Natural resources
Science - Third Grade
How Does the Earth's Surface Change?
Multimedia Lesson
What are Ecosystems?
Presentation
What are Ecosystems?
Presentation
All About Energy
Presentation
All About Energy
Presentation
Sources of Energy
Interactive
Renewable and Nonrenewable Energy
Interactive
Earth Inside and Out Interactive Activity
Interactive
Natural resources
Study Guide
Natural resources
Quiz
Natural resources
Flash Cards
Natural resources
Worksheet
Natural resources
Game
Natural resources
Vocabulary List
Study Guide Natural resources
❮
1
/
4
❯
NATURAL RESOURCES Natural resources are found on the Earth and are important to living things. Some natural resources come from below the Earth’s surface. People who dig in the ground to dig up rocks and gather natural resources are called miners. Certain rocks, called ores, contain metals, such as gold, silver, iron and other minerals that people use everyday. Lesson Checkpoint: What is a natural resource? Renewable Resources Some natural resources are renewable, which means that can be replaced. Trees are an example of a renewable resource. Three examples of natural resources we have in abundance on Earth are: sunlight, air, and water. Lesson Checkpoint: What are three natural resources that Earth has an endless supply of? © Copyright NewPath Learning. All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted for the purchaser to print copies for non-commercial educational purposes only. Visit us at www.NewPathLearning.com.
Nonrenewable Resources Some natural resources are nonrenewable, which means that can NOT be replaced. Iron is an example of a nonrenewable natural resource. Coal is another nonrenewable resource. Coal is burned and releases energy. This energy is used for many things, such as generating electricity and heat. We can dig up coal from the earth, but once the Earth’s supply of coal is gone, it can’t be replaced. Oil is another nonrenewable natural resource. Oil is used in many things, including gasoline, which makes our cars run. Since there are many nonrenewable resources that are important to us, we need to use them wisely and carefully. Lesson Checkpoint: What is a nonrenewable natural resource? We can use our resources wisely be CONSERVING those important resources. Conservation is a way of using things wisely without wasting them. Water is an important resource that we should conserve. One way you can conserve water is by turning off the faucet while you brush your teeth. You can probably think of other ways to conserve energy at home. Even nature helps conserve…by helping us reuse water. A wetland helps us reuse the water that is on Earth. A wetland cleans the dirt out of water. Soil in the wetlands filters out the dirt and particles found in the water. Then the plants in the wetlands break down the dirty particles. Lesson Checkpoint: What is one way you can conserve water at home? © Copyright NewPath Learning. All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted for the purchaser to print copies for non-commercial educational purposes only. Visit us at www.NewPathLearning.com.
Soil is another natural resource that we need to conserve and use wisely. Soil needs to be protected from wind and water that cause erosion and it needs to be enriched with nutrients at times. Leaves and grass clippings can be turned into compost instead of being thrown away. Compost is decayed grass and leaves that you can add to your soil to provide nutrients. Lesson Checkpoint: What is compost? Reducing Our Trash Where does all our smelly garbage go to anyway? A landfill is a large area where trash is collected and buried. A liner is placed on a landfill before trash is buried on the land so that the groundwater under the landfill is not polluted. Landfills are filling up and closing down more and more each year. So it is important that we try to reduce the amount of trash we throw away. There are several ways we can reduce the amount of trash that we send to a landfill. For example, we can burn trash in a special furnace, instead of sending it to a landfill. The burning of trash has several benefits: when we burn garbage it gives off energy that can be used to generate electricity. The burning of trash can however have harmful effects on the environment too though. The smoke created when trash is burned can pollute the air. We can also reduce the amount of trash we throw away at home, by following the three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Reduce For example, you can reduce the amount of trash you throw away by using only plates, bowls, and silverware that you can wash and use over again, rather than using paper products. Reuse We can reuse certain items instead of throwing them away. For example, instead of throwing away a shoebox, we could reuse it and store something like pictures inside of it instead. © Copyright NewPath Learning. All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted for the purchaser to print copies for non-commercial educational purposes only. Visit us at www.NewPathLearning.com.
Recycle Paper, plastic, aluminum, and glass, can be placed in special collection containers which are collected by a Recycling Truck. These items are taken to places where the items can be made into something new. This process is called recycling. Recycling is extremely important. Recycling is when we take trash made out of certain materials and those materials are made into new products. The four main materials that can be recycled are paper, plastic, glass, and aluminum. Lesson Checkpoint: What is one way you can REUSE an item instead of throwing it away? © Copyright NewPath Learning. All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted for the purchaser to print copies for non-commercial educational purposes only. Visit us at www.NewPathLearning.com.
Table Of Contents: Earth's Surface
1. Lesson Objectives
2.1. How Does The Earth's Surface Change?
2. Engage
3.1. The Earth's Surface
3. Explore
4.1. A Close-Up of The Earth's Surface
4.2. Changes Over Time
4. Explain
5.1. The Earth
The Earth is made up of three main layers - crust, mantle and core. We live on the outer layer of the Earth called the crust. The Earth's crust is made up of many different rocks. The layer beneath the Earth's crust is called the mantle. The Earth's mantle is made of igneous and metamorphic rocks.
5.2. Earth's Core
The innermost layer of the Earth is called the core. The Earth's core is made of metal. The Earth's core is hot enough to melt but the center of the core is packed together so tightly that it remains a solid. The outer section of the Earth's core however is hot, thick liquid.
5.3. Earth Inside and Out Interactive Activity
5.4. Landforms
Earth's surface has many shapes and features, known as landforms. They include mountains, canyons, deltas, hills, valleys, and more. A topographic map shows the elevation of these landforms.
5.5. Examples of Landforms
Examples of landforms include glaciers, rivers, lakes, valleys, hills, mountains, coasts and oceans.
5.6. Erosion and Deposition
Changes on the Earth's surface are caused in part by weathering and erosion. Erosion is the wearing away of the Earth's surface by rain, wind, snow, and ice. Deposition is the laying down of pieces of Earth's surface, such as rocks and sand. Over time, whole landscapes can be changed by erosion and deposition.
5.7. Landforms Interactive Matching Activity
5.8. Weathering
The Earth's surface changes constantly because of wind, water, temperature changes, and living things. Landforms can change due to weathering which is the process of breaking rocks into smaller pieces. There are two types of weathering - physical and chemical.
5.9. Physical Weathering
One way physical weathering takes place when water and ice break rocks down into smaller pieces. This happens by freezing and thawing. Physical weathering only changes the size of the rock.
5.10. Chemical Weathering
Chemical weathering not only changes the size of rocks but also causes them to change into different materials. During chemical weathering the rocks are broken down by the actions of chemicals in the air or water.
5.11. Soil
Soil covers most of Earth's land. It is a mixture of sediments of weathered rocks, nonliving materials, and decayed plants and animals. Over time, three layers of soil develop. Topsoil is made mostly of decaying plant and animal remains (humus). Subsoil contains minerals and small rocks. Bedrock is mostly solid rock.
5.12. Physical and Chemical Weathering Interactive Activity
5.13. Earth's Plates
The outermost layer of the Earth's crust is called the lithosphere. This layer is broken down into small and large sections called plates. These plates move slowly and might run into each other, pull apart, or grind past each other. As these plates move, they can cause changes to the Earth's surface. These changes include earthquakes, volcanoes, and the formation of mountains and valleys.
5.14. Earthquakes
Earthquakes cause rapid changes to the Earth's surface. An earthquake is a sudden shift in the Earth's crust that causes the ground to shake and vibrate violently. They most often occur where plates meet on land or under the ocean.
5.15. Volcanoes
Magma is hot, melted rock found beneath the Earth's surface. When pressure builds up, magma erupts though the Earth's crust. Volcanoes are openings in the Earth's crust where the magma comes out. Melted rock that comes above the Earth's surface is called lava. Volcanoes can also cause rapid changes to the Earth's surface.
5.16. Volcanic Islands
Volcanoes can form on continents or they can build from the ocean floor forming volcanic islands. The Hawaiian Islands were formed this way.
5.17. Types of Natural Processes Matching Interactive
5.18. How Does The Earth's Surface Change?
5. Virtual Investigation
6.1. Weathering and Erosion
6.2. Earthquakes
6.3. Volcanoes
6. Evaluate
7.1. How Does The Earth's Surface Change?
7. Lesson Summary
8.1. How Does The Earth's Surface Change?
NewPath Learning
About Us Our Team Awards & Endorsements Grants & Funding Product Suggestions Custom Publishing Collaborate Online Our BlogSolutions
Review & Reinforcement Intervention & Enrichment Test Prep After School/Summer School Parental Involvement Professional DevelopmentShop By Product
Curriculum Mastery Games Flip Charts Visual Learning Guides Curriculum Learning Modules E-Books/Workbooks Posters & Charts Study/Vocabulary Cards Digital Curriculum Online Learning Online Printable WorksheetsShop By Grade
Early Childhood First Grade Second Grade Third Grade Fourth Grade Fifth Grade Sixth Grade Seventh Grade Eighth Grade High School
© 2025 NewPath Learning all right reserved | Privacy Statements | Term of use | Website design WinMix Soft
