Humans depend on natural resources from the environment to meet basic needs like food, water, and shelter. Resources can be renewable, like wind and sunlight, or nonrenewable, like fossil fuels which are limited. How people use the land depends on both environmental factors and human culture, and land use has changed over time as human needs and activities have impacted the environment. Managing resource use involves balancing economic benefits with reducing pollution and environmental impacts.

2. ▪ Students will demonstrate the
following enduring
understanding
▪ People rely on the environment to
fulfill a variety of needs, including
food, shelter, and energy.
▪ Environment and economic needs both
determine how people choose to use
lands.
▪ Recognize the difference between
renewable and nonrenewable
resources.

3.  Humans depend on their natural
environment to survive. We need the
environment to provide energy, water,
food, and other materials. In prehistoric
times, people lived in areas where they
could hunt and gather foods. Later they
moved to pastures and fertile soils for
farming. Today, rapid transportation and
technology allow people to be less
dependent on their immediate
environment. However, people still need
access to resources.
▪ Remember the lack of rain this summer and how
much we needed it to rain.

4.  Water is just one example of
a natural resource, or a
useful material found in the
environment. People depend
on many kinds of natural
resources.
 Renewable resources are
resources that Earthy or people
can replace.
 Nonrenewable resources are a
resource that cannot be
replaced in a relatively short
period of time if at all.

5.  Fossil fuels are
nonrenewable resources
formed over millions of
years from the remains of
plants and animals.
 Coal natural gas, and
petroleum are important
fossil fuels. When
nonrenewable resources
are used up, they are
gone.

6.  Sources of energy are
important for human
activity. Some resources,
such as wind and sunlight
are renewable.
 Today, we mostly rely on
nonrenewable energy
resources such as coal
and petroleum. Because
these resources are
nonrenewable, Earth will
eventually run out of
them.

7.  The way people use land are
affected by both the natural
environment and culture.
 In many regions, land use has
changed over time.
▪ For example, people living in
temperate climates with fertile soil
may use land mainly for farming.
▪ People in the arctic areas may use
land mainly for hunting.
 Colonization is a movement of
new settlers and their culture
to an area.

8.  All people need food,
water, clothing, and
shelter. To meet
these needs, people
have to use materials
from their
environment. As a
result, people have
impacts on their
environment in their
daily lives.

9.  People extract, or
remove, many kinds of
natural resources from
their environment.
 Ex… Cutting down trees to get
wood
Extracting resources can be
harm ecosystems and the
environment.
Deforestation is the loss
of forest cover in a region.
Drilling oil wells and
transporting oil can lead to Oil spill in Gulf of Mexico on April
20, 2010.
oils spills.

10.  People also affect the
environment by growing food
or producing other goods and
services.
 People’s activities can also
produce pollution, or waste that
makes the soil, air, or water less
clean.
 Ex… farmers using fertilizer to
feed their crops. Pollutes water
and soil.
Pollution is a spillover, which is
an effect on someone or
something not involved in an
activity.

11.  People try to increase the
positive and decrease the
negative effects of using
resources.
 For example, using a resource
might lead to economic
growth but also create
pollution that needs to be
reduced.
Working together, people,
governments, and businesses
These wind turbines in Canada
can try to use resources wisely. convert wind energy into electricity.