Using the Earth's resources and sustainable development: Humans use the Earth’s resources to provide warmth, shelter, food and transport.

The idea

Earth supplies finite and renewable resources that humans convert into warmth, shelter, food and transport. Warmth comes from burning wood, coal or natural gas, or from electricity generated by wind, solar or nuclear power. Shelter uses timber, limestone for cement, clay for bricks, slate for roofing and metals for structural frames. Food depends on soil, water, sunlight and pollinators, supported by farming. Transport needs fuels such as petrol, diesel and biodiesel, plus metals, glass and plastics for vehicles and roads. Each use consumes resources and produces waste, so chemists compare renewability, energy cost and environmental impact when choosing materials.

What earns the marks

• Identify that warmth is obtained by burning fuels such as wood, coal, natural gas or by using electricity from renewable and non-renewable sources.
• State that shelter requires construction materials including timber, clay, limestone, slate, glass and metals, each obtained from the Earth.
• Explain that food production relies on natural resources such as soil, fresh water, sunlight and pollinating insects, often enhanced by agriculture.
• Describe transport as dependent on fuels such as petrol, diesel and biodiesel, and on manufactured materials including steel, aluminium, glass and plastics.
• Recognise that using any resource has consequences, including depletion of finite reserves and release of waste or greenhouse gases.
• Compare renewable and non-renewable resources when justifying a material choice for a stated purpose.

Common mistakes and how to put them right

• Treating all Earth resources as infinite.

  Put it right by classifying coal, oil, metal ores and limestone as finite, while timber and solar energy can be renewed.

• Assuming transport only needs fuel.

  Put it right by noting that vehicles and roads also require metals, glass, rubber and plastics.

• Confusing warmth with temperature.

  Put it right by linking warmth to energy transfer from burning fuel or electrical heating, not to a temperature scale reading.

Exam tips

• Link each named use to a specific resource and its origin, for example shelter to limestone quarried for cement.
• When asked to evaluate, compare a renewable and a non-renewable option using at least two criteria such as availability and waste.
• Use precise terms such as finite, renewable, non-renewable and sustainable rather than vague words like natural or eco-friendly.