Natural Resources Class 6 Geography Notes Maharashtra State Board
We see many things on the earth. Some of these are quite familiar to us. However, we do not necessarily use all of them. We have learned to use some of the things that are available in nature, for example, water. The natural things that man uses are called natural resources. Man fulfills his needs using these natural resources. Air, water, soils, land, minerals, plants, and animals are all natural resources. Most of the natural resources are limited in nature. Therefore they are invaluable. Of these, ‘air’ is such a resource that it is available in plenty. This resource never depletes. However, its quality can change. We need air for various purposes right from breathing to burning. Figures give us an idea about how we use some of the natural resources.
In some of the figures, man is shown doing different tasks. Each of the tasks is related to some resource. Let us consider each of these resources. In the figure, man is seen ploughing the land. The farmer plows the soil layer and makes the land cultivable. In this cultivable land, he grows various crops and fulfills his own and others’ needs for food. For this purpose, he uses the ‘soil’ that is naturally available on land as a resource. Soil is used all over the world and therefore, soil is a very important resource for agriculture.
Soil formation mainly depends on the original rock, climate, organic components, slope of the land, and time. According to the types of rocks and climates in different regions, different types of soil are formed. A long period is required for the formation of mature soil, as it is a very slow process. A period of about a thousand years may be required for the development of a 2.5 cm thick layer of soil.
Figures show a man catching fish and another drawing water from a well. In these pictures, man is seen using the natural resource of water to fulfill his needs. Right from the time we get up in the morning, we keep on using water till we go to bed at night. This shows how important water is as a natural resource. The entire living world depends on this resource. It shows how we obtain salt from seawater. We make use of salt in our day-to-day life.
Water is available in huge quantities on earth. Of this, a large quantity is salty. Only some quantity of the total water is usable. A very meager quantity (0.003%) of water is available for use. However, even this much water is sufficient for all of us.
The figure shows some individuals collecting wood from the forest. Similarly, some people are shown collecting different items in the forest like honey, resin, rubber latex, etc. In order to fulfill our needs, we collect various products from plants in nature. There are various plants on the land surface. Plants are broadly classified as grass, herbs, shrubs, and trees. Man has successfully experimented with some grasses to obtain food grains. This helped him to avoid painful wandering to gather food. He began to live a settled life. The basins of the Huang He, Sindhu (Indus), Nile, and Euphrates are some of the areas where such settlements flourished in the past.
We obtain products like wood, rubber, resin, fruits, medicinal plants, etc. from forests. If we consider the region from the equator to the Poles, as per the temperature zones, we find the following types of natural vegetation- equatorial evergreen, deciduous, tropical grasslands, thorny scrubs, temperate grasslands, mixed forests, broadleaved, coniferous, and Tundra. Many animals make these forests their habitat. Animals who prey on the plant-eating animals also live in the forests. Thus, many food chains develop in the forests. Forests or grasslands are the habitats for many animals. It is basically due to plants that we have got animals as a natural resource. Plants also grow in water. It is very likely that in the future we shall have to depend on aquatic plants to fulfill the needs of the growing human population.
The figure shows an ass carrying a load. Man makes use of animals for a variety of reasons. Horses, oxen, camel, asses, etc. are the animals employed for ploughing, riding, transporting goods, etc. Goats, cows, and buffalos are used as milk animals. Meat, eggs, bone powder, hide, etc. are other products we get from animals. The figure shows that rock is being loaded into a truck from the mining area. We have seen earlier that rock is a mixture of minerals. Minerals are inorganic substances that form in naturally occurring chemical processes.
We get different metals and chemicals from the minerals. Some chemicals are used in preparing different medicines. Minerals are generally classified as metallic and non-metallic minerals. Metallic minerals are used for obtaining different metals such as iron, bauxite, etc., and non-metallic minerals are used in obtaining various chemicals like gypsum, rock salt, calcite, etc.
In all the figures except for fishing, all the activities of obtaining natural resources are being carried out on land. This means that land is also a natural resource. Living things that are born on land grow, live, and die on land itself. Land is an invaluable resource. That is why it is sold or bought. Obtaining land at strategic locations, and using it for construction as well as trade are some other uses of this resource.
Depending on the characteristics like physiography, soil, climate, minerals, and availability of water in different regions of the world, land is used for various purposes. The proportion of land on earth is 29.20%. Depending on the characteristics of land and climate, various living things are found on the land in different proportions. The distribution of these living organisms, including humans, is not uniform. All living things try to adapt to various geographical conditions like rocky terrain, steep slopes, flat plains, mountainous regions, forest-covered areas, river basins, etc. Man alone attempts to make changes in the prevailing conditions to suit his needs.
Every living thing makes use of natural resources according to its needs. However, man started using many of these resources for himself alone with the help of his intellectual power. Later, the increase in population and the greed of humans led to exploitative use of resources. This began to upset the balance in nature. This means that it is necessary that man also must use natural resources only according to his needs and in a judicious manner.
Man has to depend on nature for many things, whatever the extent of his progress. Nature is not for man alone. It belongs to other living things too. Therefore we should always use natural resources, judiciously.
Well-structured Maharashtra State Board Class 6 Geography Notes Natural Resources can reduce anxiety during exams.