Resource Classification

What is a resource? 🌍

A **resource** is anything people find useful, above all **water, food and energy**, plus minerals and materials. Geographers **classify** resources so they can compare them. There are two key splits: by **origin** (biotic or abiotic) and by **replenishment** (renewable or non-renewable).

Biotic and abiotic 🌱

The first split is about where a resource **comes from**: - **Biotic** resources come from **living things**: crops, timber, fish, wool. - **Abiotic** resources come from the **non-living** physical world: water, metal ores, sunlight, wind.

Spot the biotic resources

Select ALL THREE biotic resources (from living things).

• Timber
• Fish
• Wheat
• Iron ore
• Sunlight
• Water

Which is abiotic?

Which of these is an abiotic resource (from the non-living world)?

• Iron ore
• Timber
• Fish
• Wheat

Renewable and non-renewable ♻️

The second split is about whether a resource **runs out**: - **Renewable** resources are replenished naturally and will not run out if used carefully: solar, wind, water, timber. - **Non-renewable** (finite) resources exist in fixed amounts and cannot be replaced once used: coal, oil, gas, metal ores.

Match each resource to its type

Which runs out?

Which of these is a non-renewable resource?

• Natural gas
• Solar power
• Wind power
• Wave power

Spot the renewables

Select ALL THREE renewable resources.

• Solar power
• Wind power
• Hydro (water) power
• Coal
• Oil
• Natural gas

Exploiting environments 🏭

People **exploit** environments to get the resources they need: damming rivers and pumping groundwater for **water**, farming and fishing for **food**, and mining or drilling for **energy**. Meeting rising demand means taking more and more from the natural world.

The cost of exploitation

Select the THREE ways exploiting resources can change the environment.

• Deforestation
• Water and air pollution
• Loss of habitats
• Resources becoming unlimited
• The environment automatically improving
• The global climate cooling

An uneven world 🗺️

Resources are **not** shared out evenly. Some countries have huge oil reserves or fertile farmland; others have very little. Consumption is uneven too: wealthier countries (and, within the UK, some regions) use far more energy, water and food per person than poorer ones.

How are resources shared?

How are resources distributed and consumed across the world?

• Unevenly: some places have and use far more than others
• Evenly: every country has the same amount
• Equally per person everywhere
• Only in the UK

Classify a resource

An interactive activity.

Resource summary

Resources from living things are _____, while those from the physical world are abiotic. Fossil fuels like coal are _____ because they are finite, but solar and wind are _____. Across the world, resources are distributed _____.