Earth's Natural Resources provides a thorough overview of the subject and details how natural resources relate to individuals and our society. It discusses how the Earth's natural resources form and change over time, how they are extracted for human use, and how we can continue to sustainably use them with our ever-growing global population. The text begins with the basics of energy-giving resources such as oil, natural gas, and coal, as well as alternative energy sources and nuclear power. It goes on to cover the earth's abundant and scarce metals, followed by elements used in agriculture, water and its distribution, quality, and usage. The final section highlights soil composition, minerals, and degradation. In each section, the author discusses the science of the element under consideration, as well as any environmental and sustainability concerns that have arisen as humans have harvested the resources with increasing effectiveness. Key Features of Earth's Natural Resources: -Provides a thorough overview of our natural resources and how society affects these resources -Includes material on alternative energy sources -End-of-chapter material includes chapter summaries, key term listing, student problems, and reference for further reading -Instructor resources include: PowerPoint Image Bank, PowerPoint Lecture Slides, answers to end of chapter problems

Teach students the importance of conserving Earth's natural resources. Students will learn about wind power, solar power, recycling, renewable and non-renewable resources, and more! Colorful images, supporting text, a glossary, table of contents, and index all work together to help readers better understand the content and be fully engaged from cover to cover. This informative, colorful book uses primary sources to captivate readers as they learn social studies topics.

What are natural resources? And why is it important to prevent natural resources from being wasted? Explore Natural Resources! answers these questions. The 25 projects inspire young readers ages 6-9 to have fun while learning why natural resources are important to all living things and how every child can take care of the earth’s resources through reducing, reusing, and recycling. Kids will read about national parks and early environmentalists, Earth celebrations, and the science behind renewable and nonrenewable resources. With projects and experiments ranging from making a wind-powered car and creating a solar catcher to calculating their water footprint, children will discover that everything comes from the earth. Projects are easy-to-follow, require little adult supervision, and use commonly found household products, many from the recycling box. Through a mixture of fun facts, trivia, jokes, comics, and hands-on activities, kids will Explore Natural Resources! and gain an appreciation of earth’s resources, from its vast oceans to its open skies. Explore Natural Resources! meets common core state standards in language arts for reading informational text and literary nonfiction and is aligned with Next Generation Science Standards. Guided Reading Levels and Lexile measurements indicate grade level and text complexity.

Our natural resources include freshwater, forests, oceans, clean air, and land. Humans are steadily depleting each of these resources. We constantly use more resources than our planet is able to replace. People take long showers, use paper products produced as a result of deforestation, buy more food than they can possibly eat, drive cars that pollute the air, and mine the land. Each of these human activities has a number of negative consequences. This book reveals how students can reduce their contribution to natural resource depletion and efforts to find alternative sources of energy.

The Earth is gifted with bountiful natural resources. This non fiction book will discuss what these natural resources are, and how they interact with each other. Also discussed in the pages are ways that people interact with the gifts Earth has to offer. Grow your child’s knowledge of this planet to develop an appreciation towards its existence. Read this book today.

Designed for reluctant readers, this hi-lo series explores Earth's physical properties and processes. The text, written at an accessible reading level, clearly explains key concepts, examines the relationships among Earth's systems, and contemplates the future of our planet. Dynamic photographs and labeled diagrams enhance understanding of content across the science curriculum.

Natural and human-induced changes in Earth's interior, land surface, biosphere, atmosphere, and oceans affect all aspects of life. Understanding these changes requires a range of observations acquired from land-, sea-, air-, and space-based platforms. To assist NASA, NOAA, and USGS in developing these tools, the NRC was asked to carry out a "decadal strategy" survey of Earth science and applications from space that would develop the key scientific questions on which to focus Earth and environmental observations in the period 2005-2015 and beyond, and present a prioritized list of space programs, missions, and supporting activities to address these questions. This report presents a vision for the Earth science program; an analysis of the existing Earth Observing System and recommendations to help restore its capabilities; an assessment of and recommendations for new observations and missions for the next decade; an examination of and recommendations for effective application of those observations; and an analysis of how best to sustain that observation and applications system.

Geothermal heat, made by the disintegration of the radioactive atoms in Earth's core, is not a subject young readers often get to learn about. Heavy metals and solar energy, two topics that are constantly appearing in technology news today, are typically left for more advanced readers to discover and understand. By using accessible yet exciting language and bold, colorful photography and art, this book lets young readers explore a plethora of fascinating yet digestible facts about what our planet naturally provides and how we harness it.

"An audacious and concrete proposal…Half-Earth completes the 86-year-old Wilson’s valedictory trilogy on the human animal and our place on the planet." —Jedediah Purdy, New Republic In his most urgent book to date, Pulitzer Prize–winning author and world-renowned biologist Edward O. Wilson states that in order to stave off the mass extinction of species, including our own, we must move swiftly to preserve the biodiversity of our planet. In this "visionary blueprint for saving the planet" (Stephen Greenblatt), Half-Earth argues that the situation facing us is too large to be solved piecemeal and proposes a solution commensurate with the magnitude of the problem: dedicate fully half the surface of the Earth to nature. Identifying actual regions of the planet that can still be reclaimed—such as the California redwood forest, the Amazon River basin, and grasslands of the Serengeti, among others—Wilson puts aside the prevailing pessimism of our times and "speaks with a humane eloquence which calls to us all" (Oliver Sacks).

Science, engineering, and technology permeate nearly every facet of modern life and hold the key to solving many of humanity's most pressing current and future challenges. The United States' position in the global economy is declining, in part because U.S. workers lack fundamental knowledge in these fields. To address the critical issues of U.S. competitiveness and to better prepare the workforce, A Framework for K-12 Science Education proposes a new approach to K-12 science education that will capture students' interest and provide them with the necessary foundational knowledge in the field. A Framework for K-12 Science Education outlines a broad set of expectations for students in science and engineering in grades K-12. These expectations will inform the development of new standards for K-12 science education and, subsequently, revisions to curriculum, instruction, assessment, and professional development for educators. This book identifies three dimensions that convey the core ideas and practices around which science and engineering education in these grades should be built. These three dimensions are: crosscutting concepts that unify the study of science through their common application across science and engineering; scientific and engineering practices; and disciplinary core ideas in the physical sciences, life sciences, and earth and space sciences and for engineering, technology, and the applications of science. The overarching goal is for all high school graduates to have sufficient knowledge of science and engineering to engage in public discussions on science-related issues, be careful consumers of scientific and technical information, and enter the careers of their choice. A Framework for K-12 Science Education is the first step in a process that can inform state-level decisions and achieve a research-grounded basis for improving science instruction and learning across the country. The book will guide standards developers, teachers, curriculum designers, assessment developers, state and district science administrators, and educators who teach science in informal environments.