Once upon a time, I took a space-ex flight to the Moon but some aliens captured the flight and made me their hostage. The alien-head asked me: “Oh you little one, you come from Earth?” I nodded in fear. They were giant in size. “We have heard a lot about the depletion of natural resources on Earth but have never really understood what these natural resources are?” Turning my face around, I tried to control my smile and looked up at him to say: “Dear Mr. Alien, I come from the planet that supports human life because of its natural resources. I am actually a Science Teacher and teach all this to my lovely students. I would love to share my knowledge with you too! But...” I paused with fear.

“But what Miss Science Teacher?” he asked. I continued, with a stammer in my voice, “But if I prove to be a good teacher and I am able to explain to you all about Natural Resources, you will let me go back on my flight.” Curiously he said, “We will see…” And then I started:

“Have you ever heard about air, water, soils, rocks, plants, etc? Resources like these and many more are crucial for life on a planet. Natural RESOURCES are naturally occurring materials that form our earth. The earth is the foundation of all life, so taking care of the earth and its resources is a responsibility shared by everyone who lives on it. All resources are interconnected, so a deficiency in one area puts pressure on all others too.”

Engaged in my teaching, the alien-head got even more curious and asked me some questions: “But are natural resources renewable or do they finish up too?”

Some resources are renewable like the sun, but many such as petroleum upon which we rely heavily for energy, are non renewable or finite. Once these are finite, resources are consumed, there will be no ore supplies.We burn coal and oil for energy.

Did you know that fossil fuels are Natural Resources too? They are formed from dead remains of plants and animals buried in the earth surface and fossilized under the pressure of the earth.”

“What else do you do to protect the environment and keep your planet clean?

“People can protect natural resources and save energy with solar and wind power. We try to learn how we can conserve, by reducing, reusing, and recycling items like glass, paper, plastic, and metal.”

As he seemed interested in science, I tricked him with a question, “Do you know why the temperature of the moon ranges from -190 C to 110 C being at the same distance from the sun as earth?” Of course, he was muddled.

“Because the moon has no atmosphere to maintain the temperature,” I said.

“The atmosphere prevents the sudden increase in temperature during daylight hours. Uneven heating of the atmosphere affects direction of winds. What other factors are responsible for controlling the direction of winds? Direction of winds depends on heat provided by the sun, rotation of earth, and presence of mountain ranges”

Impressed by me, he treated me to a delicious buffet of lunch. Released my flight and let me come back to Earth.