Your job is to meet with the environmentalists from the other teams. Use the resources listed below to collect and record your data. Your research should answer, but not be limited to the questions below. Take good notes and keep them in a safe place as you will find them useful as you tour the United States.

RESOURCES

Off-line

"Our Country's Natural Resources," McGraw-Hill textbook, Lesson 3 (pg. 42). This section gives some specific natural resource information for each region of the United States.

• Encyclopedias
• Atlases
• Atlas Software
• State books

On-line

• What is the environment? - Must read this page! An introduction to the environment by FactMonster.
• WDNR - Natural Resources - This is the home page for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. (1) Can you name Wisconsin's natural resources? 2) Select Forestry. On the next page select A Look at Wisconsin's Forests. Read the first paragraph. Can you name 3 reasons forests are an important natural resource?
• PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources - Read the Table of Contents on this page. What are Pennsylvania's Natural Resources?
• Colorado Natural Resources - Read the Table of Contents. What are Colorado's Natural Resources?
• Enjoy California's Great Outdoors - (1) Read the Table of Contents. What are California's Natural Resources? (2) Select Forests. Take a look at the map of California Forests. (3) Select Energy. California has two major fuels. What are they? (4) Select Geology. What are California's three most important mineral resources?

QUESTIONS

The United States has a variety of natural resources.

What is a natural resource?

Do people use natural resources? What for?

What is the difference between a product and a natural resource?

What are United States' most common natural resources?

When you and the other environmentalists have completed this research, you need to join your team and begin your virtual tour around the United States. As you visit each of the 17 states and Washington, D.C., identify the natural resources and how they are used in each state. You should record data to support your findings.