CBSE Class 8 · Natural Resources and Their Use

Natural Resources Class 8: What Makes Nature a Resource and How We Categorise It

Updated 17 October 2026 · Fact-checked

Natural resources are materials and substances that occur in Nature and are valuable to humans. An element of Nature becomes a resource only when it is technologically accessible, economically feasible to use and culturally acceptable. They can be grouped by use (essential for life, materials, energy) or as renewable (solar, wind, flowing water, timber) and non-renewable (coal, petroleum, metals) resources.

A thing in Nature becomes a resource only after passing all three tests; resources are then renewable or non-renewable.

Illustration drawn for QuestionBuddy.

Understand What Makes Nature a Resource, and Its Categories

Nature versus resource. Nature means all the living and non-living things in our surroundings that humans have not made. A tree standing in a forest is simply part of Nature. When people cut it and turn the wood into furniture, the tree is being seen as a resource. So a natural resource is any material or substance that occurs in Nature and is valuable to humans.

Three tests for calling something a resource. Not everything in Nature qualifies. An entity is a resource only if its use is:
1. technologically accessible (we have the technology to reach and use it; for example, petroleum lying far too deep below the sea may be beyond present technology);
2. economically feasible (the cost of extraction is not too high);
3. culturally acceptable (for example, cutting trees in a sacred grove may be unacceptable to a community).
In this chapter 'exploitation' is used in a neutral sense: extraction, utilisation and consumption of resources.

First way of grouping: by use.

Resources essential for life: the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat (which comes from soil and other living things). We cannot manufacture air, water or soil.
Resources for materials: wood, marble, coal, gold and so on, which people shape into useful or beautiful objects (one piece of wood can become a chair or a carved statuette).
Resources for energy: coal, water, petroleum, natural gas, sunlight, wind, used for electricity, transport and production.

Second way of grouping: renewable and non-renewable. Nature works in a restorative and regenerative way.

Restoration is returning something to its original healthy state after damage (a forest recovering after a wildfire, or planting the original kinds of trees where a forest was cleared).
Regeneration goes further: Nature's ability to create new life and the conditions for it to thrive.
Nature runs in cycles with no waste: a fallen tree is decomposed by bacteria, fungi and insects, enriches the soil, and new plants grow.

Renewable resources follow these cycles: solar energy, wind energy, energy from flowing water, timber from forests. They stay renewable only while their natural rhythm of restoration and regeneration is not disturbed. If timber is harvested faster than the forest grows, the forest is depleted. Rivers depend on rain and melting glaciers; NCERT notes that some Himalayan glaciers are melting faster than precipitation can replace them, which affects water security for people in the plains who depend on this 'water tower'. Industrial waste dumped untreated into rivers disturbs the cycle because it cannot decay into food for other life, so a river can become unable to support life.

Non-renewable resources form over very long periods and cannot be replaced at the rate we use them: fossil fuels (coal and petroleum) and minerals and metals such as iron, copper and gold. NCERT states that India's coal reserves are estimated to last about another 50 years at present demand, so coal must be used judiciously until sustainable options are widely available.

Ecosystem functions and services. A forest naturally filters water, prevents soil erosion and gives habitat to animals: these are ecosystem functions. When humans benefit from them (clean water, protected farmland, pollinated crops), they are ecosystem services. NCERT gives the figures that a mature tree produces about 275 litres of oxygen a day while a person needs about 350 litres a day.

Link to the next page. Where resources are located, and how to use them without exhausting them, is covered in the topic on distribution, over-exploitation and stewardship.

What Makes Nature a Resource, and Its Categories: key facts

Natural resource (definition): Materials and substances that occur in Nature | valuable to humans; Nature becomes a resource when humans use it.
Three tests for a resource: Technologically accessible
Economically feasible
Culturally acceptable; All three must hold.
Categories by use: Essential for life air, water, food
Materials wood, marble, coal, gold
Energy coal, petroleum, gas, sun, wind, water; First way of grouping.
Renewable resources: Solar
Wind
Flowing water
Timber from forests; Renewable only if restoration and regeneration are not disturbed.
Non-renewable resources: Coal
Petroleum
Iron
Copper
Gold; Formed over long periods; cannot be replaced at the rate of use.

Essential for life	air, water, food
Materials	wood, marble, coal, gold
Energy	coal, petroleum, gas, sun, wind, water

How to answer What Makes Nature a Resource, and Its Categories questions

Questions ask you to define a resource, explain why something in Nature is or is not a resource, classify examples, and say what turns a renewable resource into a non-renewable one.

1Define in one line: material or substance in Nature, valuable to humans.
2For 'is it a resource?' apply the three tests one by one, naming which test fails.
3To classify, ask: can Nature replace it at the rate we use it? If yes, renewable; if no, non-renewable.
4For 'renewable today, non-renewable tomorrow', say that the rhythm of restoration and regeneration was disturbed, and give a named example with the cause.
5Close with one preventive action (sustainable harvest, treating waste, planting native trees).

What Makes Nature a Resource, and Its Categories in real life

The idea, met in an everyday situation. Answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Same object, resource or not

Suppose a survey finds a rich seam of ore under a hill that a nearby community regards as sacred, and the only available machinery would make mining cost more than the ore is worth.

Is the ore a resource for that region at present? Justify.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Technological test: machinery exists, so the ore can be reached.
Economic test: the cost exceeds the value, so extraction is not feasible.
Cultural test: the hill is sacred to the community, so use is not acceptable.

Answer: At present the ore is not a resource for that region: it fails the economic test and the cultural test even though the technological test is met. If costs fall and the community agrees, it could become a resource later.

Memory hook: Reach it, afford it, respect it: only then is it a resource.

Renewable can run out

Suppose a village cuts bamboo from a grove every year and replants only half of what it cuts.

What will happen to the grove, and what does this show about renewable resources?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Harvest is faster than regrowth, so the stock falls every year.
The natural rhythm of regeneration is disturbed.
After some years there is too little bamboo left to harvest.

Answer: The grove will shrink and finally be depleted. A renewable resource stays renewable only if it is harvested no faster than it regenerates, so the village must replant at least as much as it cuts.

Memory hook: Renewable is a promise Nature keeps only if we keep ours.

Tricks to remember What Makes Nature a Resource, and Its Categories

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

TEC test
Technology, Expense, Culture: all three must say yes.
Use it when: Conditions for something in Nature to be called a resource.
L-M-E
Life, Materials, Energy.
Use it when: Categories of resources by use.
Restore then Regenerate
Restore = back to original health; Regenerate = new life and thriving conditions.
Use it when: Telling the two terms apart.

What Makes Nature a Resource, and Its Categories: solved examples

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Try each one before you open the solution.

Example 1: Classifying by use: life and energy · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

Which pair contains one resource essential for life and one resource used mainly for energy?
(a) Water and wood
(b) Air and natural gas
(c) Gold and marble
(d) Coal and petroleum

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Air is essential for life; natural gas is a source of energy (1 mark).
Water and wood: wood is a material. Gold and marble: both materials. Coal and petroleum: both energy, with no life-essential item.

Answer: (b) Air and natural gas

Example 2: Nature versus resource (3 marks) · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level

Explain with an example how an element of Nature becomes a resource, and state the three conditions an entity must meet to be called a resource. (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

A tree is part of Nature; when cut and made into furniture it is used as a resource (1 mark).
It must be technologically accessible and economically feasible (1 mark).
It must also be culturally acceptable (1 mark).

Answer: Trees exist independently of humans, but when people cut them and make furniture from the wood, they are being used as a resource. For anything in Nature to be called a resource it must be technologically accessible, economically feasible to extract and use, and culturally acceptable to the people concerned.

Example 3: Assertion-reason: petroleum under the sea · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level

Assertion (A): Petroleum lying deep below an ocean may not count as a resource for a country at present.
Reason (R): For an entity to be a resource, it must be technologically accessible and economically feasible to exploit.
(a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is true, but R is false.
(d) A is false, but R is true.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

If the country lacks technology to reach it, or the cost is too high, the tests fail.
R states exactly those tests, so it explains A (1 mark).

Answer: (a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.

Example 4: Renewable becomes non-renewable (5 marks) · 5 marks · Long answerHarder board level

'A renewable resource can become non-renewable.' Explain this statement with two examples from the chapter and suggest one remedy for each. (5 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Renewable resources follow Nature's cycle of restoration and regeneration, which must not be disturbed (1 mark).
Example 1: timber; harvesting faster than the forest grows depletes it; remedy: harvest limited quantities and let the forest regenerate (2 marks with remedy).
Example 2: river water; untreated industrial waste cannot decay into food for living things and the river can become unable to support life; remedy: treat waste before disposal (2 marks with remedy).

Answer: Resources such as forests and rivers are renewable only because Nature restores and regenerates them in cycles with no waste. When humans disturb that rhythm, the resource can be exhausted. If timber is cut faster than trees regrow, the forest is depleted; the remedy is to take only limited quantities and give the forest time to regenerate, and to plant native trees. If industries release untreated waste into a river, the waste cannot decay to feed other life and the river can turn poisonous and lifeless; the remedy is to treat waste before it is discharged. Thus a renewable resource turns effectively non-renewable when use or pollution outpaces Nature's rate of renewal.

Example 5: Case: classifying household resources · 4 marks · Case-basedHOTS / competency

Read the case and answer.

Suppose a family in a hill town uses a small stream-fed turbine for electricity, burns coal in winter, cooks with water drawn from a spring, and has a wooden gate made from timber from a managed forest. A study finds that the town's coal supply will last far fewer years than the stream will flow, and that the managed forest is replanted every time trees are cut.

(i) Classify the four resources used as renewable or non-renewable. (2)
(ii) Which of the four is most at risk of becoming unavailable first, and why? (1)
(iii) The family decides to replace coal heating. Suggest one renewable option from the chapter and explain why it counts as renewable. (1)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

(i) Flowing water (stream and spring) and timber from a replanted forest are renewable; coal is non-renewable (2 marks).
(ii) Coal, because it forms over long periods and cannot be replaced at the rate it is used (1 mark).
(iii) Solar energy (or wind): sunlight is available again each day without being used up, so it follows Nature's cycle (1 mark).

Answer: (i) Stream water, spring water and managed timber are renewable; coal is non-renewable. (ii) Coal is at greatest risk, as it cannot be replenished at the rate we use it. (iii) Solar energy, because sunlight is continually available and does not run out through use.

Where students lose marks in What Makes Nature a Resource, and Its Categories

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

Mistake: Calling every part of Nature a resource
Ignoring the conditions.
Wrong working
Anything found in Nature is a resource.
Right working
Only what is technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally acceptable.
Do this: Always quote the three tests.
Usually costs: 1-2 marks.
Mistake: Treating renewable as unlimited
Name suggests it never ends.
Wrong working
Forests are renewable, so we can cut as much as we want.
Right working
Renewable only while restoration and regeneration are not disturbed.
Do this: Write the condition every time.
Usually costs: 1-2 marks.
Mistake: Mixing up the two groupings
Two classifications in one chapter.
Wrong working
Resources are of three types: renewable, non-renewable and energy.
Right working
By use: life, materials, energy. By renewal: renewable, non-renewable.
Do this: Name the criterion before listing categories.
Usually costs: 1 mark.

Exam tips

Open a definition answer with: materials and substances that occur in Nature and are valuable to humans.
When asked 'is X a resource?', write the three tests and show which one applies.
Give a named cause when explaining depletion: faster harvest than regrowth, untreated waste, or melting of glaciers faster than they are replaced.
Use the figure of about 50 years for India's coal reserves only as NCERT's estimate.

Practice questions on What Makes Nature a Resource, and Its Categories

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

Q1 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level
Which of the following is a resource essential for life?
(a) Marble
(b) Gold
(c) Air
(d) Natural gas
Hint
We cannot make it.
Answer
(c) Air
Q2 · 2 marks · Very short answerBoard level
Distinguish between restoration and regeneration. (2 marks)
Hint
Original state versus new life and thriving conditions.
Answer
Restoration is returning something damaged to its original healthy state, as when a forest recovers after a fire. Regeneration goes beyond this: it is Nature's ability to create new life and the conditions in which life can thrive.
Q3 · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level
Classify natural resources by use and give two examples of each class. (3 marks)
Hint
Life, materials, energy.
Answer
Resources essential for life include air and water. Resources for materials include wood and marble (also coal and gold). Resources for energy include coal, petroleum, natural gas, sunlight, wind and flowing water.
Q4 · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level
Assertion (A): Coal is a non-renewable resource.
Reason (R): Coal forms over very long periods and cannot be replenished at the rate at which we use it.
(a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is true, but R is false.
(d) A is false, but R is true.
Hint
Rate of formation versus rate of use.
Answer
(a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
Q5 · 4 marks · Case-basedHOTS / competency
A forest naturally filters water, prevents soil erosion and shelters animals. (i) What are these called? (ii) What do we call the benefits humans get from them? (iii) Explain with one example why damaging the forest would hurt a downstream farming village. (4 marks)
Hint
Functions versus services.
Answer
(i) Ecosystem functions. (ii) Ecosystem services. (iii) If trees are cleared, soil erosion is no longer prevented and the water is less well filtered, so a village downstream may get silted, dirtier water and lose fertile farmland, which are services it was receiving from the forest.

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1.What are natural resources?Show answer
Materials and substances that occur in Nature and are valuable to humans.
2.Name the three tests for a resource.Show answer
Technologically accessible, economically feasible, culturally acceptable.
3.What are the three use-based categories?Show answer
Essential for life, materials, and energy.
4.What do forests do that humans call ecosystem services?Show answer
Filter water, prevent soil erosion and give habitat, benefits we receive as clean water, protected farmland and pollinated crops.
5.How long may India's coal last, as per NCERT's estimate?Show answer
About another 50 years.

What Makes Nature a Resource, and Its Categories: frequently asked questions

What is a natural resource in Class 8?

Materials and substances that occur in Nature and are valuable to humans.

What is the difference between renewable and non-renewable resources?

Renewable resources, like solar and wind energy, flowing water and timber, are replenished by Nature's cycles if used sustainably; non-renewable ones, like coal, petroleum and metals, take very long to form and cannot be replaced at the rate we use them.

Why is a tree in a forest not always a resource?

It becomes a resource when humans use it, and only if that use is technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally acceptable, as in a sacred grove where cutting would be unacceptable.