Natural Resources 3rd / 4th Grades

Moira Whitehouse PhD

Like dinosaurs, if humans don’t meet their needs they also will become

extinct

So what do humans, like us-- you and me--need to survive? What must we have in order to continue living?

We are not talking about your dog or cat, or your computer games or cell phone.

We are talking about those really important things you must have if you are to continue living (things that would cause you to die if you didn’t have them).

Let’s think of some of those things. First, pinch your nose tightly and try holding your breath as long as you can.

What happens? How long could you stay alive without breathing?

So, what then is one of the things in nature we need to survive?Yes, oxygen --without the oxygen in air we would quickly die.

•We need some of that oxygen from the air in order to survive (live).

•Plants need carbon dioxide from the air to make their food. (Important because the energy stored in plants comes to us as food through the food chain.)

•The air around us has many different gases including oxygen and carbon dioxide.

http://www.dillpickletheater.com/cj/flash_gallery/web_pages/gas.htm

So air is one of those “things” that we must have in order to live and... air is part of:

This is an animation that helps explain the exchange of gases that takes place between plants and animals.

Nature

Nature

Nature

Now think about running around outside at recess when it is very hot. What Is something you need as soon as you come inside?

Yes, water is another thing we need to survive.

Most of all we need it to drink.

A reasonably fit human could be expected to live only 3 to 5 days without water.

Although we could perhaps live without these, we also need water to clean our clothes, our bodies and our homes.

And guess what, just like us.... plants cannot live without water.

Water is part of

(Remember without plants, no food).

Nature

Nature

Nature

Something else we may notice at school just before lunch time, is that we arehungry.

Along with oxygen and water, humans need to have food.

It seems that most humans can survive up to 30-40 days without any food, so long as they have air and enough water to drink.

So there are at least three things that we must have to survive, air, water and food.

So far we discovered that air and water come from nature, but what about food? Maybe we know that food comes from the store, but where did it come from before it got to the store?

Food for thought?

Let’s think about where all the stuff we eat comes from?

Where does milk come from?

Yes, from a cow.

Where do eggs come from?

Yes, chickens lay them.

What about the different meats we find at the store?

Where do they come from?

sausage sausage

bacon

pork chopAll these meats come from a pig

All these meats (beef) come from a cow

meat loaf

beef taco

hamburger

beef enchilada

chicken tendersfried chicken

chicken echilladas

Chicken soup

All these meats come from a chicken

What about flour tortillas and bread?

Where do they come from?

Flour tortillas and most bread is made with flour which is made from ground up kernels of wheat.

wheat

Ground up kernels of wheat.

wheat

Kernels of wheat or wheat seeds

What about our cereals?

Where do they come from?

From a corn plant

From a plant called rice

Oat seedsFrom a plant called oats

From a plant called wheat Wheat seeds

What about pasta such as spaghetti and macaroni—what are they made of?

Main ingredients?

Flour (wheat) and eggs (chickens).

What about that food we all love—sugar?

Where does it come from?

A plant called sugar cane

We also eat many plant parts such as the fruits and vegetables seen in these pictures.

As you can see, our bread, pasta and cereals all come from plants.

So, where does our food come from?

Yes, from plants and animals and they are all part of

Our food comes from these natural sources:

Nature

Nature

Nature

We also need something to cover our bodies to protect ourselves from the cold and the sun.

Where does the material our clothes are made of come from?

So what about our clothes?

Most jeans are made out of

Many socks we wear are made of

Many of our T shirts are made out of

What is cotton?

Cotton is a plant that grows all over the world including Texas.

Raw bales of cotton

Harvesting cotton

Cotton plant

Field of cotton Bale of cotton

Raw cotton to cotton thread

Raw cotton can be changed into cotton thread which is then woven into cotton fabric and made into clothing.

People who live in cold climates often wear wool socks, sweaters and coats.

A shorn sheep

Man shearing sheep

Sheep wool

Sheep

Wool comes from sheep.

Raw wool can be changed into wool yarn which is used to knit wool clothes.

Many of our shirts, jackets, socks and shorts are made out of polyester or nylon.

crude oil Crude oil is a yellowish black liquid found underground. It gives off a very strong smell or odor.

Polyester or nylon clothes are made from crude oil.

Crude oil can be changed into polyester thread which is then used to make clothes.

Animal and plant remains are a large part of oil. The animals and plants lived in oceans 300-400 million years ago. As these remains were covered by mud, heat and pressure helped to change these remains into crude oil.

What is Crude Oil and How was it Formed?

Sometimes our clothes are not pure cotton, pure wool or pure polyester or nylon.

Like these socks which are made up of 80% cotton threads and 20% polyester thread.

Some of our clothes may be made our of all (100%) cotton.Some of our clothes may be made our of all (100%) polyester.Some are made of some polyester or nylon and some cotton or some polyester or nylon and wool.

So what have we learned here????

Cotton clothes come from

Wool clothes come from

Polyester and nylon clothes come from

Sheep

Crude oil

Which comes from the remains of dead plants and animals.

Nature

Nature

Nature

Our clothes come from either living or dead plants and animals which are part of

Something else we couldn’t survive without is soil.

Why is soil necessary to our survival?

We need soil to grow plants

Without soil we would not have the plants we need for food or the animals which eat these plants. And like all those other things, soil comes from:

Nature

Nature

Nature

Because all these things we need to survive come from

Nature

We call them natural resources.

Natural resources are those things in nature man needs to survive.