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Class 8 Natural Resources and Their Use: cheat sheet
CBSE Social Science. What makes something a resource, renewable and non-renewable resources, minerals, groundwater, organic farming, solar power and using resources sustainably.
Key ideas
- Something in nature becomes a resource when it is technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally acceptable.
- Resources can be grouped by use: for life (air, water, food), for materials (wood, marble) and for energy (coal, sunlight, wind).
- Coal, petroleum, iron and copper are non-renewable; a renewable resource stays renewable only if it is used sustainably.
- Restoration returns something damaged to health; regeneration goes further, as nature creates new life.
- In Punjab, pumping for wheat and paddy has gone far beyond recharge, so groundwater tables have fallen.
- Sikkim became fully organic in 2016, and farmers’ incomes, biodiversity and tourism grew.
- Solar parks like Bhadla use plentiful sunlight and cut dependence on fossil fuels.
- Uneven spread of resources like water, oil and minerals can lead to competition between places.
Remember
| Coal on the map | Jharia, Raniganj |
| Iron ore on the map | Bailadila, Kudremukh |
| Resource curse | a resource-rich region that stays poor (paradox of plenty) |
| Ecosystem services | nature’s benefits, such as clean water and pollinated crops |
| Vrikshayurveda | the ancient Indian science of caring for plants |
| International solar alliance | launched by India and France in 2015 |
| Bhadla solar park | Rajasthan |
Watch out
- Calling every renewable resource endless: overuse, as with groundwater, can use it up.
- Mixing up restoration and regeneration.
- Rounding down when finding how many trees or items are needed: round up to have at least enough.
Worked example
(a) How much oxygen does a class of 50 students need a day, at about 350 litres each? (b) How many mature trees, at about 275 litres each, give at least that much? (c) Give two other ways trees help us.
Working: 350 × 50; ÷ 275 rounded up
Answer: (a) 17,500 litres (b) 64 trees (c) They hold soil, filter water, give shade and homes for animals.
Practise Natural Resources and Their Use
Revise with this page, then practise: every Natural Resources and Their Use sheet in the app is new, with an answer key and working.
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