Natural Resources

Natural resources

A material in nature that God made for man's use that include soil, water, air. Minerals, and fossil fuels

Petroleum

A liquid fossil fuel used to heat homes and produce electricity;also called crude oil

Renewable resources

Resources that can be replaced by natural means in a relatively short period of time.

Nonrenewable resources

Resources that cannot be replaced easily.

Fossil fuels

Nonrenewable fuel that are formed when the remains of plants and animals are buried quickly.

Refinery

A factory that separates crude oil into products such as gasoline, kerosene, and diesel fuel.

Petrochemicals

A chemical product from oil

Natural gas

A fossil fuel found in a gaseous state,that is cleaner to burn than oil

Coal

A fossil fuel forms from plant material that was quickly buried and fossilized under great pressure

Nuclear energy

Energy source that does not use a fossil fuel, but relies on the mineral Uranium.

Uranium

The mineral used in nuclear reactors to produce electricity

Hydroelectric energy

Produced as water flows from the reservoirs and turns turbines to generate electricy.

Reservoir

A holding area of water located behind a dam

Geothermal energy

A form of renewable energy that uses heat from within the earth to produce steam.

Wind energy

Uses air movements to generate electrical energy

Solar energy

Uses the sun's energy to power and heat things

Mineral

An inorganic solid substance found naturally in the earth's surface

Vein

A concentrated area of specific minerals that have melted and separated into layers.

Ore

A type of rock containing a minable amount of minerals

Smelting

A process used to separate metal in ore from other materials

Malleable

Able to be dented or shaped

Hydrosphere

All of the Earth's water found in lakes, oceans, streams, rivers, soil, ground water and the air.

Phytoplankton

Small planking organisms found in the ocean that are able to carry on photosynthesis; organism that makes up the first link in the ocean's food chain.

Ground water

Precipitation that has soaked into the ground and is stored there

Aquifer

Layers of sand, gravel, or bedrock that hold or move ground water.

Humdity

Water vapor in the air

Reduce

To conserve resources by using less energy.

Reuse

To conserve resources by finding new ways to use a product

Recycle

To conserve resources by turning products into other products

Water cycle

The path that water takes from land to sky and back to land that God created to continually replenish the earth with fresh water.

Ice sheet

A huge expanse of layered ice; Antarctica

Ice shelf

AN ICE SHEET THAT REACHES THE OCEAN AND CONTINUES TO FLOAT ON THE WATER.

Iceburges

Ice shelves that break off into the ocean and float independently

Contour plowing

A method used by farmers to help keep water from washing soil away

Aluminum

A strong lightweight metal that is the most abundant metal in the earth's crust

Copper

A malleable red-orange metal that conducts electricity and is resistant to rust.

Gold

A valuable malleable metal that often indicates wealth

Iron

A strong durable metal that is able to attract magnets

Silver

A useful malleable metal that si easily scratched and tarnished

Fallow

Letting a field rest for a year.

Ground cover

A low growing crop such as clover to reduce erosion

Evaporation

Liquid changes into a gas at the surface of the liquid and becomes water vapor in the atmosphere.

Water on the Earth's surface evaporates becaue energy from the Sun breaks bonds between water molecules.

Transpiration

The evaporation of water from the leaves of plants. Plants absorb most of thr water they need from the ground. When plants have a good supply of water or air temperature rises, they transpire and release even more water vapor into the atmosphere.

Precipitation

Water droplets in clouds eventually fall to the ground as rain. If the temperature is low enough the droplets will freeze. Then they reach earth's surface as other forms such as snow, sleet, hail

Sublimation

When frozen water of ice or snow changes directly into water vapor without melting into liquid water.

Infiltrstion

The movement of water into the ground from the surface of the earth.

Runoff

When precipitation reaches the rlearth's surface the water flows downhill as a flresult of gravity entering streams, rivers and eventually reaching lakes and oceans

Condensation

Water vapor from transpiration and evaporation rise in the atmosphere. As the water vapor rises it cools and condenses into a liquid. Water vapor condenser around dust particles in the atmosphere and forms droplets. The dropletscombine and form clouds.