Resources and Economic Activities

Resources

• A resource is any material that is useful to humans in their environment.
• Resources are categorized into renewable and non-renewable.

Objectives

• Define the term "resources".
• Differentiate between renewable and non-renewable resources.
• Explain economic activities and their three categories.
• Identify three essential things for living.

What is a Resource?

• A resource is any material that humans find useful in their environment.
• Examples: Water, Coal, Charcoal, Metal ores, Crude oil, Agricultural products, Natural fibres, Minerals

Resources

• Human Resources: Knowledge, skills, and creativity of humans used for economic gain.
• Natural Resources: Materials or substances occurring in nature, usable for economic gain.
  • Examples include Animal resources, Crude oil, Forest resources, Precious Metals, Minerals, Rocks, Water resources, Land resources, Wind Power and Solar Energy, Natural Gas.

Types of Natural Resources

• Renewable Resources: Resources that can be replenished relatively quickly.
  • Examples: Sunlight, Plants, Animals, Water, Forests.
• Non-renewable Resources: Resources that take millions of years to form and cannot easily be replenished.
  • Examples: Minerals, Soil, Coal, Natural gas, Oil.

Non-Renewable Resources

• Non-renewable resources cannot be easily replaced.
• They take millions of years to form naturally.
• Examples include oil, coal, and natural gas.
• Without conservation, supplies will be depleted.
• Nuclear energy is a non-renewable resource as uranium is used up.
• Coal and petroleum are non-renewable (fossil fuels) due to long replenishment periods.

Renewable Resources

• Resources capable of serving human needs indefinitely if cared for properly.
• Examples: Sun, Sea, Forests, Agricultural crops, and Animals.

Economic Activities

• Economic activity is the process of making, buying, or selling goods or services.
• It includes creating something, buying something, and selling something.
• Primary Economic Activity: Direct use of Earth's raw materials and natural resources (eg. farming, fishing, mining, forestry).
• Secondary Economic Activity: Processing and altering of raw materials into new products (eg. manufacturing).
  • Examples include transforming bauxite into aluminum and banana into banana chips.
• Tertiary Economic Activity: Providing services rather than producing tangible goods (eg. tourism, banking, transportation, education, health).

Map Work Activities (Page 42-Atlas)

• Students are to use economic maps to identify and locate:
  • Four types of natural resources on agricultural maps.
  • Two types of natural resources on industry maps.
  • Two examples of primary economic activities on each map.
  • Two types of secondary economic activities on the mining/industry maps.
  • Three major resort areas on the tourism map.