coalA burnable rock that started out as swamp forest. Buried plants turn first to peat and then, under heat and pressure over millions of years, to coal. It is mostly carbon.
conservationManaging nature's supplies so the future has them. It covers water, soil, forests, fisheries and wildlife. The early conservation movement grew out of the need to keep such supplies from giving out.
crude oilUnrefined petroleum, measured by the barrel. A barrel is 42 gallons. Refineries in the United States turn one into about 19 to 20 gallons of gasoline, plus diesel, jet fuel and more.
fossil fuelA fuel that began as living things ages ago. Coal, crude oil and natural gas are the three. Burning one releases energy that plants or tiny sea life stored millions of years ago.
fresh waterWater with very little salt dissolved in it. Over 96 percent of the water on Earth is salty. Of the fresh water, over 68 percent is locked in ice and glaciers and about 30 percent is in the ground.
Show all 36 terms (31 more)
Natural resource basics, continued
mineralAn ingredient of rock with a fixed chemical recipe. Each mineral has its own crystal form. A rock is made of one mineral or of several.
natural gasThe one fossil fuel that is neither solid nor liquid. It is mostly methane. It has no smell of its own, so a scent like rotten eggs is added to make leaks easy to notice.
natural resourceAnything useful that nature, not people, provides. Sunlight, air, water, land, minerals, plants and wildlife all count. Every product people make starts as one or more of them.
nonrenewable resourceA resource of fixed supply, used up and not replaced. Coal, crude oil, natural gas, metal ores and uranium are examples. They form far too slowly to keep pace with their use.
oreA rock mined because metal can be won from it. Iron, copper, tin and zinc all come from ores. The word is Old English for a lump of metal.
renewable resourceA resource that nature restocks within a lifetime. Fresh water, timber and wind are examples. Even these can run short where people take them faster than they come back.
timberTrees, or their logs, counted as a supply of wood. Sawn into boards and beams it is called lumber in the United States. It is renewable when it is cut no faster than it grows back.
Land, water and energy 12
abiotic resourceA resource from the non-living world, such as air. Land, water, air and metals such as gold, iron and copper are abiotic.
arable landLand fit to be plowed and planted with crops. Rough pasture that can feed sheep but cannot grow crops is not arable. Arable land is easily degraded.
biotic resourceA resource that is alive or came from life. Forests, fish, livestock and wildlife are biotic. Coal and oil count too, because they formed from decayed living matter.
firewoodTree branches and logs gathered to be burned. It is a kind of biomass, and renewable only while trees regrow as fast as they are cut.
forestTree-covered land, the source of timber. Forests cover about 31 percent of the world's land, and 45 percent of that is in the tropics.
groundwaterThe water that wells and springs draw on. It fills the pores of soil and the cracks of rock, more like the water in a sponge than an underground lake. A layer that yields enough to use is an aquifer.
hydropowerPower drawn from a river on its way downhill. It is one of the oldest energy sources: thousands of years ago paddle wheels on rivers ground grain. Today most of it makes electricity at dams.
oil wellA narrow shaft bored down to an oil deposit. Natural gas usually comes up with the oil. Where the oil does not rise by itself, a pumpjack at the surface lifts it.
soilThe earthy mix that feeds and anchors land plants. It is made of minerals, organic matter, water, air and living things. Every crop and every forest depends on it.
solar energySunshine put to work for heating or electricity. Solar cells turn it straight into electricity, and solar collectors use it to heat water or air. It is on hand only while the Sun shines.
wildlifeUndomesticated animals and plants, living wild. It is found in every kind of ecosystem, cities included. The word once meant only game: the birds and mammals that were hunted.
wind energyThe push of moving air, caught by spinning blades. Wind blows because the Sun heats the Earth unevenly. Sails and windmills used it long before turbines made electricity.
Using and saving resources 12
irrigationSupplying crops with water other than rainfall. It has been part of farming for over 5,000 years. Channels, sprinklers and drip lines are three ways of doing it.
loggingFelling trees and hauling the logs out of a forest. It is the first link in the chain that supplies wood for houses, paper and fuel. The logs usually go to a sawmill.
miningGetting coal, metals and gems out of the Earth. Limestone, rock salt, gravel and clay are mined as well. Most materials that cannot be grown on a farm or made in a factory have to be mined.
overfishingCatching fish faster than they can multiply. It can happen in a pond, a river or an ocean. In the United States, federally managed fish stocks are given annual catch limits.
quarryA site where building stone, sand or gravel is taken. Limestone, marble and granite come from quarries.
raw materialWhat a factory starts with, such as logs or cotton. Crude oil, iron ore, coal and water are raw materials too. Feedstock is another name.
recyclingMaking new goods out of collected waste. It comes third in the saying reduce, reuse, recycle. It cuts the need for new raw materials.
reforestationPlanting trees where a forest used to stand. The forest may have been lost to clearing or to wildfire. The new trees supply wood, store carbon and bring back habitat.
resource depletionUsing a resource up faster than it is renewed. Soil erosion, shrinking aquifers and overfishing are kinds of it.
scarcityA supply too small to cover every demand for it. It is the opposite of abundance. A resource in short supply is worth more than a plentiful one.
smeltingFreeing a metal from its rock in a hot furnace. Copper, tin, lead, zinc and silver are all won this way. Iron is smelted in a blast furnace.
sustainabilityThe ability to keep going far into the future. A forest cut no faster than it regrows is used sustainably: the people who come later can still use it.
How this list was compiled: Term list chosen for this site on 2026-10-12. Each meaning is written in our own words and was checked that day against the article on the term in the English Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/), whose text is under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license: Natural resource, Renewable resource, Non-renewable resource, Fossil fuel, Coal, Petroleum, Natural gas, Mineral, Ore, Fresh water, Lumber, Conservation movement, Solar energy, Wind power, Hydropower, Oil well, Firewood, Soil, Arable land, Forest, Wildlife, Logging, Scarcity, Raw material, Mining, Quarry, Smelting, Irrigation, Groundwater, Resource depletion, Recycling, Overfishing, Reforestation and Sustainability. Timber, conservation, quarry, firewood, soil, biotic and abiotic were also read in Wiktionary, the free dictionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/). Renewable and nonrenewable sources, coal, crude oil and the barrel, natural gas, uranium and nuclear energy, hydropower, wind and solar energy and what a refinery makes were checked a second time against Energy Explained of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/): Sources of energy, Coal, Oil and petroleum products, Refining crude oil, Natural gas, Nuclear, Hydropower, Solar and Biomass. The mineral, the groundwater and the shares of salt and fresh water are from the U.S. Geological Survey: What is the difference between a rock and a mineral? and What is groundwater? (https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/) and How Much Water is There on Earth? of its Water Science School (https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/how-much-water-there-earth). Recycling was checked against Recycling Basics and Benefits of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (https://www.epa.gov/recycle/recycling-basics-and-benefits), the annual catch limit against Fishery Stock Status Updates of NOAA Fisheries (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/population-assessments/fishery-stock-status-updates), and conservation beside preservation against Conservation, Preservation and the National Park Service (https://www.nps.gov/teachers/classrooms/conservation-preservation-and-the-national-park-service.htm). The fact after each meaning is from the same pages. Licence: own work
How it works
This vocabulary worksheet on natural resources lines up twelve terms, among them renewable resource, nonrenewable resource, fossil fuel, mineral, ore and conservation, beside their meanings in another order. An answer key prints as the last page.
Read the full guide
Land, water and energy
Set opens on Natural resource basics. The second set has soil, arable land, forest, wildlife, groundwater, biotic resource, abiotic resource, solar energy, wind energy, hydropower, oil well and firewood.
Using and saving resources
The third set has raw material, mining, quarry, smelting, logging, irrigation, resource depletion, scarcity, recycling, overfishing, reforestation and sustainability.
Nuclear, uranium, biomass, geothermal and power plant are not terms here: they are words on the energy word search.
Questions and answers
Is water a renewable resource?
Fresh water is: rain and snow keep refilling rivers, lakes and the ground. The groundwater of some aquifers is counted as nonrenewable, because it is pumped out far faster than it seeps back in.
Is nuclear energy renewable or nonrenewable?
Nonrenewable, by the count of the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Its fuel is uranium, a metal that has to be mined, and most of the uranium in the Earth's crust is too hard or too costly to get out.
What is the difference between conservation and preservation?
Conservation means using nature's resources carefully, so that they last. Preservation means shielding nature from being used at all. The National Park Service draws the line between the two that way.
Is there a natural resources vocabulary worksheet for middle school?
It works for middle school: the second and third sets go past the basics to biotic and abiotic resource, smelting, resource depletion and sustainability. The sheet itself prints no grade.