Natural Features as a Resource
Objectives
The student will learn that people use land and water features to meet their basic needs.
The student will learn that people change land and water features to help meet their needs.
Vocabulary
need, resource, change
Materials Needed
Landscape Picture Map, map markers or post it notes
Lesson
Review with the students that natural features are placed in two groups: land features and water features. Tell the students that people use the land and water of the Earth as a resource. A resource is something people use to meet a need. Land and water are examples of natural resources.
Pull down the Landscape Picture Map. Have the students discuss how the land is used to meet the needs of people. (Examples would be land for farming or cities built on land.) Ask the students if the land has always been the same or have people changed it? Do they know of any place in their neighborhood where a change is taking place?
Now have the students locate water features on the Landscape Picture Map. Circle and identify each feature. Ask the students to describe how water is used to meet our needs (drinking water, washing clothes and dishes, bathing, etc.)
Do the students drink water directly from the river? How do we get water into our houses? Is water from the river hot? Do we eat food directly grown by a farmer or do we buy food at the grocery store?
Tell the students that many times the land and water resources must change before we can use them. People change the land and water resources to make them usable. What other resources can the students think of that must be changed before they can finally be used?
Conclude the lesson by explaining to the students that people must work with natural resources to meet their basic needs. We need to understand how people and land and water features can work together.
Lesson .pdf file (Printable Lesson)