Lesson video

This lesson is called Sustainable use of resources and is from the unit Climate change and living sustainably.

Hi there, my name's Mrs. McCready and I'm here to guide you through today's lesson.

So thank you very much for joining me today.

In our lesson today, we're going to explain what is meant by the sustainable use of resources, and we're going to describe ways to make transport and buildings more sustainable.

Now in our lesson today, we're going to come across a number of keywords and they're listed up here on the screen for you now.

You may wish to pause the video to make a note of them, but I will introduce them to you as we come across them.

So in our lesson today, we're going to look at how we might use resources sustainably and then how we might go about getting around the place sustainably before we consider how we might make our buildings sustainable.

So are you ready to go? I certainly am.

Let's get started.

Now we know that we use resources in our everyday lives, plenty of them as well.

We use them for cars, for buildings, for our food, for fuel, and many other things besides.

I'm sure you can think about all the things that you've got in your home, all the things that are in your classroom that are resources that we use on a daily basis.

Now, some of these resources are used to make other things and some of these resources are burnt to make electricity or to keep us warm or to heat things up.

And the things that we burn to keep us warm or to heat other things up are called fuels.

So which of these resources are fuels? Electricity, natural gas or petrol? I'll give you five seconds to decide.

So you should have chosen natural gas and petrol as resources of fuels.

Well done.

Now, natural resources are substances that can be found in the environment.

Just as we look around, things that appear naturally in our world.

So for instance, stone is a natural resource because it is found naturally in the environment, whereas bricks are not a natural resource because we need to manufacture bricks, we need to make them out of other materials.

However, they are made from natural resources.

For instance, an apple is a natural resource because we can find apples in our environment at certain times of year.

But bread is not a natural resource because it is manufactured.

We have to make bread.

However, we do make bread out of ingredients that are natural resources.

So although it isn't a natural resource itself, it is made from natural resources that are found in the environment.

Now, if natural resources are used up and they're not replaced, then they may run out.

They might not, but they're very likely to.

Now, some of these natural resources are very easy to replace.

For instance, it's relatively easy to replace apples because we can grow more apples and apples grow very easily in our climate, at least in the UK.

And so it's relatively easy to grow apples.

And in fact, you might well grow your own apples in your garden from apple trees.

But other resources are very difficult if not impossible to replace.

For instance, coal, oil and gas are all very difficult resources to replace because they take millions of years to make in the first place so that we can't just grow more of them or make more of them very quickly.

It's an extremely long process well beyond our lifetime in order to create more of them.

So which of these are made from natural resources? Pasta, wood and water.

I'll give you five seconds to decide.

Okay, so you should have said that all of them are made from natural resources.

Pasta is made from wheat, eggs, vegetable oil, and salt.

And all of these are natural resources.

And of course, wood and water are both natural resources as well.

So well done if you spotted that they are all made from natural resources.

Now of those natural resources, some of them are renewable and a renewable resource will not run out because we replenish it, we replace it more quickly than we use it up.

Now this is an important definition to understand and to make sure that you get it correct that a renewable resource will not run out.

It's not that we can use it over and over again.

That is not correct, the correct definition.

It's that it'll not run out and it won't run out because we will replenish it more quickly than we use it up.

Now there are plenty of examples of renewable energy resources, wind turbines and solar panels are good examples of renewable energy resources because there will always be more wind on Earth and well the sun will eventually stop burning, but we've going to have to wait another four and a half billion years for that to occur.

So I don't think we need to worry about that anytime soon.

And therefore sunlight is a renewable resource, it will not run out.

Now other resources are not renewable.

So for instance, petrol is not renewable because it is made from oil and oil cannot be replaced.

Once we've used it, that's it, it's gone.

And that's because oil, coal and gas all take millions of years to be produced in the first place.

And so once we've used them up, we would have to wait millions more years before more oil, coal or gas was made.

And therefore, once they're used up they're gone.

Certainly as far as we are concerned.

Now, plastic is also non-renewable and that is because plastic is made from oil.

So although they are different substances, oil is a liquid for instance, whereas plastic is not, they are made from the same base components which are not renewable.

So which of these resources are renewable? Petrol, plastic, sun and wind.

I'll give you five seconds to decide.

So you should have chosen sun and wind as renewable resources.

Well done if you did.

Now wood is a renewable resource, but only if we harvest it correctly and look after the woodlands from which we are taking the trees.

So if when we harvest wood, we then regrow trees, then wood is sustainable because we are replacing the trees and growing them on to replace what we've taken out and therefore we are replacing what we've used and not using them up quickly enough to destroy the forest completely.

However, wood is often harvested in a non-renewable way in that the trees are taken down and then not replaced.

And if that happens then the trees are not being harvested in a renewable way and the forest is therefore reducing in size and not being replaced.

So if we are harvesting trees and then replanting them to grow more woodland, and if we are doing that as quickly as we are using trees, so if we're replacing them as quickly as we are using them, then we can say that we are using the wood sustainably.

And if we use the wood sustainably, then the wood will never run out.

However, the problem with this is that although we might be replacing the trees, actually the bigger ecosystem that is being supported by the woodland, so the other plants and animals which are depending upon these trees for their habitat, it's very difficult to maintain those animals, those plants because we've cut down the trees that underpin their ecosystem.

So although harvesting wood can be done sustainably, it also has to be done with much greater caution than just simply putting in more trees or as many trees as we've cut down because of the impact that those trees will have when they're taken out on other animals and plants.

So bearing that in mind, how could we fish sustainably? Could we eat new types of fish when the ones we usually eat can't be found? Could we limit the number of fish we eat so the number in the sea does not go down? Or could we use smaller boats so that fewer fish can be caught by each boat? I'll give you five seconds to decide.

Okay, so if we want to fish sustainably, really what we need to be doing is limiting the number of fish we eat.

So the number of fish in the sea does not go down, so we're not eating more fish than the fish are able to reproduce and make more of.

Well done if you spotted that.

So what I'd like you to do is to match each of the keywords on the right with its definition on the left.

So spend a little bit of time reading all of the words and their definitions carefully before you match them up.

Pause the video and come back to me when you are ready.

Okay, let's see how you matched these words up with their definitions.

So you should have said that a resource that will not run out because it is replenished more quickly than we use it up is the definition of a renewable resource.

That a resource that can be maintained at a certain level for as long as is needed is the definition of a sustainable resource.

That a substance we burn for heating things is the definition of a fuel, and a substance that comes from the earth is a natural resource.

Well done if you matched all of those four definitions correctly.

Okay, let's look at how we might get around sustainably.

So most of the time that we are moving around, especially over moderate to long distances, we are using a vehicle, a car, a bus, a train, that sort of thing.

And most of the vehicles in the UK use petrol or diesel.

Now, petrol or diesel are types of oil and as we've already seen, oil is not sustainable because they take millions of years to be produced and therefore we cannot quickly replace them.

However, some and an increasing number of cars in the UK are being powered by electric batteries and some of that electricity being used to power the batteries to charge the batteries is sustainable electricity because it is coming from a renewable resource.

So a renewable resource is something like wind or solar or tidal and all of those sorts of renewable resources, if they are generating the electricity to power the electric batteries in cars are sustainable and therefore those cars are using a sustainable form of electricity.

However, the electricity that is being used to charge the cars may also be coming from a non-renewable source such as burning fossil fuels, coal, oil, or gas.

And therefore not all electric cars will be using sustainable electricity because if the electricity has been produced using a non-renewable resource like coal, oil or gas, then the electricity is itself not sustainable.

So the source of electricity used to charge the car batteries will determine whether the electricity used by the cars is sustainable or not.

So why is electricity more sustainable than petrol? Is it because electricity can be generated using renewable resources? Is it because petrol is not a natural resource, or is it because electricity is not a fuel? I'll give you five seconds to decide.

Okay, so you should have said that electricity is more sustainable than petrol because electricity can be generated using renewable resources such as wind, solar, tidal.

So what I'd like you to do now is to consider what your school could do to support the use of more electric vehicles.

So pause the video, have a good think about that and come back to me when you are ready.

Okay, so what did you write? And I expect you've been really creative with your ideas, but maybe you've included some of these ideas.

Such as the next time the school mini bus needs to be replaced, buying an electric one instead of a petrol or a diesel one.

By building electric vehicle charging stations in the car park for teachers to use, and for reserving the best parking spaces in the teacher's car park for those electric cars.

But maybe you've thought of some other things as well that could be done and well done if you have.

Okay, let's move on to the last part of our lesson, which is looking at how we might build sustainable buildings.

Now in the UK, as I'm sure you have seen as you've moved around, buildings are often built from concrete blocks and mortar and neither of these are very sustainable.

So concrete blocks are made by mixing cement with gravel, sand and water, and then the mortar which sticks them together is made by mixing cement with sand and water.

And these are large concrete blocks that are often used on the inside of building walls as the main structural support and then perhaps clad in something like a brick outer layer or maybe with some panelling on the outside to make them look nicer.

But you may well have seen these concrete blocks being built as part of a housing development, for instance, around where you live.

Now, as I said, concrete blocks and the mortar that binds them together, neither of these are very sustainable, and that's because mixing cement, which forms the basis of both the concrete blocks and the water requires the crushing of rocks and then heating them to a very high temperature in order to make the cement.

So you can see how quite a lot of energy is required and great quantities of resources are also needed to make cement to make these buildings.

Now buildings can also be made from other types of resources.

Maybe you live in a house which is made of a more sustainable resource, for instance of wood.

Now, wooden buildings are often less expensive than ones made of bricks and mortar, and they can also be very sustainable.

Wood is an excellent insulator.

So wooden houses are often much warmer than brick houses.

They can be treated to make sure that they are fire resistant, but they do also need regular treating to make sure that they don't rot.

So they require a little bit more maintenance, but they are often more sustainable, especially if the wood that they are made from is harvested from sustainably managed woodland.

Other resources can be used to make buildings more sustainable and much less often, but nevertheless still used is straw.

Now straw is very renewable because it's very quick to grow.

It's the stems of wheat and straw is used in its bale form, so it's packaged up into big bales and then that is used like massive bricks to build walls of houses.

Now this is excellent for keeping a nice warm home in winter, actually a cool home in the summertime because straw is an excellent insulator and also straw bales are fire resistant.

So this is an excellent way of building a sustainable resource.

Now the straw needs to be covered on the inside particularly, but on both sides with a plaster to make the walls smooth and that will require regular maintenance because it can peel off quite easily.

But besides regular maintenance, straw is a very sustainable resource for building houses.

So what makes wood more sustainable than brick? Is it that more wood can be grown to replace what is used or that wood can be treated to make it resistant to rot, or that wood is a better insulator? I'll give you five seconds to decide.

Okay, so you should have said that wood is more sustainable than brick because more wood can be grown to replace what is used and it is a better insulator.

So this means that less energy will be required to heat the house and therefore it is more sustainable.

Well done if you've got both of those points.

So you've looked at the building materials that can be used to make the walls of buildings, but what about the roofs? So roofs can be used for holding solar panels.

You can't make the roof out of solar panels themselves directly, but you can place solar panels on top of the roofs and by doing so, the sunlight that is falling onto the solar panels can be used to produce electricity even on a dull or a rainy day.

There's still ambient light within the environment and therefore can be generating electricity.

Now sunlight is a renewable resource because it's going to take another four and a half billion years before the sun stops burning.

And so we've got plenty of time left for the sun to keep producing sunlight and heat for us to use on Earth.

Now if the electricity that is produced by the solar panels on a roof is not needed right away, it can then be stored in batteries to be used later on, or it can be put back into the national grid for other people to use in their homes or businesses instead.

And the electricity generated through solar panels can be used to power heating and cooling systems as well as running things like light bulbs and electrical gadgets like computers and TVs.

So why is it a good idea to add solar panels to the roof of a school? Is it that they would make the school warmer or they could be used to reduce the cost of using electric lights and computers, or they could help heat the school more sustainably? I'll give you five seconds to decide.

So you should have said that adding solar panels to the school roof is a good idea because it could be used to reduce the cost of using electric lights and computers in the school and could also be used to help heat the school more sustainably.

Well done if you've got both of those points.

So I'd like you to finally consider this scenario.

It's going to cost a school 120,000 pounds to fix solar panels to its roof, and each year there will be a saving of 8,000 pounds on the electricity bill.

So firstly, I'd like you to calculate how many years it'll take the savings to add up to the cost of the solar panels.

And then I would like you to calculate that if the solar panels have a lifetime of 40 years, how much money will they save the school over that 40 year period? So pause the video and come back to me when you are ready.

Okay, let's see how you got on with your calculations.

So first of all, I asked you to calculate how many years it would take for the savings to add up to the cost of the solar panels.

And if the savings are 8,000 pounds a year and the total cost is 120,000 pounds, then 120,000 divided by 8,000 is 15.

So it would take 15 years for the savings to add up to the cost of the solar panels.

Then I asked you to calculate how much money the school will save over a course of 40 years if the solar panels have a 40 year life and if the savings are 8,000 pounds a year for 40 years, that's a total savings of 320,000 pounds.

And if you subtract from that the total cost of the solar panels, which was 120,000 pounds, then the total savings over the 40 year period will be 200,000 pounds.

So well done if you've got all of those calculations correct.

Okay, we've come to the end of our lesson today and we have seen how we use a huge range of resources for our cars, our buildings for eating and drinking, for heating, and many, many other things besides.

Some of the resources we use, we burn to make electricity or to keep us warm or to heat things up.

And if we use them for these things, then we are using them as a fuel.

Now, natural resources are substances that can be found within the environment and we can use these to make other things that we need such as bread and pasta.

These were two of the examples I gave you.

And some of these resources are renewable and will not run out because they are replenished more quickly than they are used up.

Now, wood is renewable, but only if we use it sustainably, and that means that we need to grow more trees than we are using and replace what we have taken out by planting new trees.

If we do that, then we can say that we are using a renewable resource of wood in a sustainable way.

So I hope you found today's lesson interesting.

Thank you very much for joining me today and I hope to see you again soon, bye.