Year 8 Science · Unit 3 · Lesson 27

Earth Resources, Minerals, Ores and Fossil Fuels

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Learning Goals

Warm Up

Because… chain

Fill in the four missing effects to complete the chain showing how oil and natural gas form. Each cause leads to the next step.

Ancient marine organisms die and sink to the seabed
→
Layers of sediment build up over millions of years
→
Intense heat and pressure act on the buried organic matter
→
Oil and gas migrate upward and become trapped in porous rock
→

Overall outcome:

Your Turn

Real-world context

Australia earns over $120 billion per year from iron ore exports, more than any other single commodity, making the Pilbara region of Western Australia one of the most economically important mining areas on the planet. The Hamersley Range produces approximately 900 million tonnes of iron ore each year, which is shipped mainly to China and Japan to be smelted into steel. As global demand for electric vehicles grows, analysts predict steel demand may slow, while demand for lithium, cobalt and nickel, also mined in Australia, will increase dramatically.

(a) Describe two economic benefits that iron ore exports provide to Australia.

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(b) Identify two environmental costs of large-scale iron ore mining in the Pilbara region.

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(c) Should Australia continue to expand iron ore mining given the global shift to electric vehicles? Use evidence from the passage to support your view.

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Wrap Up

In one sentence, what was the main idea of this lesson?

HSCScience · Year 8 Science · Unit 3 · Lesson 27 · Apply Worksheet