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Worksheet StudioPractice pack · Ages 7-9
Renewable & non-renewable resources
Take your time. Show your thinking.
1. Is solar energy from sunlight a renewable or non-renewable energy resource?
Is solar energy from sunli… · Renewable & non-renewable …
2. Why does planting coastal mangroves and vegetation help protect islands: roots bind sand and buffer wave erosion, or they increase wave height?
Why does planting coastal … · Renewable & non-renewable …
3. 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 …
4. 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 …
5. Is coal formed from ancient buried plants over millions of years a renewable or non-renewable resource?
Is coal formed from ancien… · Renewable & non-renewable …
6. What happens when too many fish are caught faster than the population can reproduce: overfishing (stock depletion) or eutrophication?
What happens when too many… · Renewable & non-renewable …
7. What mineral ore is smelted in a blast furnace to produce iron and steel: hematite (iron ore) or halite?
What mineral ore is smelte… · Renewable & non-renewable …
8. 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 …
9. What device converts sunlight directly into electricity using semiconductor cells: a photovoltaic solar panel or a diesel generator?
What device converts sunli… · Renewable & non-renewable …
10. Why is pole-and-line tuna fishing (practised in the Maldives) considered more sustainable than large drift nets: it catches fish one by one with minimal bycatch, or it scrapes the seabed?
Why is pole-and-line tuna … · Renewable & non-renewable …
11. Is natural gas (mainly methane) trapped in rock layers a renewable or non-renewable resource?
Is natural gas (mainly met… · Renewable & non-renewable …
12. 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 …
12 questions · Seed 49 · Age guidance, not curriculum certification
View the answer key
Worksheet StudioAnswer key · Ages 7-9
Renewable & non-renewable resources
Answers and reasoning. Review before teaching.
1. Is solar energy from sunlight a renewable or non-renewable energy resource?
Renewable
Sunlight is continuously replenished by the Sun on human timescales.
2. Why does planting coastal mangroves and vegetation help protect islands: roots bind sand and buffer wave erosion, or they increase wave height?
Roots bind sand and buffer wave erosion
Coastal vegetation stabilises shorelines and absorbs wave energy.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Is coal formed from ancient buried plants over millions of years a renewable or non-renewable resource?
Non-renewable
Coal is a fossil fuel that takes millions of years to form and cannot be replaced quickly.
6. What happens when too many fish are caught faster than the population can reproduce: overfishing (stock depletion) or eutrophication?
Overfishing (stock depletion)
Harvesting beyond maximum sustainable yield depletes fish populations.
7. What mineral ore is smelted in a blast furnace to produce iron and steel: hematite (iron ore) or halite?
Hematite (iron ore)
Hematite (Fe₂O₃) is a major iron ore.
8. 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.
9. What device converts sunlight directly into electricity using semiconductor cells: a photovoltaic solar panel or a diesel generator?
Photovoltaic solar panel
Photovoltaic cells convert light photons directly into electrical current.
10. Why is pole-and-line tuna fishing (practised in the Maldives) considered more sustainable than large drift nets: it catches fish one by one with minimal bycatch, or it scrapes the seabed?
It catches fish one by one with minimal bycatch
Pole-and-line fishing avoids accidental capture of turtles, sharks and dolphins.
11. Is natural gas (mainly methane) trapped in rock layers a renewable or non-renewable resource?
Non-renewable
Natural gas is a finite fossil fuel.
12. 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.
12 questions · Seed 49 · Age guidance, not curriculum certification
Worksheet StudioPractice pack · Ages 7-9
Renewable & non-renewable resources
Take your time. Show your thinking.
1. Is solar energy from sunlight a renewable or non-renewable energy resource?
Is solar energy from sunli… · Renewable & non-renewable …
2. Why does planting coastal mangroves and vegetation help protect islands: roots bind sand and buffer wave erosion, or they increase wave height?
Why does planting coastal … · Renewable & non-renewable …
3. 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 …
4. 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 …
5. Is coal formed from ancient buried plants over millions of years a renewable or non-renewable resource?
Is coal formed from ancien… · Renewable & non-renewable …
6. What happens when too many fish are caught faster than the population can reproduce: overfishing (stock depletion) or eutrophication?
What happens when too many… · Renewable & non-renewable …
7. What mineral ore is smelted in a blast furnace to produce iron and steel: hematite (iron ore) or halite?
What mineral ore is smelte… · Renewable & non-renewable …
8. 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 …
9. What device converts sunlight directly into electricity using semiconductor cells: a photovoltaic solar panel or a diesel generator?
What device converts sunli… · Renewable & non-renewable …
10. Why is pole-and-line tuna fishing (practised in the Maldives) considered more sustainable than large drift nets: it catches fish one by one with minimal bycatch, or it scrapes the seabed?
Why is pole-and-line tuna … · Renewable & non-renewable …
11. Is natural gas (mainly methane) trapped in rock layers a renewable or non-renewable resource?
Is natural gas (mainly met… · Renewable & non-renewable …
12. 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 …
12 questions · Seed 49 · Age guidance, not curriculum certification
Worksheet StudioAnswer key · Ages 7-9
Renewable & non-renewable resources
Answers and reasoning. Review before teaching.
1. Is solar energy from sunlight a renewable or non-renewable energy resource?
Renewable
Sunlight is continuously replenished by the Sun on human timescales.
2. Why does planting coastal mangroves and vegetation help protect islands: roots bind sand and buffer wave erosion, or they increase wave height?
Roots bind sand and buffer wave erosion
Coastal vegetation stabilises shorelines and absorbs wave energy.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Is coal formed from ancient buried plants over millions of years a renewable or non-renewable resource?
Non-renewable
Coal is a fossil fuel that takes millions of years to form and cannot be replaced quickly.
6. What happens when too many fish are caught faster than the population can reproduce: overfishing (stock depletion) or eutrophication?
Overfishing (stock depletion)
Harvesting beyond maximum sustainable yield depletes fish populations.
7. What mineral ore is smelted in a blast furnace to produce iron and steel: hematite (iron ore) or halite?
Hematite (iron ore)
Hematite (Fe₂O₃) is a major iron ore.
8. 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.
9. What device converts sunlight directly into electricity using semiconductor cells: a photovoltaic solar panel or a diesel generator?
Photovoltaic solar panel
Photovoltaic cells convert light photons directly into electrical current.
10. Why is pole-and-line tuna fishing (practised in the Maldives) considered more sustainable than large drift nets: it catches fish one by one with minimal bycatch, or it scrapes the seabed?
It catches fish one by one with minimal bycatch
Pole-and-line fishing avoids accidental capture of turtles, sharks and dolphins.
11. Is natural gas (mainly methane) trapped in rock layers a renewable or non-renewable resource?
Non-renewable
Natural gas is a finite fossil fuel.
12. 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.
12 questions · Seed 49 · Age guidance, not curriculum certification