What is a resource? What are the geographic qualities of resources? This activity deals with the complex nature of resources and how geography is part of the nature of resources. Students will be asked to conduct research on selected resources and explore the geographic nature of resources in general.

Geography, political science, economics

Standard 16: "The changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources"

Three to five hours

• Computer with Internet access
• Chalkboard or overhead projector
• Paper and markers
• Index cards
• Copies of the "resource web" template (see instructions below)
• Copies of "Salt: The Essence of Life," National Geographic, September 1977
• Atlases, encyclopedias

Students will

• analyze the relationship between the location of settlements and the distribution of resources;
• evaluate policy decisions regarding the use of resources;
• identify how resources can be reused and recycled; and
• evaluate policies and programs affecting the use of resources at the local and global levels.

Conduct a class discussion on the meaning of the term "resource" (something that is accessible, satisfies a human need, and is perceived as having value). Extend the discussion to include the terms human resource, natural resource, permanent resource, renewable resource, and nonrenewable resource. The class should come to a consensus on the terms' definitions.

On a chalkboard or overhead projector, post the following questions:

• What do you consider the single most important natural resource? Why?
• Is your daily life directly affected by the location of this resource? If so, how?
• Do you think the resource has similar significance to others? Why or why not?
• Has the resource always been important to you? Why or why not?
• Is it finite? If so, how will your life be changed if and when it runs out?

Have students answer the questions on notebook paper. On the chalkboard or overhead projector, record the students' responses to determine if there is classwide consensus on what the most important resources are. Discuss the students' answers to the other questions.

Display the following statements for the class to consider:

• Not all substances can be considered resources.
• Not all resources are natural.
• Human perception of a resource's value changes over time.
• Regions can be created based on the distribution of resources.
• Human settlement is affected by the distribution of resources.
• Resources play a role in a region's industrial development.
• The need or desire for resources has affected people economically, politically, and socially.
• Resources are unevenly distributed throughout the world.
• Nations do not have to be self-sufficient in resources.
• Resources can be misused or overused.

Divide the class into ten groups and distribute the paper and markers. Ask the groups to consider the above statements and write at least one question pertaining to each statement on a large shared sheet of paper. Examples:

• Not all substances can be considered resources: To be considered a resource, what characteristics must something possess?
• Not all resources are natural: What is another category of resources?
• Human perception of a resource's value changes over time: Why might human perception of a resource change? Provide an example.

Post and discuss the groups' questions. Encourage students to add questions that may have been generated from the discussion.

Write one of the following resources on each of the index cards, and give one of the cards to each group: water, soil, forests, cotton, gold, copper, iron, aluminum, coal, and oil. Give a copy of the resource web template and a large piece of paper to each group. Distribute the research materials.

Using the resource web template as a guideline, ask each of the groups to develop their own resource web on the paper.

Note:

A resource web may help students organize questions prior to doing their research. Each group's web should serve as a list of their research topics. To create a resource web, first draw a circle and label it "Resource." Draw 13 ovals around the circle. Inside the ovals print the following phrases:

• Spatial distribution
• Value perception
• Scale perspective (local to global)
• Dependence/interdependence/self-sufficiency
• Relationship to exploration and colonization
• Renewable versus nonrenewable
• Overuse and depletion
• Accessibility
• Perception through time
• Recycling and reuse
• Consumption versus production/demand relationship
• Cultural perception
• Settlement relationship

For each resource web entry, each group should write a question and an answer. Students may also include maps, drawings, or photographs.

Ask each group to display and explain its resource web. After each group has made its presentation, ask students to look for shared elements. What relationships have emerged?

Ask students to read the National Geographic Magazine article about salt. Have them analyze this resource using the concepts developed in this lesson.

Ask students to write a paper, develop a skit, or create a song or poem entitled "What If They Had Had This Resource Then?" They should select a resource, time period, event, and group of people and develop an anachronistic situation for the selected resource. For example, students might wonder how World War II might have been different if Japan had had plenty of petroleum and iron ore prior to the war. Or what would the distribution of cities look like in the United States if the U.S. had a large inland sea (much larger, that is, than the Great Lakes or the Great Salt Lake)?

Gary Miller of F. W. Cox High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia, contributed classroom ideas for Standard 16. The list of statements about resources was adapted from information in Essentials of Geography, by Christopher L. Salter and Charles F. Kovacik and published by Random House School Division, New York, in 1989.

CIA World Factbook
EconEd Link
National Geographic: Xpeditions Activity—The Quest for Gold
World Bank