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B. Natural Resources Around the World: Use and Sustainability · Natural Resources Around the World: Use and Sustainability

How People Use the Natural Environment

B3.2About 45 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can describe ways people use the natural environment to meet their needs and wants.
  • I can tell the difference between a need and a want.
  • I can trace a product back to the natural resources it came from.

Words to know

need
Something people must have to survive, like water, food, shelter and clothing.
want
Something people would like to have but can live without, like a video game or a new bike.
raw material
A natural resource before it is made into a product, like logs before they become lumber.
aggregate
Sand, gravel and crushed stone used to build roads, concrete and buildings.
primary industry
An industry that takes resources directly from nature: farming, fishing, forestry, mining, oil and gas.
manufacturing
Making raw materials into finished products, usually in factories.
recreation
Activities people do for fun and relaxation, like hiking, canoeing or skiing.

Remember from Grade 4

In Grade 4 you learned about primary, secondary and tertiary industries. Primary industries take resources from nature (farming, fishing, forestry, mining). Secondary industries make things from them. Tertiary industries provide services. In this lesson you will look at the many ways people around the world use the natural environment, for needs and for wants.

Hook: a world without nature?

Imagine waking up and nothing from nature is allowed. No water from the tap. No wooden house frame. No gas or electricity. No cotton or wool clothes. No food at all! People depend on the natural environment for everything.

A loading machine lifts logs onto large stacks of freshly cut logs at a sawmill yard in a northern forest.
Forestry is a primary industry: people take trees from the natural environment. The logs will be cut into lumber at the sawmill, a secondary industry. AI-generated image

Ways people use the natural environment

  • Rock, sand and gravel (aggregate): to build roads, concrete, buildings and sidewalks. Gravel pits and quarries are often found near cities, because aggregate is heavy and costly to transport far.
  • Trees: for lumber (houses, furniture), paper and cardboard, and fuel (firewood and wood pellets).
  • Fossil fuels: for energy (heating homes, running vehicles, making electricity) and to make plastics, fertilizers and many other products.
  • Water: for drinking, cooking and washing; for farming (irrigation); for making electricity (hydroelectric dams); and for cooling power plants, including nuclear reactors.
  • Animals: for food (fish, meat, milk, eggs) and for clothing (leather, wool, fur).
  • Soil and plants: for growing food, cotton and medicines.
  • Metals and minerals: for cars, phones, wires, tools, batteries and buildings.
  • Nature itself: for recreation (camping, canoeing, skiing), learning, health and well-being, and spiritual and cultural connections. For many First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities, the land is part of who they are, not just a place to take resources from.
The naturalenvironmentRock, sand, gravelroads, concreteTreeslumber, paper, fuelFossil fuelsenergy, plasticsWaterdrinking, farms, powerAnimalsfood, clothingSoil and plantsfood, cotton, medicineMetals, mineralscars, phones, wiresNature itselfrecreation, culture
Eight ways people use the natural environment, from building roads to enjoying a canoe trip.
UseNeed or want?Resource from nature
Drinking waterNeedFresh water from lakes, rivers or wells
Winter coatNeed (in a Canadian winter)Cotton or wool, or plastic fibres made from oil
Wooden house frameNeed (shelter)Trees
Gaming consoleWantMetals, plastic (oil or gas), energy
Ski tripWantSnow-covered hills and mountains
BreadNeed (food)Wheat grown in soil, water, sunlight
Some uses meet needs; others meet wants. Both use natural resources.

Needs can depend on place

Whether something is a need can depend on where and how people live. A warm coat is a need in a Canadian winter but not in a tropical country. A car might be a want in a city with good buses, but a need for a family in a rural area far from stores.

Worked example

Let's trace a cell phone back to nature

What natural resources are inside a cell phone?

  1. Screen: glass is made mainly from sand (silica), a mineral.
  2. Battery: most phone batteries are lithium-ion, so they use lithium, plus metals like cobalt and nickel, all mined from the ground.
  3. Wiring and circuits: copper carries electricity; tiny amounts of gold and silver are used in the circuits because they conduct electricity well and don't rust.
  4. Case: often plastic (made from oil or natural gas) or aluminum (made from bauxite ore).
  5. Energy: factories, ships and the phone's charger all use energy, from fossil fuels or flow resources like running water, wind and sun.

A phone uses many non-renewable resources (sand, lithium, cobalt, copper, gold, oil) from mines and wells in many countries, plus energy. It is a want for most 12-year-olds, though many adults use one for work or safety.

batteryscreen (glass)sand (silica)batterylithium, cobalt, nickelwires and circuitscopper, a little gold, silvercaseplastic (oil or gas) or aluminum (bauxite)Most of these come from mines and wells in many different countries.
A cell phone traced back to nature. Almost every part starts as a non-renewable resource dug or pumped out of the ground.
Just for fun

Funny but true: your phone contains a tiny bit of gold. Not nearly enough to make you rich, so please don't try to melt it down!

Hands-on activity

My resource diary

For one day, keep a list of everything you use. Be honest and detailed: the water you drink, the bus or car ride, your clothes, your breakfast, a pencil, a screen.

  1. For each item, write the natural resource it came from.
  2. Write N (need) or W (want) beside each.
  3. At the end of the day, count your needs and wants.
  4. Pick one want you could do without for a week. Which natural resources would you save?

Look for: at least 15 items traced back to a resource, with a reasonable need/want label.

Your turn

1

Name three ways people use water.

2

Why are gravel pits often close to cities?

3

Name two products made from fossil fuels other than fuel for cars.

4

Is a snowmobile ride for fun a need or a want? Which resources does it use?

5

Give one way people use nature that does not take anything away.

6

What is the difference between a raw material and a product?

7

Name the natural resource in a wooden hockey stick and a cotton T-shirt.

More practice: warm-up

1

Is food a need or a want?

2

What resource is paper made from?

3

What is aggregate?

4

Name one primary industry.

5

What natural resource is glass mainly made from?

More practice: on your own

1

A family in a small northern community with no road needs fuel for heating. Is the fuel a need or a want? Explain.

2

Explain how one tree can meet both needs and wants.

3

Why might a farmer in a dry region use much more water than a farmer in a rainy region?

4

Why are many power plants, including nuclear plants, built near large bodies of water?

5

Some people say spending time in nature is a need, not just a want. Give one reason someone might argue this.

Challenge

1

Choose a pair of jeans. Trace at least four natural resources used to make them and get them to you.

2

Explain how the same lake might be used to meet needs and wants by three different groups.

3

Our wants use far more resources than our needs. Do you agree? Give one example and one counter-example.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which is a need?

2.

Why are gravel pits often found near cities?

3.

Which product is usually made from fossil fuels?

4.

Which is a raw material?

5.

Which use of nature does not remove a resource?

6.

Which resource is a phone's lithium-ion battery mainly made with?

For parents and teachers

How to help: Pick any object at home and play "Where did it come from?" until you reach a natural resource. Talk about needs and wants honestly; it's fine to have wants.

Common difficulties:

  • Thinking needs and wants are always the same for everyone. Point out that location and circumstances matter (a winter coat in Canada).
  • Forgetting the "hidden" resources: water and energy used to make and ship products.
  • Thinking of nature only as a supply of materials. Encourage your child to include recreation, learning, well-being and cultural connections.