Human Dependence on Natural Resources

Identify some natural resources that are limited on Earth.

Answer explanation

Minerals, fresh water, and biosphere resources

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NGSS.MS-ESS3-1

Why are Earth’s natural resources unevenly distributed around the planet?

Answer explanation

It’s a result of past geologic processes

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NGSS.MS-ESS3-1

What makes groundwater different from other natural resources?

Answer explanation

It is necessary in our daily lives, while other natural resources help our daily life.

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NGSS.MS-ESS3-1

Compare the differences between renewable and nonrenewable resources.

Answer explanation

Renewable resources are things that can never be used up, like solar and wind energy, or that can be replaced in our lifetimes, like plants and animals. Nonrenewable resources take millions of years to make naturally, are typically located deep in Earth’s crust, and are costly to find.

Describe the possible impacts in the future of using a renewable resource.

Answer explanation

By using renewable resources, which tend to be cleaner than nonrenewable resources, the air quality will be better and there should be less water pollution. Since there are many options, dependence on foreign countries for energy would be decreased.

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NGSS.MS-ESS3-4

People try to conserve some resources, like fossil fuels, because they are not replaceable. Why can’t these resources be replaced?

• It is impossible to extract more from the earth.

• No one can afford to buy more of them.

• Processes that make them take a long time.

• They must be transported long distances.

People move into and begin living in an area that previously had no human activity. What will most likely be the effect on the amount of water?

• The amount of freshwater suitable for drinking will increase.

• Water will be more evenly distributed in the area.

• There will be less available for other living things.

• Most of the freshwater in the area will be converted to saltwater.

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NGSS.MS-ESS2-4

NGSS.MS-ESS3-4

The table below shows areas where sedimentary rock layers are exposed, as well as the environmental factors that produced the rock layers. Coal forms in locations where vegetation gets buried quickly and then altered by heat and pressure over millions of years. Which location is most likely to have coal?

• Area A

• Area B

• Area C

• Area D

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NGSS.MS-ESS2-1

In all of the following examples, the quantity of the resource being used by humans is affected EXCEPT–

• Freshwater used for agriculture, recreation, and tourism

• Metal ores mined and used to create building materials

• Petroleum taken from the ground and burned for fuel

• Wind power used to provide energy for homes and businesses

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NGSS.MS-ESS3-4

Metal ores are often formed in locations that had volcanic activity in the past. What information about an area would provide the best evidence that metal ores could be found there in the present?

• Evidence that the area had active volcanoes long ago

• Evidence that metal ores had been brought to the area by ancient humans

• Evidence that humans in the area use lots of metal ores

• Evidence that volcanoes in the area are currently active

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NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

NGSS.MS-ESS3-1