Natural or Human-Made?

The term natural resource refers to things in the natural world that humans use. They have value to us. The air we breathe, the water we drink, and materials from Earth--such as rock, soil, and gases--are all examples of natural resources. Even plants and animals are natural resources.

Metals are natural resources that are important for creating tools and machines. Trees are made into timber, which is made into wood products and pulp for paper. Plants are used as medicines, food, and clothing. Rocks become building materials in the form of asphalt and concrete. All of these are examples of natural resources that have become valuable because they are so useful.

Human-made resources are resources created by people from natural resources. For example, humans process oil to make petroleum and then use petroleum to make plastic. Therefore, oil is a natural resource, and plastic and petroleum are human-made resources. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich is composed of several natural resources--the wheat in the bread, the peanuts in the peanut butter, and the fruit and sugar in the jelly.

Activity

Click the Activity button to download the attached worksheet. Then, challenge yourself to sort natural resources and human-made resources.