B. People and Environments · Living and Working in Ontario

Ontario's Natural Resources

B3 B1.2 B1About 40 minutes

Learning goals

I can explain what a natural resource is.
I can name important natural resources in Ontario and where they are found.
I can tell the difference between renewable and non-renewable resources.
I can trace how a natural resource becomes a product I use.

Words to know

natural resource
Something from nature that people use, like water, trees, soil, fish or minerals.

mineral
A natural solid material found in rock, like nickel, gold or salt.

renewable
A resource that can grow back or be replaced, like trees or fish, if we use it carefully.

non-renewable
A resource that cannot be replaced once it is used up, like minerals.

hydroelectricity
Electricity made using the power of moving water.

product
Something made from resources, like paper, a car or a loaf of bread.

Look around you

Your wooden chair, the water you drink, the salt on winter roads, the electricity in your lamp, even your breakfast toast: all of these started as something from nature.

Things from nature that people use are called natural resources. Ontario is rich in natural resources.

Natural resource	Where in Ontario?	What we get from it
🌲 Forests	Canadian Shield, much of northern and central Ontario	lumber, paper, cardboard, furniture
⛏️ Minerals (nickel, copper, gold)	Canadian Shield: Sudbury (nickel, copper), Timmins and Red Lake (gold)	metal for coins, wires, batteries, jewellery
🧂 Salt	under Lake Huron at Goderich (one of the biggest salt mines in the world)	road salt for icy winter roads, table salt
💧 Fresh water	the Great Lakes and thousands of other lakes and rivers	drinking water, water for farms and factories, hydroelectricity
🌱 Fertile soil	Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Lowlands (southern Ontario)	fruits, vegetables, grain, food for farm animals
🐟 Fish	the Great Lakes and northern lakes	food, fishing jobs, tourism
🪨 Sand, gravel and stone	pits and quarries in many parts of Ontario	concrete, roads, buildings

Some of Ontario's natural resources

Renewable or non-renewable?

Renewable resources can grow back or be replaced: trees, fish, crops, and water that is refilled by rain and snow. But they only last if we use them carefully. If we cut forests or catch fish faster than they can grow back, they run out.
Non-renewable resources cannot be replaced once they are used up: minerals like nickel and gold, salt, and sand and gravel. They took millions of years to form. We can make them last longer by recycling metals.

Sorting Ontario's natural resources. Renewable resources only last if we use them carefully.

How a natural resource becomes a product: trees are cut, a sawmill turns them into lumber, and builders use the lumber.

Water power in Ontario

Ontario has lots of moving water. At places like Niagara Falls, power stations use the force of falling water to spin machines that make electricity. This is called hydroelectricity. Some of the electricity in your home may come from moving water. Ontario also gets electricity from other sources, such as nuclear power stations, wind and the sun.

Water rushes through the gates of a hydroelectric dam on a wide river surrounded by forest, with power lines nearby. — At a hydroelectric station, falling water spins machines that make electricity. The power lines carry it to homes and schools. AI-generated image

Worked example

Let's trace a resource

Trace how nickel from Sudbury can end up in a product you use.

Find it: Nickel is a mineral in the rock of the Canadian Shield near Sudbury.
Take it out: Miners dig the rock out of a mine.
Change it: The rock is crushed and heated in a plant to get the pure metal out.
Make a product: Nickel is used to make strong steel, coins, and batteries for things like electric cars.

Nickel goes from rock → mine → processing plant → products like steel, coins and batteries.

Worked example

Let's sort resources

Sort these as renewable or non-renewable: maple trees, gold, apples, gravel, fish.

Maple trees grow back if new ones are planted: renewable.
Gold cannot be replaced: non-renewable.
Apples grow again every year: renewable.
Gravel took a very long time to form: non-renewable.
Fish have babies and the population can grow back if people do not catch too many: renewable.

Renewable: maple trees, apples, fish. Non-renewable: gold, gravel.

Just for fun

Fun fact: At the salt mine in Goderich, miners work deep underground, underneath Lake Huron. Now that's a salty job!

Using resources wisely

Using resources wisely is called sustainability. Ontario has rules to help: companies that cut trees on public (Crown) land must make sure new forest grows back, and there are limits on how many fish people may catch. Many First Nations teach that people should take only what they need and think about the next generations.

Hands-on activity

Resource detective at home

You need: paper and a pencil.

Walk through your home and find 8 things. Some ideas: a wooden spoon, a glass of water, a paper towel, a metal fork, a carrot, a salt shaker, a cardboard box, a coin.
For each thing, write which natural resource it came from (forest, minerals, water, soil, salt).
Put a ✔ beside the ones made from a renewable resource and an ✘ beside the non-renewable ones.
Pick one thing and draw its journey from nature to your home in 3 or 4 boxes with arrows, like the sawmill picture.

Safety: ask a grown-up before touching knives, glass or anything in the cleaning cupboard.

What to look for: 8 things matched to a resource, correct ✔ and ✘, and a journey with at least 3 steps in order.

Your turn

What is a natural resource?

Name three natural resources found in Ontario.

Is a forest renewable or non-renewable?

Is gold renewable or non-renewable?

What mineral is mined near Sudbury?

What is hydroelectricity?

Name a product made from trees.

More practice: warm-up

Where in Ontario is there a giant salt mine under a lake?

What do we use road salt for?

In which region is most of Ontario's best farm soil?

Is water a natural resource?

Name a place in Ontario that makes electricity from falling water.

More practice: on your own

Why can renewable resources still run out?

Why are there so many mines on the Canadian Shield, but few in the Hudson Bay Lowlands?

How does recycling metal help a non-renewable resource last longer?

Put these in order: sawmill, forest, new desk, lumber truck.

Why is fresh water such an important resource for Ontario?

Challenge

A town's only big employer is a gold mine. The gold will run out in about 20 years. Why is this a problem, and what could the town do?

Is soil renewable or non-renewable? Explain your thinking.

Choose one natural resource from the table. Explain how it connects to the landform region where it is found.

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which is a natural resource?

Which resource is non-renewable?

Where is the big salt mine under Lake Huron?

What is hydroelectricity?

Which region has most of Ontario's minerals?

How can we help a renewable resource like a forest last?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Ontario has many natural resources (forests, minerals, salt, fresh water, fertile soil, fish, aggregates). Where they are found is connected to the landform regions, and how we use them affects jobs and the environment. Some resources are renewable if managed well; others are non-renewable.

How to help at home:

Play "Where did it come from?" at meals and while tidying up.
On a drive, point out gravel pits, farms, forests, wind turbines or hydro lines and talk about the resource involved.
If you have family connections to mining, forestry, farming or fishing, share stories about that work.

Common difficulties:

Thinking renewable means "never runs out." Renewable resources can still run out if overused.
Not seeing the link from resource to product. Use the three-step pattern: from nature, changed by people, something we use.
Soil and water are tricky to classify. Accept thoughtful answers that explain the reasoning.