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21.1: Materials Humans Use

Last updated

Jan 11, 2021
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- 21.8: Preventing Hazardous Waste Problems
- 21.2: Renewable vs. Nonrenewable Resources

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What resources are in those electronics?

When you pick up your personal electronics device or your mobile phone do you ever think about what's in it? A tremendous variety of elements are needed to make a single electronic device. Some are rare, some are common. All must somehow come from Earth or its environment.

Natural Resources

A natural resource is anything in nature that humans need. Metals and fossil fuels are natural resources. So are water, sunlight, soil, and wind. Even living things are natural resources.

Using Natural Resources

We need natural resources for just about everything we do. We need them for food and clothing, for building materials, and energy. We even need them to have fun. Listed below are examples of how we use natural resources (Table below). Can you think of other ways we use natural resources?

Use	Resources	Example
Vehicles	Rubber for tires from rubber trees Steel frames and other metal parts from minerals such as iron	Iron ore
Electronics	Plastic cases from petroleum products Glass screens from minerals such as lead	Lead ore
Homes	Nails from minerals such as iron Timber from trees	Spruce timber
Jewelry	Gemstones such as diamonds Minerals such as silver	Silver ore
Food	Sunlight, water, and soil Minerals such as phosphorus	Corn seeds in soil
Clothing	Wool from sheep Cotton from cotton plants	Cotton plants
Recreation	Water for boating and swimming Forests for hiking and camping	Pine forest

Use

Resources

Example

Vehicles

alt

Rubber for tires from rubber trees

Steel frames and other metal parts from minerals such as iron

Iron ore

alt

Electronics

alt

Plastic cases from petroleum products

Glass screens from minerals such as lead

Lead ore

alt

Homes

alt

Nails from minerals such as iron

Timber from trees

Spruce timber

alt

Jewelry

alt

Gemstones such as diamonds

Minerals such as silver

Silver ore

alt

Food

alt

Sunlight, water, and soil

Minerals such as phosphorus

Corn seeds in soil

alt

Clothing

alt

Wool from sheep

Cotton from cotton plants

Cotton plants

alt

Recreation

alt

Water for boating and swimming

Forests for hiking and camping

Pine forest

alt

Some natural resources are renewable. Others are non-renewable. It depends on what they are and how we use them.

Summary

Many objects, such as a car, contain many types of resources.
Resources may be renewable or non-renewable, and an object may contain some of each.
Rare earth elements and other unusual materials are used in some electronic devices.

Review

What are natural resources?
Is clean air a natural resource? Why or why not?
What natural resources are important to you?

Natural Resources

Using Natural Resources

Summary

Review

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