Renewable or Nonrenewable?

Introduction
Overview: as trees for wood and fiber,
In this lesson, students will learn or for horticultural purposes.
about renewable, nonrenewable Animals can be kept as pets and
and perpetual natural resources used as livestock, or the hides
by looking at products made from of some animals can be used to
natural resources. They will work make leather for goods.
in pairs to classify and group vari-
ous items as renewable, nonre- If we reduce, reuse, recycle and

v
newable, or perpetual resources. compost materials, then we con-
OBJECTIVES:
serve valuable natural resources
Teacher Background: that can be used again to pro-
Students will:
Natural resources can be classified duce new materials.
1. define renewable, nonrenewable
and perpetual resources. as renewable, nonrenewable, and
2. classify items as being made from perpetual. Resources are consid- Materials:
renewable or nonrenewable ered renewable if they can be Students:
resources. replenished within a relatively ❑ “Everyday Items” worksheet
3. identify four ways to conserve fossil short period of time. Nonrenew- (one per pair of students)
fuel, minerals, plants and animals. able resources must be considered ❑ “Renewable Resources” work-
gone forever once used up sheet (one per pair of students)
❑ “Nonrenewable Resources”
T STANDARDS: Science
because they take millions of years
to regenerate. Oil is an example of
a nonrenewable natural resource.
worksheet (one per pair of
students)
Perpetual resources are forms of ❑ “Renewable or Nonrenewable?”

T SKILLS: Analysis,
classification, description,
problem solving
naturally recurring energy
beyond human management,
worksheet (one per student)
❑ Glue (one bottle per pair of
such as energy from the sun. students)

u SETTING: Classroom Natural resources are extracted

from the Earth to use in their exist-
❑ Scissors (one per pair of
students)
❑ Newspaper
ing form and often changed in form (one sheet per student)
P TIME: 50 minutes
during the manufacturing process,
which turns natural resources into Teacher:
products. Fossil fuels include oil, ❑ A plastic container, aluminum
A VOCABULARY:
Conserve
Natural resources
coal, and natural gas. Oil or petro-
leum is drilled and extracted from
can, steel can, glass bottle,
apple, paper and leather belt
Nonrenewable resources the Earth. The resulting crude oil ❑ “Natural Resources” overhead
Perpetual resources is refined into hundreds of petrole- ❑ “Water Cycle” overhead
Product um products including fuel for
Renewable resources ❑ Rubric overhead
cars. Minerals such as aluminum, ❑ Rubrics (one per student)
Water cycle
iron and silica are mined from the
Earth, extracted and used as com-
Preparation:
ponents in manufacturing products
Be prepared to put students in
such as aluminum, steel and glass.
pairs for part of the activity.
Plants are harvested as food crops,

LESSON 1: RENEWABLE OR NONRENEWABLE ? 1

 ACTIVITY

Discussion
1. Hold up the plastic container, aluminum can, steel can,
glass bottle, apple, paper, and leather belt.

2. Put up the “Natural Resources” overhead, and cover up the bot-

tom half (the pictures of the items). Tell the students that all
of these items are made from natural resources and that these
resources are either nonrenewable or renewable. Explain that
nonrenewable resources exist on Earth in limited amounts, e.g.,
fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) and many minerals (e.g.,
iron, gold, and bauxite, the source of aluminum). Fossil fuels
are nonrenewable natural resources because they take millions
of years to form. Most minerals are also nonrenewable
resources. Explain that renewable resources are replaced natu-
rally or through human-assisted actions within a relatively short
amount of time, such as a human lifetime. For example, plants,
such as trees, can be replanted indefinitely.

3. Hold up the items, one at a time, and ask student volunteers

to classify them as made from a nonrenewable or renewable
resource. Uncover the rest of the overhead, and review the
items that were not discussed (i.e., gasoline, bike helmet, Wrap-Up
etc.). Briefly explain how natural resources are taken from 1. Ask students what they think will happen to
the Earth and made into products. nonrenewable resources if we continue using them.
(They will be depleted.)
4. Let students know that resources can also be classified
as perpetual resources. These are forms of naturally 2. Ask students whether they think renewable resources are
recurring energy that are beyond human management, always available forever. Pass out one sheet of newspaper
e.g., sun, wind, falling water, tides. Put up the “Water to each student, and have them roll it up to represent a
Cycle” overhead, and explain how the water cycle is an tree. Put all of the “trees” together at the front of the class
example of a perpetual resource. to represent a forest. Ask the students what would happen
if they needed to cut down ten trees a year to provide
5. Introduce the concept of conservation. Ask students enough paper for their school but only five trees were
whether there are ways that they can use fewer resources. replanted each year (the natural resource will be depleted).
Share one way that students can conserve natural resources.
For example, by riding a bike to school instead of driving 3. Ask the students to turn to a partner to brainstorm
in a car, students can conserve fuel, which comes from a some ways that they can conserve nonrenewable and
nonrenewable resource. renewable resources. (Use less. Use renewable resources
instead, e.g., a paper bag in place of a plastic bag.
6. Show an overhead of the lesson rubric, and review the Reuse bags and recycle them.)
expectations for this lesson.
4. Pass out the “Renewable or Nonrenewable” worksheet,
Procedure assign students to name one item from each of the four
1. Divide the class into pairs. Give each pair of students the categories (fossil fuels, minerals, plants and animals) and
following worksheets: “Everyday Items,” “Renewable explain how they can conserve the natural resources.
Resources,” “Nonrenewable Resources.” Also give them a
pair of scissors, and glue. Final Assessment Idea
Have students identify ten items in the classroom, writing
2. Instruct each pair to cut out the items and classify them the natural resource used to produce the item and whether
by gluing them into one of the two possible categories: the resource is renewable or nonrenewable.
renewable or nonrenewable resources.

3. Review with the whole class which items they classified as

renewable or nonrenewable resources.

2 LESSON 1: RENEWABLE OR NONRENEWABLE ?

RESOURCES

Extensions:
Assign students to write a hypothetical story about a nonrenewable resource that has been depleted,
explaining why it was depleted (overused) and what alternative resources, if any, can be used in its place.

Using the Internet or school library, have students choose a natural resource that they would like to learn
more about and research the answers to questions such as:
• Is it renewable or nonrenewable?
• Where is it found (locate on a world map)?
• Are there any efforts currently underway to conserve this natural resource?

Have students research and identify the different elements that make up types of minerals, fossil fuels,
plants, animals and water using a periodic chart. Once they have identified the elements, ask students to
locate and check off the element on a periodic chart.

Teacher Materials:
California State Content Standards
The standards below represent broad academic concepts. This lesson provides connections to these
academic concepts through hands-on activities and exploration. This lesson is not designed for a student
to master the concepts presented in the standards. Additional lessons in the classroom that build on this
lesson or the standard(s) ensure that students will have the opportunity to master these concepts.

SCIENCE CONTENT STANDARDS

Grade 4 Life Science

3.a. Students know ecosystems can be characterized by their living
and nonliving components.

Grade 5 Earth Science

3.b. Students know that when liquid water evaporates, it turns into
water vapor in the air and can reappear as a liquid when cooled
or as a solid if cooled below the freezing point of water.
3.c. Students know water vapor in the air moves from one place to
another and can form fog or clouds, which are tiny droplets of
water or ice, and can fall to Earth as rain, hail, sleet or snow.

Investigation and Experimentation

6.a. Students will classify objects (e.g., rocks, plants, leaves)
in accordance with appropriate criteria.

LESSON 1: RENEWABLE OR NONRENEWABLE ? 3

 Teacher
Renewable or Nonrenewable Rubric
A rubric is a scoring tool that defines the criteria by which a student’s work will be evaluated.
This rubric is provided to assist you in setting expectations for students and assessing their performance
and engagement during the lesson based on specific tasks. Ideally, a rubric is developed with the cooper-
ation of the students. Two blank rows have been provided for you and your class to develop and add your
own assessment criteria.

CATEGORY 4 3 2 1

Classify items All items Most of the Some of the None of the
into renewable were correctly items were items were items were
and classified. correctly clas- correctly correctly clas-
nonrenewable sified. classified. sified.

Identify ways All four items Three items Two items Only one item
to conserve were listed were listed were listed was listed
natural under the under the under the under the
resources proper proper cate- proper cate- proper cate-
categories gory and had gory and had gory and had
and had an an appropri- an appropri- an appropri-
appropriate ate explana- ate explana- ate explana-
explanation tion of how tion of how tion of how to
of how to to conserve to conserve conserve the
conserve the the natural the natural natural
natural resources. resources. resources.
resources.

4 LESSON 1: RENEWABLE OR NONRENEWABLE ?

 Teacher
Water Cycle

Condensation

Precipitation

Runoff
Evaporation

LESSON 1: RENEWABLE OR NONRENEWABLE ? 5

 Teacher
Natural Resources
NONRENEWABLE RENEWABLE

Fossil Fuels Minerals Plants Animals

Everyday Items Made from Natural Resources

6 LESSON 1: RENEWABLE OR NONRENEWABLE ?

 Student
Everyday Items
Directions: Cut out each item and decide whether it is made from a renewable or nonrenewable resource.

Name: Date:
LESSON 1: RENEWABLE OR NONRENEWABLE ? 7
 Student
Renewable Resources

PLANTS ANIMALS

Directions: Glue examples of items made from renewable resources here.

Name: Date:
8 LESSON 1: RENEWABLE OR NONRENEWABLE ?
 Student
Nonrenewable Resources

FOSSIL FUELS MINERALS

Directions: Glue examples of items made from nonrenewable resources here.

Name: Date:
LESSON 1: RENEWABLE OR NONRENEWABLE ? 9
 Student
Renewable or Nonrenewable?
Directions: Write the name of one item from each of the four natural resource categories
(fossil fuels, minerals, plants, animals), and explain how to conserve the natural resources
needed to produce it.

1a. Item made from fossil fuels:

1b. How can you conserve fossil fuel resources?

2a. Item made from minerals:

2b. How can you conserve mineral resources?

3a. Item made from plants:

3b. How can you conserve plant resources?

4a. Item made from animals:

4b. How can you conserve animal resources?

Name: Date:
10 LESSON 1: RENEWABLE OR NONRENEWABLE ?
DEFINITIONS

Vocabulary:
Conserve: to protect something Perpetual resources: forms of Water cycle: sunlight evapo-
from harm or destruction. naturally recurring energy that rates water that condenses to
are beyond human management, clouds that produce rain that
Natural resources: living and e.g., sun, wind, falling water, falls on the land, flows to an
nonliving materials that come tides. ocean or lake and evaporates
from the Earth such as fossil again. The water can flow
fuels, minerals, plants, animals, Product: something produced through other routes such as
water, air, sunlight, and other by human or mechanical effort through sand underground or
forms of energy. or by a natural process. through an animal. The cycle
begins with evaporation and
Nonrenewable resources: Renewable resources: natu- ends with water returning to a
minerals or sources of energy rally occurring raw materials or place for evaporation to occur
that can be mined or collected form of energy that has the again.
from the Earth, such as coal, capacity to replenish itself with-
petroleum, iron ore, copper, etc. in a relatively short amount of
The processes of their forma- time (e.g., a human lifetime)
tion are so slow that these re- through ecological cycles and
sources may be considered gone sound management practices,
forever once they are used up. e.g., trees, agricultural crops,
grasses.

LESSON 1: RENEWABLE OR NONRENEWABLE ? 11