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Worksheet StudioPractice pack · Ages 10-12
Renewable & non-renewable resources
Take your time. Show your thinking.
1. Why are single-use plastics harmful to marine ecosystems: they persist for centuries and break into microplastics, or they dissolve into oxygen?
Why are single-use plastic… · Renewable & non-renewable …
2. Is wind power captured by wind turbines a renewable or non-renewable energy resource?
Is wind power captured by … · Renewable & non-renewable …
3. Does switching from incandescent bulbs to LED bulbs use less electrical energy for the same brightness (Yes / No)?
Does switching from incand… · Renewable & non-renewable …
4. Is natural gas (mainly methane) trapped in rock layers a renewable or non-renewable resource?
Is natural gas (mainly met… · Renewable & non-renewable …
5. What term describes meeting present human needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs: sustainability or deforestation?
What term describes meetin… · Renewable & non-renewable …
6. Is hydroelectric power generated by flowing river water a renewable or non-renewable energy resource?
Is hydroelectric power gen… · Renewable & non-renewable …
7. Which greenhouse gas is released in large quantities when fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) are burned: carbon dioxide or argon?
Which greenhouse gas is re… · Renewable & non-renewable …
8. Why is fresh groundwater on small coral islands a delicate resource that must not be over-pumped: saltwater intrusion can spoil the freshwater lens, or it turns into lava?
Why is fresh groundwater o… · Renewable & non-renewable …
9. Which metal commonly used in drink cans can be melted down and recycled repeatedly with up to 95% less energy than making it from raw bauxite ore: aluminium or coal?
95% · Renewable & non-renewable …
10. What do we call organic kitchen and garden waste (such as fruit peels and leaves) decomposed into nutrient-rich soil improver: compost or plastic?
What do we call organic ki… · Renewable & non-renewable …
11. What rock ore is mined as the primary raw material for extracting aluminium metal: bauxite or chalk?
What rock ore is mined as … · Renewable & non-renewable …
12. What do we call collecting rainwater from roofs into storage tanks for household use: rainwater harvesting or desalination?
What do we call collecting… · Renewable & non-renewable …
12 questions · Seed 42 · Age guidance, not curriculum certification
View the answer key
Worksheet StudioAnswer key · Ages 10-12
Renewable & non-renewable resources
Answers and reasoning. Review before teaching.
1. Why are single-use plastics harmful to marine ecosystems: they persist for centuries and break into microplastics, or they dissolve into oxygen?
They persist for centuries and break into microplastics
Conventional plastics do not biodegrade readily and fragment into harmful microplastics.
2. Is wind power captured by wind turbines a renewable or non-renewable energy resource?
Renewable
Wind is continuously generated by uneven solar heating of Earth’s atmosphere.
3. Does switching from incandescent bulbs to LED bulbs use less electrical energy for the same brightness (Yes / No)?
Yes
LEDs convert a much higher proportion of electrical energy into light rather than waste heat.
4. Is natural gas (mainly methane) trapped in rock layers a renewable or non-renewable resource?
Non-renewable
Natural gas is a finite fossil fuel.
5. What term describes meeting present human needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs: sustainability or deforestation?
Sustainability
Sustainability balances environmental, social and economic stewardship over time.
6. Is hydroelectric power generated by flowing river water a renewable or non-renewable energy resource?
Renewable
The water cycle continually replenishes river flow through rainfall.
7. Which greenhouse gas is released in large quantities when fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) are burned: carbon dioxide or argon?
Carbon dioxide
Combustion of carbon-based fuels oxidises carbon into carbon dioxide (CO₂).
8. Why is fresh groundwater on small coral islands a delicate resource that must not be over-pumped: saltwater intrusion can spoil the freshwater lens, or it turns into lava?
Saltwater intrusion can spoil the freshwater lens
Freshwater floats as a thin lens above denser seawater; over-extraction draws salt water in.
9. Which metal commonly used in drink cans can be melted down and recycled repeatedly with up to 95% less energy than making it from raw bauxite ore: aluminium or coal?
Aluminium
Recycling aluminium saves roughly 95% of the energy required for primary smelting.
10. What do we call organic kitchen and garden waste (such as fruit peels and leaves) decomposed into nutrient-rich soil improver: compost or plastic?
Compost
Composting recycles organic matter into humus for soil.
11. What rock ore is mined as the primary raw material for extracting aluminium metal: bauxite or chalk?
Bauxite
Bauxite is the principal aluminium ore.
12. What do we call collecting rainwater from roofs into storage tanks for household use: rainwater harvesting or desalination?
Rainwater harvesting
Rainwater harvesting captures clean precipitation before it runs off.
12 questions · Seed 42 · Age guidance, not curriculum certification
Worksheet StudioPractice pack · Ages 10-12
Renewable & non-renewable resources
Take your time. Show your thinking.
1. Why are single-use plastics harmful to marine ecosystems: they persist for centuries and break into microplastics, or they dissolve into oxygen?
Why are single-use plastic… · Renewable & non-renewable …
2. Is wind power captured by wind turbines a renewable or non-renewable energy resource?
Is wind power captured by … · Renewable & non-renewable …
3. Does switching from incandescent bulbs to LED bulbs use less electrical energy for the same brightness (Yes / No)?
Does switching from incand… · Renewable & non-renewable …
4. Is natural gas (mainly methane) trapped in rock layers a renewable or non-renewable resource?
Is natural gas (mainly met… · Renewable & non-renewable …
5. What term describes meeting present human needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs: sustainability or deforestation?
What term describes meetin… · Renewable & non-renewable …
6. Is hydroelectric power generated by flowing river water a renewable or non-renewable energy resource?
Is hydroelectric power gen… · Renewable & non-renewable …
7. Which greenhouse gas is released in large quantities when fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) are burned: carbon dioxide or argon?
Which greenhouse gas is re… · Renewable & non-renewable …
8. Why is fresh groundwater on small coral islands a delicate resource that must not be over-pumped: saltwater intrusion can spoil the freshwater lens, or it turns into lava?
Why is fresh groundwater o… · Renewable & non-renewable …
9. Which metal commonly used in drink cans can be melted down and recycled repeatedly with up to 95% less energy than making it from raw bauxite ore: aluminium or coal?
95% · Renewable & non-renewable …
10. What do we call organic kitchen and garden waste (such as fruit peels and leaves) decomposed into nutrient-rich soil improver: compost or plastic?
What do we call organic ki… · Renewable & non-renewable …
11. What rock ore is mined as the primary raw material for extracting aluminium metal: bauxite or chalk?
What rock ore is mined as … · Renewable & non-renewable …
12. What do we call collecting rainwater from roofs into storage tanks for household use: rainwater harvesting or desalination?
What do we call collecting… · Renewable & non-renewable …
12 questions · Seed 42 · Age guidance, not curriculum certification
Worksheet StudioAnswer key · Ages 10-12
Renewable & non-renewable resources
Answers and reasoning. Review before teaching.
1. Why are single-use plastics harmful to marine ecosystems: they persist for centuries and break into microplastics, or they dissolve into oxygen?
They persist for centuries and break into microplastics
Conventional plastics do not biodegrade readily and fragment into harmful microplastics.
2. Is wind power captured by wind turbines a renewable or non-renewable energy resource?
Renewable
Wind is continuously generated by uneven solar heating of Earth’s atmosphere.
3. Does switching from incandescent bulbs to LED bulbs use less electrical energy for the same brightness (Yes / No)?
Yes
LEDs convert a much higher proportion of electrical energy into light rather than waste heat.
4. Is natural gas (mainly methane) trapped in rock layers a renewable or non-renewable resource?
Non-renewable
Natural gas is a finite fossil fuel.
5. What term describes meeting present human needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs: sustainability or deforestation?
Sustainability
Sustainability balances environmental, social and economic stewardship over time.
6. Is hydroelectric power generated by flowing river water a renewable or non-renewable energy resource?
Renewable
The water cycle continually replenishes river flow through rainfall.
7. Which greenhouse gas is released in large quantities when fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) are burned: carbon dioxide or argon?
Carbon dioxide
Combustion of carbon-based fuels oxidises carbon into carbon dioxide (CO₂).
8. Why is fresh groundwater on small coral islands a delicate resource that must not be over-pumped: saltwater intrusion can spoil the freshwater lens, or it turns into lava?
Saltwater intrusion can spoil the freshwater lens
Freshwater floats as a thin lens above denser seawater; over-extraction draws salt water in.
9. Which metal commonly used in drink cans can be melted down and recycled repeatedly with up to 95% less energy than making it from raw bauxite ore: aluminium or coal?
Aluminium
Recycling aluminium saves roughly 95% of the energy required for primary smelting.
10. What do we call organic kitchen and garden waste (such as fruit peels and leaves) decomposed into nutrient-rich soil improver: compost or plastic?
Compost
Composting recycles organic matter into humus for soil.
11. What rock ore is mined as the primary raw material for extracting aluminium metal: bauxite or chalk?
Bauxite
Bauxite is the principal aluminium ore.
12. What do we call collecting rainwater from roofs into storage tanks for household use: rainwater harvesting or desalination?
Rainwater harvesting
Rainwater harvesting captures clean precipitation before it runs off.
12 questions · Seed 42 · Age guidance, not curriculum certification