LESSON 2: RENEWABLE RESOURCES
Renewable resources can renew themselves again and again (hence the name). Animals give birth or produce eggs, producing new animals. Trees and flowers leave seeds that create new trees and flowers. Air, soil and water are all part of natural cycles that help to replenish them.
Explore the renewable resource "The American Nile" by clicking on this sentence.
Explore the renewable resource "The American Nile" by clicking on this sentence.
Natural Systems
Natural systems: a balanced network of connected parts
Natural systems help to restore renewable resources and ensure that they continue to renew themselves. However, natural systems can become unbalanced for different reasons, including natural changes in precipitation or water levels, or human interaction (for example, by taking a lot of water out of natural rivers to use for irrigation and farming).Click here to view an animated water cycle.
Natural systems help to restore renewable resources and ensure that they continue to renew themselves. However, natural systems can become unbalanced for different reasons, including natural changes in precipitation or water levels, or human interaction (for example, by taking a lot of water out of natural rivers to use for irrigation and farming).Click here to view an animated water cycle.
ACTION
In class, you were given a number. Choose the resource below that corresponds with your number (e.g. If you are a number 1, you will choose water) and complete you Renewable Resource chart. Make sure to explore the links provided. You will be presenting your chart to the class in a Gallery Walk, so make sure that it is fully completed.
1) Water
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Water is a renewable resource that is renewed through the water cycle, a natural system that uses energy from the sun to work. Fresh water is an extremely valuable and important natural resource, but it is also extremely rare. Fresh water makes up less than 3% of all available water in the world, and 99% of that is locked up in ice caps and glaciers! Of the remaining 1% left of fresh water, most of that is ground water, which can become easily polluted.
Canada has 1/5 of the world's total freshwater, which sometimes leads us to have an incorrect view on how much water there actually is in the world. Some people worry that if we continue to waste what little fresh water we have, conflicts may break out over fresh water.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
Video and Water Conservation Projects: http://www.wwf.ca/conservation/freshwater/#.UwthOPRdXrY
Amazing Stories on Freshwater: http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/
Freshwater Facts from Canada: https://www.ec.gc.ca/eau-water/default.asp?lang=En&n=587612E5-1
Water is a renewable resource that is renewed through the water cycle, a natural system that uses energy from the sun to work. Fresh water is an extremely valuable and important natural resource, but it is also extremely rare. Fresh water makes up less than 3% of all available water in the world, and 99% of that is locked up in ice caps and glaciers! Of the remaining 1% left of fresh water, most of that is ground water, which can become easily polluted.
Canada has 1/5 of the world's total freshwater, which sometimes leads us to have an incorrect view on how much water there actually is in the world. Some people worry that if we continue to waste what little fresh water we have, conflicts may break out over fresh water.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
- What is freshwater used for?
- Where can we find it?
- What technology do we need to use it?
Video and Water Conservation Projects: http://www.wwf.ca/conservation/freshwater/#.UwthOPRdXrY
Amazing Stories on Freshwater: http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/
Freshwater Facts from Canada: https://www.ec.gc.ca/eau-water/default.asp?lang=En&n=587612E5-1
2) Forests
We've already spent a lot of time looking at the effects of deforestation on different communities, especially during our case study of Fort Ware, British Columbia. Forests contain many resources that humans use for our benefit, including:
Forests are also a recreational site for many people, and help to maintain and protect animal species that we then use as resources.
Forests are typically logged using three methods, some of which are more sustainable that others:
- wood (building, materials, paper)
- food (like walnuts and maple syrup)
- animals
Forests are also a recreational site for many people, and help to maintain and protect animal species that we then use as resources.
Forests are typically logged using three methods, some of which are more sustainable that others:
SELECTIVE CUTTING
Cut only the mature trees, leaving smaller trees to grow. Pros: No seedlings are required, many trees are left Cons: expensive, dangerous, time-consuming, small trees still destroyed when big trees taken out |
SHELTERWOOD CUTTING
Clear-cut smaller areas in the forest where trees are same species/ age, leaving some to reproduce Pros: May not need to seed, less expensive Cons: may cause soil erosion, some trees still are damaged |
CLEAR-CUTTING
Every tree in a large area is cut-down, starting on one side and moving to the other Pros: Cheap, fast, safe Cons: Large areas of forests completely wiped out, destroying habitats |
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
Deforestation, "The Modern Plague": http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation-overview/
Ancient Forests: http://www.ancientforestalliance.org/slideshow.php?gID=9
Deforestation: http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/about_forests/deforestation/
- Which of the logging methods above do you think is the best, and why?
- How can we maintain forest resources, and why would we want to?
Deforestation, "The Modern Plague": http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation-overview/
Ancient Forests: http://www.ancientforestalliance.org/slideshow.php?gID=9
Deforestation: http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/about_forests/deforestation/
3) Tropical Rainforests
Tropical rainforests are full of valuable natural resources including trees, medicines, and animals.They have also been called the "lungs of the planet" because produce a great deal of oxygen. Unfortunately, their valuable trees and land has made them prime targets for deforestation, and over the past century we have been clearcutting and burning down tropical rainforests at a deadly rate. More than half of the world's tropical rainforests have already been destroyed.
Madagascar, a small island off the coast of Africa, is the home of all of the world's wild lemur species, as well as many other unusual plants and animals that can't be found anywhere else in the world. Deforestation has become a huge problem in Madagascar, and as the island loses its forests many of its species are going extinct. Already 93% of the natural forests have disappeared.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
Resources to Explore:
Looking at Deforestation in Madagascar: http://www.wildmadagascar.org/kids/20-environment-deforestation.html
List of Tropical Rainforest Resources: http://www.folklife.si.edu/resources/maroon/foodways/more.htm
Madagascar's Forests (Video): http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/environment/environmental-threats-environment/deforestation/SavingMadagascarsForests-GWU001-2012F-vrs/
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
- Who uses the resources from tropical forests?
- How can we protect resources while still using them?
Resources to Explore:
Looking at Deforestation in Madagascar: http://www.wildmadagascar.org/kids/20-environment-deforestation.html
List of Tropical Rainforest Resources: http://www.folklife.si.edu/resources/maroon/foodways/more.htm
Madagascar's Forests (Video): http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/environment/environmental-threats-environment/deforestation/SavingMadagascarsForests-GWU001-2012F-vrs/