natural resources

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Natural Resources

Suppose you have a candy bar. You could eat the whole candy bar now, or you could divide it into pieces to eat later. Saving some of the candy bar to eat later would be a kind of conservation. You would be saving, or conserving, your candy bar so that it would last longer.Conservationists are people who want to save Earth’s natural resources so they will last longer. Conservation is the protection and wise use of natural resources. : 

Suppose you have a candy bar. You could eat the whole candy bar now, or you could divide it into pieces to eat later. Saving some of the candy bar to eat later would be a kind of conservation. You would be saving, or conserving, your candy bar so that it would last longer.Conservationists are people who want to save Earth’s natural resources so they will last longer. Conservation is the protection and wise use of natural resources.

WHAT ARE NATURAL RESOURCES?Natural resources are all the things on Earth that support life. Plants, animals, air, and water are natural resources.Natural resources are also things that people use to make life easier. Your life is easier because you can ride in a bus powered by gasoline. You can cook your dinner in a microwave oven powered by electricity. People use natural resources to make gasoline and electricity. People use many natural resources to make their lives easier.There are different kinds of natural resources. Some natural resources are renewable, and some resources are nonrenewable. : 

WHAT ARE NATURAL RESOURCES?Natural resources are all the things on Earth that support life. Plants, animals, air, and water are natural resources.Natural resources are also things that people use to make life easier. Your life is easier because you can ride in a bus powered by gasoline. You can cook your dinner in a microwave oven powered by electricity. People use natural resources to make gasoline and electricity. People use many natural resources to make their lives easier.There are different kinds of natural resources. Some natural resources are renewable, and some resources are nonrenewable.

WHAT ARE RENEWABLE RESOURCES?Renewable resources can be replaced. Plants are renewable resources. Plants might get cut down, but they can grow back. Animals are renewable resources. They can reproduce.Solar energy is a renewable resource. Solar energy comes from the Sun. No matter how much solar energy you use, there will always be more. Wind, water, and soil are also renewable resources. : 

WHAT ARE RENEWABLE RESOURCES?Renewable resources can be replaced. Plants are renewable resources. Plants might get cut down, but they can grow back. Animals are renewable resources. They can reproduce.Solar energy is a renewable resource. Solar energy comes from the Sun. No matter how much solar energy you use, there will always be more. Wind, water, and soil are also renewable resources.

WHAT ARE NONRENEWABLE RESOURCES?Nonrenewable resources cannot be replaced easily. Fossil fuels are nonrenewable resources. Coal, oil, and natural gas are fossil fuels. Fossil fuels come from plants and animals that died millions of years ago. We are using up fossil fuels much faster than Earth can replace them.Ores come from rocks that formed millions of years ago. We use ores to make metals. Ores cannot be replaced. : 

WHAT ARE NONRENEWABLE RESOURCES?Nonrenewable resources cannot be replaced easily. Fossil fuels are nonrenewable resources. Coal, oil, and natural gas are fossil fuels. Fossil fuels come from plants and animals that died millions of years ago. We are using up fossil fuels much faster than Earth can replace them.Ores come from rocks that formed millions of years ago. We use ores to make metals. Ores cannot be replaced.

HOW DO WE USE NATURAL RESOURCES?Power plants burn coal and oil to make electric power. The furnace in your house burns oil or natural gas to keep you warm. The gasoline that a car burns comes from oil. Metals from ores are used to make bridges, soda cans, and cars.Good soil is an important natural resource for farmers. Farmers use soil to grow food crops.Water is an important resource for everyone. Farmers need water for their crops. Dams use water to make electricity. Fish need to live in clean water. You need clean water to drink. Clean air is also an important resource.Many natural resources come together in beautiful wilderness areas. Forests, grasslands, and lakes are places that you can visit. You can hike, fish, and camp in wilderness areas. Wilderness areas are home for many kinds of birds, insects, and other wild animals. : 

HOW DO WE USE NATURAL RESOURCES?Power plants burn coal and oil to make electric power. The furnace in your house burns oil or natural gas to keep you warm. The gasoline that a car burns comes from oil. Metals from ores are used to make bridges, soda cans, and cars.Good soil is an important natural resource for farmers. Farmers use soil to grow food crops.Water is an important resource for everyone. Farmers need water for their crops. Dams use water to make electricity. Fish need to live in clean water. You need clean water to drink. Clean air is also an important resource.Many natural resources come together in beautiful wilderness areas. Forests, grasslands, and lakes are places that you can visit. You can hike, fish, and camp in wilderness areas. Wilderness areas are home for many kinds of birds, insects, and other wild animals.

CONSERVING RENEWABLE RESOURCESPeople need to use renewable resources wisely. It’s important to plant a tree for every tree cut down.Conservationists look for ways to protect wilderness areas. Governments set up national parks to preserve unusual areas. Families on vacation can then enjoy the parks and the plants and animals that live in them. Logging, mining, hunting, and other activities that use up natural resources are usually not allowed in national parks.Even our endless supply of air and water must be protected. Factories, power plants, cars, and trucks give off smoke that pollutes air. Some factories dump chemicals into lakes and rivers. Polluted air can make you sick. You cannot drink polluted water. Fish die in polluted lakes and rivers. It is important to keep air and water clean.Some places on Earth have plenty of water, but deserts and other places do not. It is important to conserve water so that everyone has enough to drink and use for watering crops. : 

CONSERVING RENEWABLE RESOURCESPeople need to use renewable resources wisely. It’s important to plant a tree for every tree cut down.Conservationists look for ways to protect wilderness areas. Governments set up national parks to preserve unusual areas. Families on vacation can then enjoy the parks and the plants and animals that live in them. Logging, mining, hunting, and other activities that use up natural resources are usually not allowed in national parks.Even our endless supply of air and water must be protected. Factories, power plants, cars, and trucks give off smoke that pollutes air. Some factories dump chemicals into lakes and rivers. Polluted air can make you sick. You cannot drink polluted water. Fish die in polluted lakes and rivers. It is important to keep air and water clean.Some places on Earth have plenty of water, but deserts and other places do not. It is important to conserve water so that everyone has enough to drink and use for watering crops.

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The Douglas fir tree grows up to 250 feet (76 meters) tall. It is the source of more lumber than any other kind of tree in North America. A mushroom is a fungus. Scientists used to think that mushrooms and other fungi (plural of fungus) were plants. Now they know that fungi are very different from plants. Fungi get their food in a different way than plants. They also reproduce differently from plants. Fungi are now considered a completely different form of life. A mushroom is the visible part of the fungus. Mushrooms are where some fungi make spores. A spore is like a tiny seed that can grow into a whole new fungus. The main part of the fungus is called the mycelium and it’s hidden. It’s down inside whatever the fungus is growing in.

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Plants make flowers because flowers make seeds. Seeds are a way many plants reproduce, or make new plants. So, flowers help plants reproduce themselves. Flowers also make fruit as part of the reproduction process. Once the seeds start to ripen, a part of the flower grows around them. This is what fruit is. Fruit feeds, protects, and helps to spread a plant’s seeds. So, the next time you eat an apple or pear or peach, think about this: what you’re eating came from a flower. In fact, without flowers, there would be no fruit at all! We think of fruit primarily as something to eat. But fruit has a purpose quite apart from our needs. Fruit is part of a flowering plant. It’s the part that carries the seeds. The purpose of fruit is to protect a plant’s seeds and help them get spread about. Wind and water spread seeds. So do animals when they eat fruit and drop the seeds. The seeds grow into new plants. There are two main types of fruit: fleshy and dry. Fleshy fruits are soft and juicy, the way we usually think of fruits. Peaches, plums, and apples are all fleshy fruits. Dry fruits are thin and hard. Grains like wheat and rice, or nuts like chestnuts or almonds, are dry fruits

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Trees provide protection from the wind. Tree roots spread through the ground and keep wind and rain from washing soil away. Trees and forests store water during times of drought and suck up extra water when it rains a lot. Without forests, areas would flood more often. Trees provide places for animals and other plants to live. Trees help keep Earth the right temperature for life. Trees help create the air we breathe by turning the gas carbon dioxide into oxygen. Aside from all that, many people rely on trees to earn their livings. Wood from trees builds houses. We eat fruits and nuts that grow on trees. Olive oil and coconut oil come from trees. Corks, spices, and maple syrup are tree products. Trees are even used to make some medicines that fight cancer and other diseases.

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A rain forest is a place where there is lots of rain. One kind of rain forest is called a temperate rain forest. You can find temperate rain forests where the weather is cool and mild, and very wet. A temperate rain forest grows near the Northwest coast of the United States. Just a few kinds of evergreen trees grow there. Most of the world’s rain forests are tropical rain forests with many kinds of trees. Tropical rain forests grow in warm places near Earth’s equator. The equator is an imaginary line that goes around the middle of the planet. There are tropical rain forests in Central and South America, Africa, and Asia. The world’s largest rain forest is the Amazon rain forest in South America. It is always hot and wet in a tropical rain forest.

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Coral animals do not move around. These tiny creatures live together in groups called colonies. One single coral animal is called a polyp. It has a body shaped like a tube. Its mouth is on the top of the tube. Little tentacles around the mouth help the coral polyp catch food that floats by. Coral animals eat microscopic sea creatures called zooplankton. The reef-building polyp makes a hard outer shell for itself from materials found in seawater. When the polyp dies, the shell is left behind. The shells from colonies of polyps build up over time to form a rock called limestone. This limestone becomes the inner part of the reef. The living coral animals form the top part of the reef. As each layer of polyps dies, their stony skeletons get added to the reef. A new layer then grows on top of the old. This is how a reef gets bigger. Tiny single-celled algae called zooxanthellae live in coral polyps. The polyp and the algae make food for one another. The polyps could not live without the algae. KINDS OF CORAL There are hundreds of different kinds of coral. Hard coral or stony coral is the kind of coral that builds reefs. These corals have hard outer skeletons. Other corals do not have hard outer skeletons and look like fans or flowers. Some kinds of coral look like the branches of a tree. Other kinds can sting you if you touch them.

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There are many kinds of cactus plants, but most grow in deserts and other dry places. These plants have adaptations, or special features, that let them live in places where there is little water. Imagine only having to take one big drink of water two or three times a year. That’s all the water a cactus plant needs. The cactus is made up mostly of stems and roots. Most kinds of cactus have no leaves or leaves that are very small. The cactus is made for storing water, and water can escape through leaves. The roots of a cactus spread out close to the surface of the ground. When it rains, the roots soak up as much water as possible. Cactus plants do not grow close to one another. Each plant needs lots of room to collect water. The stem of the cactus stores the water for later use. THE BIGGEST CACTUS The biggest kind of cactus is the saguaro. If you drive through the state of Arizona, you will see these huge cactuses standing like trees on the dry hills. A fully grown saguaro can be 50 feet (15 meters) tall! That’s as tall as a five-story building. A saguaro grows very slowly. At first the trunk of the plant looks like a prickly green pole. After it gets about 15 feet (about 5 meters) tall, it grows branches that curve upward. Saguaro can live as long as 150 years. An older plant can have 20 or more branches. Owls and other small desert animals make homes in the stems of the saguaro.

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Leaves are a plant’s food factories. Plants make their own food in a process called photosynthesis. Photosynthesis requires sunlight, air, and water. Leaves help plants collect light from the Sun. Energy from sunlight is used inside the leaves to create food for the plant. The job of collecting sunlight is done by a chemical in leaves called chlorophyll. Chlorophyll makes leaves look green. Many leaves turn yellow and red in the fall because they stop making chlorophyll. Plants need sunlight. Houseplants lean toward the Sun, and if they do not get enough light they wither and die. Plants use sunlight to make their food. This process is called photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is a scientific word made up from Greek words. These words mean “putting things together using light.” Inside plants’ leaves, light causes air and water to combine to make new chemicals. These chemicals are food for the plants.