Chapter 13: Natural Resources

1. Chapter 13: Natural Resources 13.1 Natural resources support human activity 13.2 Minerals and rocks are nonrenewable resources 13.3 Resources can be conserved and recycled 13.4 Resources can be converted to useful forms

2. Warm-up questions • What is the major source of energy for the earth system? • Sun • Name three forms of energy. • mechanical, sound, chemical, heat, electromagnetic • Describe ways energy is transferred. • radiation, conduction, or convection

3. What resources do you need the most? • Think about products you commonly use… • Clothing, books, electronics… • Which materials do you use the most often? • What materials are these products made of? Plastic? Cloth? Metal? • What if these materials disappeared overnight?

4. Natural Resources provide materials and energy • Natural Resource: any energy source, organism, or substance found in nature that people use • Earth system: atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, geosphere • Provide all materials needed to support human life • Atmosphere: air and rain • Hydrosphere: all waters • Biosphere: life, sources of food, fuel, clothing, shelter • Geosphere: also sources of food, fuel, clothing, shelter

5. Natural Resources provide materials and energy • Costs and benefits exist in using natural resources • Burning coal • Benefit: produces heat • Cost: releases smoke that pollutes the air • Cut down forests • Benefits… • Cost: exposes soil to air (wind and rain) • Strips topsoil – harder for new trees to grow • Soils can clog streams and rivers, killing fish and other animals • Some resources are constantly being replaced • River water, wind in a windmill • Some resources are used faster than they can be replaced • Fossil fuels (oil, coal, natural gas)

6. Natural Resources provide materials and energy • Renewable Resource: a natural resource that can be replaced in nature at about the same rate it is used • Ex: sunlight, wind, water, trees, other plants • Ex: lumber company plants a new tree for each mature tree it cuts down • Number of trees stays constant • Nonrenewable Resource: exists in a fixe amount, or is used up faster than it can be replaced in nature • Supply is limited • All resources produced by geologic forces are nonrenewable • Ex: oil, coal, gas, uranium – form over millions of years • Use faster than can be replaced by nature? Become more scarce and more expensive! • Must conserve or develop alternative energy sources (solar and wind)

7. Think about… • A community wants to use only wind for its energy production. • What are some limitations they should consider? • It might take many windmills for energy production to match consumption • It might not be windy enough for wind to be the sole method of energy production.

8. Summarize the costs and benefits of using natural resources. • Benefit: supplies for all our needs • Costs: pollution, soil loss, and depletion of some resources • Compare and contrast renewable and nonrenewable resources. • A renewable resource can be replaced at about the same rate it is used. • A nonrenewable resource cannot be replaced or can be replaced only over millions of years. • After reading the common uses of each resource: which of these resources are used to generate electricity? • Resources used to produce electricity: sunlight, wind, water, coal, oil, natural gas, and uranium

9. Fossil fuels supply most of society’s energy • Coal, oil, and natural gas  electricity, heat, and fuel • Fossil fuel: a nonrenewable energy resource formed from ancient plants and animals buried in Earth’s crust for millions of years • This energy is a form of stored sunlight! • Ancient organisms, that used sunlight, died,  formed layers that were compressed  heat and pressure coal, oil, and natural gas • Burn easily and produce a lot of heat • Used to run most of of US’s power plants (electricity) • Water  stream turns a turbine  drives a generator to produce electricity  through power lines to towns and cities • Burning produces carbon dioxide (CO2), acids, other pollution

10. What is the function of the fossil fuel source? • to provide heat (to the boiler) • What does the boiler produce? • Steam • What does the steam do? • turns the turbine • What does the turbine do? • drives the generator • Which part of the plant actually produces the electricity? • the generator

11. Fossil Fuels - Coal • Solid • Formed underground from buried and decayed plant material • Harder coal burns hotter and cleaner than softer coal • US, Russia, and China are the major producers • Surface mines: overlying rock is stripped away to expose coal • Deep mines: miners go underground to dig out coal • Mostly used to fuel power plants and run factories • Problems: pollution and destroys landscapes, miner’s health

12. Fossil Fuels – Oil and Natural Gas • Most is trapped underground in porous rock • heat and pressure push the oil and natural gas upward to nonporous rock • Wells drilled to bring the oil and natural gas to the surface • Deposits found under oceans and on land • Oil transported to refiners • Heat breaks oil into different parts: • Ex: gasoline, jet fuel, cleaning supplies, plastics • Easily transported: heat homes and power vehicles • Problems: oil spills!, air pollution (smog)

13. Fossil fuels, minerals, and plants supply materials for modern products • Oil broken down to different chemicals used to make plastics • Plastics are easily shaped, colored, and formed • Minerals are found in cars, airplanes, tools, wires… • Ex: calcite and gypsum – used in building materials and cement • 20,000 lbs of minerals per year = in products used by YOU! • Plants: wood in buildings, furniture, other items…paper! • Source of dies, fibers, and medicines