Tema 6. Las actividades industriales

Como acabamos de ver hoy en clase, para mañana tenéis que hacer un esquema de las materias primas y fuentes de energía (ayuda en Cuaderno de Competencias, pág. 9).

Dejad espacio para escribir estos términos en inglés en el mismo esquema, porque es lo que tendréis que hacer mañana después de la clase con David. Veremos estos textos:

Types of Energy

Esta es la parte de la información que no aparece en el enlace:

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/energy/

What is a resource?

A resource is anything that can be used by humans. There are many different types of resources on Earth. There are also lots of different ways of looking at resources and trying to classify them.

One way to look at resources is to divide them up according to whether they are man-made or natural. Another more common way of classifying resources is to look at whether they are renewable or non-renewable:

• Renewable resources can be reused again and again. These will not run out - eg, the wind or the sun.

• Non-renewable resources can't be reused again and again. One day these resources will run out - eg, oil or coal.

Images: Renewable: wind turbines in Yorkshire; Non-renewable: oil rig in North Sea

People use many different resources everyday but in some parts of the world humans use far more resources than in other parts of the world. MEDCs rely on using a vast number of resources all of the time. In some LEDCs, particularly in rural communities, fewer resources are available and fewer resources are used.

This does not mean however that MEDCs have more resources to begin with. Many MEDCs (for example, Japan) import a lot of their resources from other countries - including LEDCs. The way in which resources are spread out across the world is known as the distribution of resources.

Types of energy

All life on earth is sustained by energy from the sun. Plants and animals can store energy. Some of this energy remains with them when they die. It is the remains of the stored-up energy of ancient animals and plants that make up the fossil fuels that power our cars and factories today.

But fossil fuels are non-renewable energy sources and will one day run-out. And because burning them generates greenhouse gases, relying on fossil fuels for energy generation is unsustainable. Hence the need to find more renewable, sustainable ways of generating energy.

Putting energy to work

Humans are animals, so we store and use energy for survival just as any other consumer does. However, humans also use energy in ways that other animals do not - to heat our houses or run factories and cars.

Humans often turn energy into electricity before turning that into yet another form of energy which we can use. For example, coal (potential energy) is burnt in a power station, releasing chemical energy as its chemical bonds are broken. The power station uses this to generate electricity (electrical energy), which in turn is used to power domestic cookers (heat energy).

Próximo día con David: Types of Industry