- Definition
A natural resource is anything from nature, like water, trees, or minerals, that people use or find important.
Water is a natural resource because we find it in rivers and lakes and use it for drinking and washing.
How to teach this in 30 seconds
Try this analogy: A natural resource is like finding a cool stick in the park that you can use to draw in the sand.
Ask your child: What things from nature did we use today?
Common mix-up: Kids may think a natural resource is just anything found in nature. The key idea is that it must be something people find useful.
Examples
- Trees are a natural resource because we use their wood to build houses and make paper.
- The soil in a garden is a natural resource because we use it to grow our food.
natural resource is a term used in Ontario’s Kindergarten to Grade 8 curriculum.
Where this shows up
- Grade 5 Science and Technology
- Grade 2 Social Studies / History / Geography
- Grade 3 Social Studies / History / Geography
- Grade 4 Social Studies / History / Geography
+17 more mentions across the curriculum
The descriptions on this page are SmartStudy’s own original, plain-language writing — not the Ministry’s wording. They are aligned to the Ontario Curriculum, © King’s Printer for Ontario. For the Ministry’s official wording, see the source link below. SmartStudy is an independent service and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the Government of Ontario or the Ministry of Education. Ontario Curriculum and Resources ↗
