Resources
Class 8 · Social Science
4 ideas in Class 8 Social Science, explained in plain words, with games and quizzes to practise.
What makes something a resource
Part of: Need, use and worth
Amma tells Mona and Raju that whatever meets a need is a resource: water, power, rides, books and greens all serve. Shared usefulness, called utility, marks every resource, and use lends worth, or value. Some worth is counted in coins like metals, while scenery pays in joy yet both matter. Time and know-how shift values, as granny cures may gain patents and prices. People crown the list, since fire, wheels and dam power all sprang from minds.
Why it matters. It trains the child to spot worth in everyday things.
Try it in two minutes
- Recall need, use, worth trio.
- Recall metals versus scenery.
- Link fire, wheel, water-power.
Try at home. List five resources in your room with their uses.
Natural resources: renewable and non-renewable
Part of: Gifts of nature
Gifts drawn straight from earth with slight change, like breeze, streams, soils and ores, often cost nothing. Fast-refilling flows include sun and wind, untouched by our acts, though careless draws on water, earth and woods can shrink even these. Fixed stocks like coal, oil and gas need ages beyond lifetimes to refill. Their spread stays lopsided, since land shape, weather and height vary across the globe.
Why it matters. It helps the child spend fast gifts wisely and spare slow ones.
Try it in two minutes
- Recall air, water, soil, minerals.
- Recall sun-wind versus coal-oil.
- Link hills and rain to shares.
Try at home. Watch a tap drip and guess where water goes.
Human-made and human resources
Part of: Shaped by hands and minds
Raw earth turns useful only after reshaping: iron stone slept till smelting woke it, and timber, stone and ore rise as halls, spans, paths, engines and carts. Know-how itself ranks as built wealth. Folk who wield learning, craft and tools mint fresh resources from wild matter, so headcounts plus mind and body powers count as human stock. Lessons and clinics enrich this stock, and polishing skills to birth more goods is called human resource development.
Why it matters. It shows the child that learning multiplies a nation's wealth.
Try it in two minutes
- Recall ore to iron leap.
- Recall skill plus health leap.
- Link schooling to resource birth.
Try at home. List five built things seen on your street.
Conservation and sustainable development
Part of: Using without losing
Mona's dry-earth nightmare warns that careless draws can parch even fast gifts and drain slow ones. Thrifty use plus rest spells conservation, while meeting now without robbing later spells sustainable growth. Each hand helps through less buying, round-two use and fresh use of old goods. The lanes show how: newsprint bags, guarded paper, saved watts and treasured drops. Guiding stars include honouring life, lifting living standards, guarding variety, curbing depletion, shifting habits and backing local care.
Why it matters. It moves the child from worry to daily green habits.
Try it in two minutes
- Recall dry-earth nightmare.
- Recall rest-time rule.
- Link bags, bulbs, drops.
Try at home. Stitch a carry bag from an old newspaper.
What your child will practise
- Conservation and sustainable development: Candy Quest (Flip and Match)
- Conservation and sustainable development: Ocean Quick Fire (Quick Fire)
- Human-made and human resources: Space Puzzle (Clue Puzzle)
- Natural resources: renewable and non-renewable: Time Travel Sort (Sort It Out)
- What makes something a resource: Explorer'S Map Quest (Match It Up)
- Quiz: Conservation and sustainable development (8 questions)
- Quiz: Human-made and human resources (8 questions)
- Quiz: Natural resources: renewable and non-renewable (8 questions)
- Quiz: What makes something a resource (8 questions)