Final answer:
A wooden pencil contains a plant resource, wood from cedar or pine, and an animal resource, rubber from the rubber tree for the eraser. Classification of plants is based on characteristics such as roots or flowers. Natural resources can be renewable, like bamboo, or nonrenewable, like minerals.
Step-by-step explanation:
To identify plant and animal resources used in an item and the type of plant or animal they originate from, we must consider the materials involved in the item's production. For example, a wooden pencil can serve as such an item. The wood is a plant resource derived from trees, often cedar or pine, due to their softness and ease of sharpening. Graphite, the substance used for writing, is a mineral resource. However, considering the rubber eraser on top of a pencil, rubber is an animal resource that comes from the rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis), a type of plant that produces latex which is processed into rubber. The metal band, commonly made from aluminum, is an industrial resource.
When assessing which group a particular plant belongs to, botanists look at specific characteristics such as the presence of roots, flowers, or seeds. These traits are essential for classifying plants into groups like flowering plants (angiosperms), non-flowering plants like ferns and mosses (pteridophytes and bryophytes, respectively), and seed-producing non-flowering plants such as conifers (gymnosperms).
Natural and Renewable Resources
A natural resource is a material sourced from the environment that humans use to fulfill their needs. For instance, wood from trees is a natural resource. Renewable resources are those that can replenish over time, like solar energy or bamboo plants, while nonrenewable resources, such as oil and minerals, have a limited supply and do not replenish on a human timescale. The renewability of a resource is determined by its rate of formation compared to the rate of consumption.
In the context of animal resources, characteristics that define animals include multicellularity, movement at some life stage, heterotrophy (they consume organic material), and absence of cell walls, which differentiates their cells from those of plants and fungi. Animal digestion involves breaking down food into nutrients, which is typically internal in a specialized digestive system. The life cycle of most animals includes stages of growth, reproduction, and eventual death.
Understanding how biomes and ecosystems work is essential in identifying the flow of energy. Most life forms, as indicated in Figure 1, rely on the sun for energy, with photoautotrophs, like plants, capturing sunlight through photosynthesis. The energy is then transferred through consumers like herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores.