Natural resources are materials and components that exist within the environment and can be used by humans. This document discusses biotic resources like plants and animals as well as abiotic resources such as air, water, soil, and minerals. It focuses on describing the composition and importance of air, water, and soil for sustaining life on Earth. The document also briefly discusses pollution issues that can arise from improper human usage of these natural resources and their impact on health and the environment.

2. NATURAL
RESOURCES
Joy Mahlawat 9th C

3. What are Natural Resources ?
• Natural resources are resources that exist without any actions
of humankind. This includes the sources of valued
characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic
value, scientific interest and cultural value. On Earth, it
includes sunlight, atmosphere, water, land, all minerals along
with all vegetation, and animal life.

4. Types of Resources
Biotic resources
• The resources which are
provided from the biosphere
are called biotic resources.
Examples: - Fish, Flora and
fauna.
Abiotic resources
• abiotic factors refer to non-living
physical and chemical elements
in the ecosystem. Abiotic
resources are usually obtained
from the lithosphere,
atmosphere, and hydrosphere.
Examples of abiotic factors are
water, air, soil, sunlight, and
minerals.

5. The Breath of life : Air
• Air is a mixture of gases that is composed of 78% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen and a very small
percentage of water vapor and other gases. The fact that air contains so much oxygen is
not because the earth provided us the atmosphere with that composition, but because
living things like plants produced oxygen for over 2 billion of years ago from carbon
dioxide.
• The oxygen in the air is essential for animals to survive because we use this oxygen to
produce energy from the food we eat. The carbon dioxide we breathe out is in turn
required for plants to trap energy from the sun and turn it into food.
• The air also has another important function: it regulates the temperature of the earth and
causes different weather pattern. Without the atmosphere’s moderating effect, the earth
would be fried during the day and would be freezing cold at night. The movements of air
(wind) bring us rain in every monsoon.
• Polluting the air by releasing hazardous chemicals can thus threaten the existence of life
and can alter climatic patterns.

6. Air Pollution
Air pollution is a mixture of solid particles
and gases in the air. Car emissions, chemicals
from factories, dust, pollen and mold spores
may be suspended as particles. Ozone, a gas,
is a major part of air pollution in cities. When
ozone forms air pollution, it's also called
smog.
Air pollution can cause headaches, dizziness,
and nausea. ... Long-term health effects from
air pollution include heart disease, lung
cancer, and respiratory diseases such as
emphysema. Air pollution can also cause
long-term damage to people's nerves, brain,
kidneys, liver, and other organs.

7. 💧WATER💧
• Water is called the medium of life. All life on the planet requires water
(there are some forms of life that can live without air) because all the
chemical reactions that occur in living cells occur using water as a
medium. Water is found in large bodies like the ocean, seas, rivers, and
lakes. It is also found in the atmosphere as vapor and as a solid in snow,
glaciers and ice shelves.
• 97% of the water on the earth is found in the oceans and is too salty for
us to drink. Of the 3% that is available as freshwater, 98% of this
freshwater is trapped in glaciers and ice. Only a small amount of this
natural resource is available in rivers and lakes.

8. WaterPollution
• Water pollution, the release of substances into
subsurface groundwater or into lakes, streams, rivers, estuaries,
and oceans to the point where the substances interfere
with beneficial use of the water or with the natural functioning
of ecosystems. In addition to the release of substances, such
as chemicals or microorganisms, water pollution may also include
the release of energy, in the form of radioactivity or heat, into
bodies of water.

9. Rich in minerals : Soil
• The minerals useful for life are found in the upper crust of the earth. But
most of these are found in rocks, which cannot be used by plants or
animal. Instead, we need them crushed in small particles which we call
soil. The soil is formed by the breaking up of rocks by various
geological, climatic and biological processes. Soil contains minerals
such as Iron, Zinc, Nitrogen compounds, etc. that are all essential to
sustaining life. It also holds water and makes it available for plants to
use. Soil also contains ores from which we can extract metals such as
iron, copper, gold, and aluminium.

10. Flora & Fauna
• Flora and fauna are words originating from Latin.
Flora in Latin means the goddess of the flower.
Flora is also derived from the word floral, which
means relating to flowers. Therefore flora is a group
of indigenous plants in an ecosystem of a
geographical region.
• The origin of the word fauna is a bit shrouded in
mystery. According to Roman mythology, Fauna
refers to the goddess of fertility. Fauna is
sometimes referred to as Fauns, meaning forest
spirits. By definition, fauna is a group of indigenous