SUSTAINABILITY

Natural Resources and Their Sustainability

(Taught in week 8)

Tutorial - Student Version

General Education Program GESU121

Date: ____________ CRN: _________ Section: ___________

Teacher name: ___________________________ Student name: ___________________________ Student ID: ___________________________ Classroom: ___________________________

Adapted from the text ‘Living in the Environment’ – p.354-p.359

1

What are Mineral Resources

Find the meaning of the words you do not know:

vocabulary meaning Part of Speech

Example - to melt to make solid matter become a liquid by heating verb (v)

to extract verb (v)

a concentration of noun (n)

to process verb (v)

a component noun (n)

an ore

noun (n)

an alloy

noun (n)

a mine

noun (n)

Mineral Resources

Examples are:

metallic minerals (such as gold, aluminum, iron, and copper)

nonmetallic minerals (such as sand, gravel, and limestone)

When we extract and use mineral resources, we can disturb the land, erode soils, produce large amounts of solid waste, and pollute the air, water, and soil.

Some materials in the earth’s crust can be extracted and made into useful products that provide economic benefits and jobs.

A mineral resource is a concentration of naturally occurring material from the earth’s crust that can be extracted and processed into useful products.

Example

Why do you think mineral resources are classified as ‘non-renewable’?

Adapted from the text ‘Living in the Environment’ – p.354-p.359

2

Nonrenewable metal and nonmetal mineral resources are important parts of our lives.

Use the following site to get your answers:

http://scienceviews.com/geology/minerals.html

Discuss any minerals you do not understand with your teacher and class.

Find out what the following minerals are used for in our lives.

Lead Example Lead is used for car batteries, glass and radiation protection (for example, x-rays)

Aluminum

Tin

Copper

Gold )

Sandstone

Granite

Limestone

Adapted from the text ‘Living in the Environment’ – p.354-p.359

3

Active Form

Subject Verb Object

People extract minerals from the earth.

Who extracts? People extract … so, people is the subject and the verb is extract.

What do people extract? … people extract minerals……so, minerals is the object. Passive Form When we use the passive we change the order of words, and we make the object become the subject in the sentence.

subject be + past participle object

Minerals are extracted by people.

To change the verb form to the passive you must use - 'be verb' + 'past participle'

We often use the passive when:

Minerals are used in our daily life. Metallic ores can be found in the earth.

Resources can be extracted from the earth’s crust.

1. We do not know who did something.

Mineral resources are extracted from the earth’s crust.

2. We do not want to focus on the person who did the action.

e.g. Kevin uses too many resources.

3. We describe a process.

e.g. Ore is processed into useful products.

Grammar Focus: How to use the active and passive verb forms.

Example

Example

Examples

Example

Example

Example

Adapted from the text ‘Living in the Environment’ – p.354-p.359

4

Out of class activity 1: Look at the sentences and decide if they are active or passive:

The environment can be affected by the mining of resources. Passive

1. We use aluminum for many things.

2. Ores are extracted from the earth.

3. We can find minerals in large concentrations.

4. Sand is used in construction.

5. Gold is processed to make useful things.

6. People use copper for electrical wiring.

7. Limestone is used for making cement.

8. Most resources we extract from the earth are non-renewable.

The passive is used in a lot of writing in science, and in academic essays when we explain how something works.

Out of class activity 2: Rewrite the sentences given below from the active form to the passive.

We use the earth’s resources to make useful products. 1. We extract minerals from the earth. 2. We use gold to make jewelry. 3. We make steel for use in construction. 4. We can find ores in large concentrations. 5. We make glass from sand.

Useful products are made from the earth’s resources.

Passive

Passive

Passive

Passive

Passive

Passive

Example

Example

Adapted from the text ‘Living in the Environment’ – p.354-p.359

5

The following images show the stages of the typical life cycle of a metal (mineral) resource.

Put the following sentences in the correct order as the above stages.

When we extract minerals from the earth, it can have both advantages and disadvantages.

The final product is produced.

Once the final product is thrown away, it can be recycled.

Ore is taken from the mine.

The ore is mined

The ore is melted.

The ore is processed and separated from the rock.

Adapted from the text ‘Living in the Environment’ – p.354-p.359

6

In pairs, discuss what the advantages and disadvantages are.

Removal of mineral deposits

Label each picture to show the method of mining.

Mineral concentrations near the surface are removed by surface mining.

Mineral concentrations deep in the earth are removed by subsurface mining.

Advantages:

The extracting, processing and use of minerals can:

Disadvantages:

The extracting, processing and use of minerals can:

A

B

Adapted from the text ‘Living in the Environment’ – p.354-p.359

7

Find the meaning of the following words.

vocabulary meaning PoS

a dam A barrier or wall to hold back water n

to convert

v

a miner

n

to clench

v

cyanide n

to level

v

a solution (liquid)

n

toxic adj.

a liner (for a pond)

n

to leach

v

Mineral resources extracted from the earth’s crust are processed into a large variety of products that can make life easier and provide economic benefits and jobs. But extracting minerals from the ground and converting them to such products have a number of harmful environmental effects.

main idea

The pros and cons of mining minerals for

everyday use

main idea For example, gold miners typically remove enough rock to equal the weight of 50 cars to extract an amount of gold that would fit inside your clenched fist. Most newlyweds would be surprised to know that about 5.5 metric tons (5,500 kg) of mining waste was created to make their two gold wedding rings. This waste is left piled near the mine sites and can pollute the air and nearby surface water.

.

Between 1980 and 2007, global gold production more than doubled. In 2007, South Africa, Australia, the United States, and Canada were, in order, the world’s top producers of gold.

Case Study

Environmental Effects of Gold Mining

Example

Example

Adapted from the text ‘Living in the Environment’ – p.354-p.359

8

In Australia and North America, a mining technology called cyanide heap leaching is used by mining companies to level entire mountains of rock containing only small concentrations of gold. To extract the gold, miners spray a

solution of highly toxic cyanide salts (which react with gold) onto huge open-air piles of crushed rock. The solution then drains into storage ponds. After the solution is circulated a number of times, the gold is removed from the ponds.

main idea

main idea This cyanide is extremely toxic to birds and mammals drawn to these ponds in search of water. The ponds can also leak or overflow, posing threats to underground drinking water supplies and fish and other forms of life in nearby lakes and streams. Special liners in the collection ponds can prevent leaks, but some have failed. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, all such liners will eventually leak.

In 2000, snow and heavy rains washed out an earthen dam on one end of a cyanide leach pond at a gold mine in Romania. The dam’s collapse released large amounts of water laced with cyanide and toxic metals into the Tisza and Danube Rivers flowing through parts of Romania, Hungary, and Yugoslavia

main idea

main idea Several hundred thousand people living along these rivers were told not to fish or to drink or with- draw water from affected rivers or from wells along the rivers. Food industries and paper mills were shut down. Thousands of fish and other aquatic plants and animals were killed. This accident and another one that occurred in January 2001 could have been prevented if the mining company had installed a stronger containment dam and a backup collection pond to prevent leakage into nearby surface water.

.

Surface gold mine

Fish killed by cyanide poisoning from nearby gold mine

Adapted from the text ‘Living in the Environment’ – p.354-p.359

9

Match the following sentences go with the numbers in the above diagram. The diagram shows how gold is extracted from ore using a cyanide solution (synonyms have been used to help you learn vocabulary better).

A cyanide solution is passed through the processed ore.

Gold ore is extracted from the mine.

Gold is removed from the water.

Gold ore is processed into small pieces.

The cyanide solution and the gold is leached out of the processed ore.

1.

1. How much ore is mined to produced enough gold to fit inside your clasped fist? 2. In 2007, which country produced the most gold? 3. Which poisonous chemical is sprayed onto gold ore to help release the gold mineral? 4. What can this poisonous chemical pose a risk to? 5. What is used beneath storage ponds to help prevent leaks? 6. What type of human-made wall is built to stop toxic water from escaping form ponds?

Example

Adapted from the text ‘Living in the Environment’ – p.354-p.359

10

Out of class reading (or in class if you prefer to do this activity):

vocabulary meaning PoS

radiation The emission of energetic particles from radioactive materials such as uranium, radon…. This is a very simplified meaning

n

a reactor (nuclear) n

partially adv.

to contaminate

v

premature adj.

to abandon v

radioactive fallout

n

a defect n

Chernobyl is known around the globe as the site of the world’s most serious nuclear power plant accident. On April 26, 1986, a series of explosions in one of the reactors in a nuclear power plant in Ukraine (then part of the Soviet Union) blew the massive roof off a reactor building. The reactor partially melted down, and its building caught fire and burned for 10 days. As the reactor burned, it released more than 100 times the amount of radiation produced by the atomic bombs dropped by the United

States on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II. Furthermore, the initial explosion and fires released a huge radioactive cloud that spread over much of Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, and Europe and eventually circled the planet. In 2008, after 22 years, areas of the Ukraine and northern Europe are still dangerously contaminated with radioactive materials as a result of the accident.

main idea

Answer the following as true, false or not given.

1. At Chernobyl, all the reactors exploded.

2. The reactor building burned for more than one week.

CASE STUDY Chernobyl: The World’s Worst Nuclear Power Plant Accident

Example

Adapted from the text ‘Living in the Environment’ – p.354-p.359

11

3. The amount of radiation released was less than that from the bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

4. Nuclear power is the most dangerous form of energy.

main idea According to U.N. studies, the Chernobyl disaster was caused by poor reactor design and by human error, and it had serious consequences. By 2005, 56 people had died prematurely from exposure to radiation released by the accident. The World Health Organization (WHO) projected that eventually, this number will grow to 9,000. However, the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences estimated the eventual death toll at 212,000. Because of secrecy and very little reliable data, we will never know the real death toll. After Chernobyl, some 350,000 people had to abandon their homes because of contamination by radioactive fallout. In addition to fear about long-term health effects such as cancers, many of these victims continue to suffer from stress and depression. In parts of Ukraine, people still cannot drink the water or eat locally produced fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, or milk. In contaminated areas, the frequency of birth defects and mental problems in newborn babies increased. There are also higher incidences of thyroid cancer, leukemia, and immune system abnormalities in children exposed to radioactive fallout. Thyroid cancers are so common that the resulting surgical scars at the base of the neck are known as the “Chernobyl necklace.” Chernobyl taught us a hard lesson: A major nuclear accident anywhere has effects that reverberate throughout much of the world. One more major nuclear power accident anywhere in the world could have a devastating impact on the future of nuclear power.

5. The nuclear disaster was caused by computer error.

6. WHO predicts that the eventual number of deaths could be as high as 212,000.

7. Because of the radiation, thousands of people had to leave the area.

8. Most people in Europe were diagnosed with some form of cancer because of Chernobyl.

Hold a class discussion on whether or not unclear power should be part of a sustainable program to meet energy demands.