What is a natural resource?
A natural resource is something from nature that people use. We can sort resources by the part of Earth they come from: atmosphere (air), lithosphere (rock and soil), hydrosphere (water) and biosphere (life).
Renewable means nature fills it up again soon. Non-renewable means it took millions of years to form, so the amount is fixed.
Resources of the atmosphere and space
The air around Earth and the Sun above it give us:
- Sunlight: light, warmth, plant food and solar power.
- Wind: moving air that turns turbines and sails.
- Air gases: oxygen to breathe, nitrogen for making fertiliser, carbon dioxide for plants.
- Space: satellites circling Earth give us weather news, maps and phone signals. Space is a place we use, not a material we take.
These are renewable. But we can spoil them: smoke makes air dirty.
Lithosphere resources: rock and soil
The lithosphere is Earth's hard outer shell. It gives us:
- Soil: grows our food. Making 1 cm of soil takes hundreds of years, so treat it with care.
- Stone, sand and clay: for houses, roads and bricks.
- Fuels: coal, oil and natural gas (fossil fuels, because they come from old buried plants and tiny sea animals).
- Metal ores: rocks with metals such as iron, copper and aluminium.
Fuels and ores are non-renewable. Recycling metal helps them last longer.
Hydrosphere resources: water
The hydrosphere is all the water on Earth: oceans, rivers, lakes, ice and groundwater.
- Oceans: salt, fish, sea travel, and energy from waves and tides. Sea water is salty, so it needs treatment before drinking.
- Rivers and lakes: fresh water for drinking, farms, factories and hydro-power.
- Groundwater: rain that soaked into rock. We use it through wells and tube-wells.
- Ice: glaciers store fresh water and feed rivers.
Only about 3 out of every 100 litres of Earth's water is fresh. Water is renewable through rain, but if we pump groundwater faster than rain refills it, wells go dry.
Biosphere resources: living things
The biosphere is all life on Earth. It gives us:
- Forests: wood, paper, fruit, medicine plants, and clean air.
- Crops: grains, vegetables and cotton.
- Animals: milk, meat, leather and wool; fish from rivers and seas.
- Variety of life (biodiversity): many kinds of plants and animals keep nature in balance.
These are renewable because living things have babies and seeds. But a species that is wiped out never comes back, so we must cut, hunt and fish only as much as nature can replace.
Try it: make a four-sphere chart
In the 3D, tap each button. Then at home, look at your breakfast. Write which sphere each item came from (rice: soil + water + sunlight; salt: sea or rock; plate: clay). Predict first, then check in the 3D by tapping the sphere.
Key formulas and definitions
- Four spheres: Atmosphere (air), Lithosphere (rock and soil), Hydrosphere (water), Biosphere (life)
- Renewable = nature refills it soon (sunlight, wind, water, forests)
- Non-renewable = fixed amount (coal, oil, gas, metal ores)
- Fossil fuel = fuel made from old buried plants and sea animals
Worked examples
1. Which sphere gives each: wind, iron ore, river water, cotton?
Wind: atmosphere. Iron ore: lithosphere. River water: hydrosphere. Cotton: biosphere (a plant), grown in soil with water and sunlight.
2. Is groundwater renewable? When can it run out?
Yes, rain refills it. But if people pump it faster than rain refills it, the water table falls and wells dry up. So it is renewable only if used wisely.
3. Name one resource from each of the four spheres that makes electricity.
Atmosphere: wind or sunlight. Lithosphere: coal or uranium. Hydrosphere: flowing river water (hydro-power). Biosphere: wood or crop waste burnt as biomass.
Common mistakes
- Saying all water is fresh; about 97 out of 100 litres are salty sea water.
- Thinking renewable means it can never run out; forests and groundwater can be used up if we are careless.
- Mixing up spheres: coal comes from rock (lithosphere) even though it began as plants.
- Forgetting that one activity uses several spheres, such as farming.