🌍 Class 8 Geography – Chapter 1: Resources

🟢 Introduction

Every day we use different things – food, water, clothes, electricity, mobile phones, cars, petrol, land, etc. But have you ever thought, where do these things come from? 🤔

They all come from nature, technology, and human efforts. These useful things are called Resources.

👉 Definition:
A resource is anything that can be used to satisfy a need – provided it is accessible, useful, and has value.

Examples:

• Natural resources: Water, minerals, forests
• Human-made resources: Roads, buildings, machines
• Human resources: People with their skills and knowledge

🔵 Features of Resources

1. Utility (Usefulness): A thing becomes a resource only if it is useful.
   • Example: Coal is useful → Resource
   • Example: A stone on the road is useless → Not a resource
2. Value (Importance): Every resource has value, either economic (money) or non-economic (cultural, aesthetic).
   • Gold = high economic value
   • Beautiful sunset = aesthetic value
3. Dynamic (Changing Nature):
   • Resources are not fixed.
   • What is not useful today may become useful tomorrow with technology.
   • Example: Petroleum was useless in ancient times, now it’s a major resource.

🟠 Types of Resources

Resources can be classified into different categories:

1️⃣ On the Basis of Origin

• Natural resources: Directly from nature
  • Example: Air, water, soil, forests
• Human-made resources: Made by humans
  • Example: Buildings, machinery, roads

2️⃣ On the Basis of Renewability

• Renewable resources: Can be used again and again; replenish naturally.
  • Example: Water, forests, solar energy
• Non-renewable resources: Exhaustible, limited; once used, cannot be replaced quickly.
  • Example: Coal, petroleum, natural gas

3️⃣ On the Basis of Distribution

• Ubiquitous resources: Found everywhere.
  • Example: Air, sunlight
• Localized resources: Found only in specific places.
  • Example: Coal, petroleum, minerals

4️⃣ On the Basis of Ownership

• Individual resources: Owned by private people
  • Example: House, land, car
• Community resources: Used by all members of the community
  • Example: Public parks, lakes
• National resources: Belong to a country (within boundaries)
  • Example: Roads, railways, minerals
• International resources: Managed by international organisations, not by one country
  • Example: Ocean beyond 200 nautical miles, Antarctica

5️⃣ On the Basis of Development

• Actual resources: Already in use, their quantity is known
  • Example: Coal in Damodar Valley
• Potential resources: Present in a region but not yet fully used
  • Example: Solar and wind energy in Rajasthan and Gujarat

🟣 Natural Resources

Natural resources can be further divided into:

1. Biotic resources (living) → Forests, animals, humans
2. Abiotic resources (non-living) → Land, water, minerals

🔴 Human-Made Resources

👉 Humans use knowledge + technology to create resources.
Examples:

• Machines
• Roads
• Bridges
• Vehicles

⚡ These resources increase the value of natural resources.
Example: Petroleum → useless underground. But after refining with machines → petrol, diesel, LPG.

🟢 Human Resources

👉 The most important resource.

• Humans use knowledge and skill to convert anything into a resource.
• Human Resource Development (HRD): Improving education, skills, and health makes people more valuable.
  • Example: Japan → very few natural resources, but skilled population made it a powerful economy.

🔵 Sustainable Development

⚠️ If we use resources carelessly, they may finish!

👉 Sustainable Development = Using resources wisely without damaging the environment, so that future generations also get them.

🌱 Principles of Sustainable Development

1. Balance between development and environment
2. Use renewable resources wisely
3. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
4. Maintain biodiversity
5. Control pollution

🟠 Resource Conservation

Resource conservation = careful use of resources

Ways to conserve resources:

• Avoid wastage of water, electricity
• Reforestation (plant trees)
• Use of renewable energy (solar, wind)
• Awareness among people

👉 Famous quote by Gandhiji:
“There is enough for everybody’s need, but not for anybody’s greed.”

🌈 Summary Table

📝 Important Questions

1. Define resources. Explain with two examples.
2. Differentiate between renewable and non-renewable resources.
3. Why are human resources considered the most important resource?
4. Write a short note on sustainable development.
5. Give examples of community resources and national resources.