millions of years to form. Once we use them up, they won't come back for a very long time.
Digging up and burning these resources can pollute the air and water. It can also destroy animal habitats and add to climate change. Choosing energy sources wisely helps protect the environment.
Energy and fuels come from natural resources, some renewable and some not, and using them can affect the environment.
Watch it
Where it sits
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.