How Many Resources Do We Each Use? Critical Thinking (6-8 Grade NGSS)

How Many Resources Do We Each Use? 
Humans use resources in their lives every day to feed, clothe, house, and entertain ourselves. We use water for washing clothes and ourselves, for cooking and cleaning. We use gas for driving to school, work, to shop, mowing the lawn, and do other activities. We use natural gas or fuel oil or electricity to heat our homes. We eat a lot of food and feed our pets (and possibly livestock). We use electricity to light our homes, run fans or air conditioners, run computers, charge devises, heat water, run home appliances, etc. We use paper for school, paper towels, toilet paper, paper bags. We buy things in plastic containers and then recycle or throw them away. Can you think of other resources you use?

Use the worksheet to estimate how much of each resource you use each day, by keeping a log.
1) Write down, food, paper, etc.

2) You will have to ask your parents to see your monthly electric bill to estimate the percentage you use in your household per day.

3) Repeat this, where possible for your other resources - heating oil, gasoline, water, etc.

Once you have an approximate amount that you use in one day, calculate by the number of people in your country to find out an approximation of how much your country uses of each resource every day.

Then calculate how much you (and then your country) uses in a year. This number does not include industries, utilities, public transportation, hospitals, farms, etc. which consume huge amounts of resources daily.

Which of these are renewal resources and which are finite? Consider how long will our resources on Earth might last with our present rate of consumption.

Consider how we can reduce our use of resources. Look over your log of the resources you use. Do some research and make some suggestions about way each person can reduce the amount of resources we each use every day.

ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems
• Human activities have significantly altered the biosphere, sometimes damaging or destroying natural habitats and causing the extinction of other species. But changes to Earth’s environments can have different impacts (negative and positive) for different living things. (MS-ESS3-3)

Performance Expectations - Students who demonstrate understanding can:
MS-ESS3-3. Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment. [Clarification Statement: Examples of the design process include examining human environmental impacts, assessing the kinds of solutions that are feasible, and designing and evaluating solutions that could reduce that impact. Examples of human impacts can include water usage (such as the withdrawal of water from streams and aquifers or the construction of dams and levees), land usage (such as urban development, agriculture, or the removal of wetlands), and pollution (such as of the air, water, or land).]