Exploiting Earth

A natural resource is a source of products that are inherent to earth

Natural resources include renewable and non-renewable resources

Natural resources are exploited to create the products and services that we depend on

Natural resource extraction causes great environmental disruption

Examples of Natural Resources are:

ForestsMinerals

WaterFossil

FuelsSoil

Fishing

Forests cover ___% of Canada There is a delicate balance between

using the forest resources and maintaining a healthy forest ecosystem

Commercial forests have trees that can be harvested for profits

Non-Commercial forests are farther north and are inaccessible or regenerate very slowly making them poor choices for areas of forestry

The largest forest region is the ________ Forest Region, it is comprised mainly of softwood which is ideal for pulp and paper production

Tree growth here is slow due to long winters and low ______________

The next forest region is the Taiga Forest Region, this region produces stunted trees and thus is not used for forestry in any great capacity

The West Coast Forest Region is the most productive forest region in Canada

Trees here grow larger than anywhere else in Canada due to ideal climate

The Montane Forest Region is second only to the West Coast region in production

It is slightly cooler and drier which decelerates tree growth

Use the blank map provided to sketch the forest regions of Canada. Keep for your notes.

Mixed Forest Region has a wide variety of tree types from deciduous ___________ to softwood ___________

The Mixed Forest region is where Canada gets all of the ______________ produced in Canada

The Mixed Forest Region has very little forest left as it has been removed to make way for settlement and agriculture

Trees are used to make paper, hockey sticks, flooring, ___________, _____________

Clear-cutting is used most frequently in logging operations

Clear-cutting involves cutting down all the trees in an area and leaving a barren landscape

Shelter wood logging is designed for old growth forests

Shelter wood logging is only clear-cutting older trees and leaving seed bearing trees behind so that they can replenish what was taken

Selective cutting consists of harvesting only mature trees of the desired type, size and quality

Selective cutting is typically used when harvesting hardwood trees

This method is the most _________because _________________________

The province that has the largest pulp and paper industry is _________, followed by Ontario and _______________

The province that has the largest lumber industry is British Columbia, followed by Quebec and ___________

Forests, commercial and otherwise, face threats from fire, pollution, erosion and acid rain

A mineral is a naturally occurring, pure, non-living substance found in the rocks of earth

Canada’s valuable minerals can be divided into 3 categories metallic minerals, fossil fuels and industrial minerals

Canada’s most valuable mineral resource are fossil fuels

Industrial minerals are neither metallic nor fossil fuels but rather are a varied combination of products extracted from the earth

Fossil fuels are any mineral that can be ________ to produce energy

Metallic metals are minerals that when _______ become what we know as metals

There are three types of mining, or extracting minerals from the earth’s crust

Strip mining is used when resources are close to the surface in horizontal layers

________ _____ mining is used to extract minerals that are close to the surface but may extend deep into the earth’s crust

Underground mining is used when resources are deep in the earth

Strip mining involves removing the ______ from the area to be mined

It may require __________ Materials are loaded onto trucks or

conveyor belts by shovels or draglines Typically strip mining is used to extract

oil ______ and coal

Open pit mining involves removing the forest cover and any extra earth

Holes are drilled 10-15 feet deep then explosives are used to blast the rock apart

Ore is loaded into trucks which may carry up to 250 tonnes

Ore needs to be processed before it can be used

Underground mining is the most involved mining activity

It involves digging a deep hole that is wide enough for an elevator so that workers can ride the elevator to the mineral source

____________ shafts are required to prevent gas and dust build up

Tunnels are then built off the main shaft and these tunnels lead to stopes, areas where digging and blasting takes place to get at the mineral resources in the rock

Fish used to be considered a renewable resource however over fishing and pollution are depleting the stocks to the point the industry has been _____ _______on more than one occasion

The coasts of Canada are the areas where fishing is mainly practiced

Freshwater fishing is far less valuable than saltwater fishing because __________________

___________________________________________

There are two classifications of saltwater fishing inshore and offshore fishing

Inshore fishing is fishing that takes place within 16 to 25 kms of shore

Inshore fishing is about 85% of the industry but has a tiny percentage of the overall catch

Inshore fishing is typically practiced by individuals and families

Offshore fishing is typically practiced by large ______________

The boats used are more than twice the length of inshore fishers and are equipped with state of the art fishing technology

Offshore fishing takes place anywhere on the _____________ ________, up 370 km offshore

Offshore fishing accounts for ___% of the fishing boats on the water but takes in 90% of the overall catch

The fishing industry is in _______ in Canada

There are 5 main factors that have contributed to this decline in fish population:

-overfishing-improved fishing ______________-uncontrolled foreign fishing-___________ fishing practices-changes in ___________ conditions

On the west coast the fishing industry is focused on shellfish and _________

The east coast is focused on _____ and shellfish

The east coast fisheries have been exploited for hundreds of years

The west coast salmon industry is now in a tug of war between commercial, Aboriginal and sport fishers

Water, specifically freshwater, is becoming a more and more valuable resource

Water is found above ground in the form of lakes and rivers and can also be found in the ground in the form of the water table and aquifers (_____________________________)

Groundwater is water that seeps through the soil, bedrock and collects in the water table or an aquifer

Drainage basins are areas of land whose surface runoff is drained by a single river

Rivers are often used to produce hydroelectricity

Daily water consumption in Canada is second in the world only to ______________

Canadians use on average 330L of water/_________

Water, especially groundwater from aquifers, is being used so quickly that it can not be replenished

Diverting water for the use of ______________ dams or flood protection disrupts the hydrological cycle

Increases in global temperatures and decreases in precipitation are adding the pressure put on the already tapped water resources

Soil may not seem like a resource but all life on earth depends on soil

Soil faces threats from erosion, over use and _____________

Soil contains nutrients and minerals that are necessary for all life on earth to continue

Soil consists of broken down rock, organic material and bacteria

The extraction of natural resources always damages the environment

There is no way of getting what we need from the environment that does not disrupt the natural balance

Most of the time little effort is put into environmental stewardship, or protection

The use of resources requires the implementation of machinery that pollutes

While natural resource extraction won’t stop it is important for us all to try and preserve the resources we do have and reduce the impact we make on the environment