ESS (IBDP) 8.2 Resource use and society unit of work

Entire unit of work for Environmental systems and societies topic 8.2: resource use in society. Full lessons ready to teach: no extra planning needed.

This resource covers:

• Renewable natural capital can be generated and/or replaced as fast as it is
  being used. It includes living species and ecosystems that use solar energy
  and photosynthesis, as well as non-living items, such as groundwater and the
  ozone layer.
  • Non-renewable natural capital is either irreplaceable or can only be replaced
  over geological timescales; for example, fossil fuels, soil and minerals.
  • Renewable natural capital can be utilized sustainably or unsustainably. If
  renewable natural capital is used beyond its natural income this use becomes
  unsustainable.
  • The valuation of natural capital can be divided into the following two
  main categories.
  • The impacts of extraction, transport and processing of a renewable natural
  capital may cause damage, making this natural capital unsustainable.
  • Natural capital provides goods (such as tangible products) and services (such
  as climate regulation) that have value. This value may be aesthetic, cultural,
  economic, environmental, ethical, intrinsic, social, spiritual or technological.
  • The concept of a natural capital is dynamic. Whether or not something has
  the status of natural capital, and the marketable value of that capital varies
  regionally and over time and is infuenced by cultural, social, economic,
  environmental, technological and political factors. Examples include cork,
  uranium and lithium.