1%
Processing, please wait...
It was processed successfully!
It was processed successfully!
Login Create Free Account
en | es

Natural Resource Definition

A natural resource is anything in nature used by living things, like water, forests, and minerals. For example, forests provide materials for shelter.

View Lesson on Natural Resources
Grades K-2 VideoNatural Resources player orange
Preview Only
Oops! It looks like your security settings are blocking this video 🙁

If you are on a school computer or network, ask your tech person to whitelist these URLs:
*.wistia.com, fast.wistia.com, fast.wistia.net, embed-fastly.wistia.com, embed-cloudfront.wistia.com, embedwistia-a.akamaihd.net

Sometimes a simple refresh solves this issue. If you need further help, contact us.

 

Natural Resources

LESSON MATERIALSmove

Fun Facts

  • Nearly all things that humans make, like robots, come from natural resources.
  • We can conserve natural resources by following the 3R's: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.
  • Plants and animals need natural resources like water and air.

Why Do We Need To Know About Natural Resource

Studying natural resources helps us see how important they are in our everyday life and why we need to save them. For example, natural gas is used to heat our homes and cook our food. This is important for our energy needs and for making things like stoves work.

Materials like wood and rubber are used to build things and make everyday items like baseball bats and car tires. This shows how natural resources are connected to jobs in building, making things, and protecting the environment.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do people use natural resources?
People use natural resources to make things, produce energy and provide water, food and shelter needed to live. Natural resources are even used to make cars and computers.
Can there be shortages of natural resources?
Yes, if we use a lot of them very quickly, there may not be enough for everyone or they could run out. For example, if people eat too many fish from the ocean, that kind of fish may no longer exist.
Why are fossil fuels considered limited resources?
Fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas, formed in the Earth over millions of years. Humans are using up these resources much faster than they are being formed. The process to make fossil fuels happens naturally, but it is very slow.
Explore More Topics
Image play The Talespinner: Traditional Tales and Morals
Image play Intro to Data: Pictographs & Bar Graphs
Image play Calculate Volume (l x w x h)
Image play Brain Processing of Senses
Image play Powers of 10
Image play Division Using an Area Model
Image play Maps of Landforms
Image play Balanced & Unbalanced Forces
Image play Solve Problems with Ratios and Proportions
Image play Intro to Addition
Image play Transformations: Reflections & Translations
Image play How To Be A Scientist (College & Careers)

Related Topics

Desktop Background Mobile Background
Exciting News:
attention iconGENERATION GENIUS
JOINED THE NEWSELA FAMILY!
LEARN MORE!
X
Success
We’ve sent you an email with instructions how to reset your password.
Ok
x
Choose Your Free Trial Period
3 Days

3 days to access to all of our teaching resources for free.

Continue to Lessons
30 Days

Get 30 days free by inviting other teachers to try it too.

Share with Teachers
Get 30 Days Free
By inviting 4 other teachers to try it too.
4 required

*only school emails accepted.

Skip, I will use a 3 day free trial

Thank You!

Enjoy your free 30 days trial

×