Vocabulary:
- Conservation – the protection, preservation, management, or restoration of natural resources
- Conserve – to use wisely, without waste; protect from destruction
- Fossil fuels – a fuel, such as coal, oil, or natural gas, formed in the geological past from the decayed remains of ancient organisms, such as plants and
animals - Nonrenewable resource – natural resources that are used up at a rate faster than they can be replaced
- Recycle – to process materials, such as paper, plastic, aluminum, steel, and glass, so they can be used to make new items
- Reduce – to use a smaller quantity
- Renewable resource – natural resources that are constantly being recycled; an example of a renewable resource is water
- Soil – a mixture of decaying organic material, weathered rock, water, mineral fragments, and air that takes thousands of years to develop
PROPERTIES OF SOILS
- Color
- Soil particle sizes determine:
- Soil type (e.g., sandy, silty, clay, loamy)
- Texture (e.g., grainy, clay-like or sticky, smooth)
- Capacity to retain water (e.g., high, medium, low)
- Examples of soil particle size:
- Sand (large particles)
- Silt (small particles)
- Clay (tiny particles)
- Ability to support the growth of plants
- Factors include:
- Soil type and texture
- Balance of air, rock particles, water, and humus
- The ability of the soil to allow water to penetrate and filter down through the soil (infiltration and percolation)
- Other factors that may affect the soil’s ability to support the growth of plants
- Examples may include:
- Soil salinity (salt)
- Soil acidity
- Soil saturation (too much water for plant growth)
- Soil compaction (not enough air for plant growth)
- Lack of humus (lack of nutrients)
- Examples may include:
- Factors include:
THE EARTH’S RESOURCES AND THE IMPORTANCE OF CONSERVATION
- Renewable resources – natural resources that are constantly being recycled
- May be renewed in a relatively short amount of time. Note: Time will vary by the type of resource, such as over a season (crops), less than 100 years (trees), ongoing (air, water)
- Air (wind)
- Plants
- Water
- Animals
- May be renewed in a relatively short amount of time. Note: Time will vary by the type of resource, such as over a season (crops), less than 100 years (trees), ongoing (air, water)
- Nonrenewable resources – natural resources that are used up at a rate faster than they can be replaced
- May not be renewed in one’s lifetime
- Limited
- Examples of nonrenewable resources
- Coal
- Petroleum (oil)
- Natural gas