Good Learning Co.
SavannahYear 8
← Geography
GeographyGCSE resource management30 min★★★ difficulty

Resource management: food, water and energy in the UK

Three resources, one pattern: demand rising, supply unevenly distributed, and every solution carrying a cost. This lesson covers the UK overview.

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Explain the demand for food, water and energy and evaluate strategies to increase supply sustainably.

Key learning points

  • • Food in the UK
  • • Water in the UK
  • • Energy in the UK
  • • Answering resource questions

This lesson at a glance

  • 30 minutes
  • 17 parts to scroll through
  • 4 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

demandenergystrategiesincreasesupply

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 17 · Discover6%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 17

Watch first

Resource management: food, water and energy in the UK

An English teaching video on this topic from Hums Mums. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Explain the demand for food, water and energy and evaluate strategies to increase supply sustainably.

2

Learning cycle

Part 2 of 17

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 · Food in the UK

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

3

Explore the idea

Part 3 of 17

Learn

Food in the UK

Demand for high-value, out-of-season and organic produce has grown, raising food miles and the carbon footprint of the food supply. Agribusiness raises output through scale and technology; local sourcing and seasonal eating reduce transport emissions but limit choice and cost more per unit.

4

Explore the idea

Part 4 of 17

Learn

Water in the UK

Rainfall is highest in the north and west, demand highest in the south and east — a mismatch bridged by transfer schemes, at a financial and ecological cost. Quality is managed by treatment, pollution regulation and reducing agricultural runoff.

5

Quick check

Part 5 of 17

Quick check

Why do food miles matter?

6

Quick check

Part 6 of 17

Quick check

Where is the UK's water deficit greatest?

7

Learning cycle

Part 7 of 17

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 · Energy in the UK

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

8

Reset break

Part 8 of 17

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
9

Explore the idea

Part 9 of 17

Learn

Energy in the UK

The mix has shifted from coal towards gas, renewables and nuclear, with fossil-fuel reserves depleting and import dependence a political question. Each source trades cost, reliability, emissions and local impact differently, which is exactly what evaluation questions target.

10

Explore the idea

Part 10 of 17

Learn

Answering resource questions

Frame every answer around supply, demand and the gap between them, then evaluate a strategy that closes the gap. That structure works for food, water or energy without modification.

11

Quick check

Part 11 of 17

Quick check

Which change describes the recent UK energy mix?

12

Quick check

Part 12 of 17

Quick check

What structure suits any resource question?

13

Explore the idea

Part 13 of 17

Worked example

Model answer: 'Explain why water transfer is needed in the UK' (4 marks)

Rainfall totals are highest in the north and west, where relief rainfall over upland areas produces a surplus, while population and demand are concentrated in the south and east, which receive far less rain and contain the largest urban populations. This creates a water deficit in exactly the regions where demand is greatest. Transfer schemes move water from surplus reservoirs to deficit regions to balance supply, though they are expensive, use energy for pumping and can damage river ecosystems at the point of abstraction.

14

Challenge round

Part 14 of 17

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

15

Challenge round

Part 15 of 17

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

____ for high-value, out-of-season and organic produce has grown, raising food miles and the carbon footprint of the food supply.

Frame every answer around ____, demand and the gap between them, then evaluate a strategy that closes the gap.

That structure works for food, water or ____ without modification.

16

Mastery quiz

Part 16 of 17

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Resource management: food, water and energy in the UK

4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. Why do food miles matter?

  2. 2. Where is the UK's water deficit greatest?

  3. 3. Which change describes the recent UK energy mix?

  4. 4. What structure suits any resource question?

17

Lesson round-up

Part 17 of 17

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Case study

Flooding on the River Calder

The town of Harbrook sits where a steep valley opens onto a flat floodplain. In December 2015, 120 mm of rain fell in 36 hours onto ground that was already saturated. The river rose 2.4 m in five hours, and 380 homes and 54 businesses flooded. Two roads and the railway closed for eleven days.

Geographers pointed to physical causes — steep slopes, impermeable rock, heavy rainfall — and human causes: moorland drained upstream, new housing built on the floodplain, and drains designed for smaller storms.

Since then the town has planted 40 hectares of woodland upstream, built leaky dams in small streams, and raised flood walls to 1.8 m. In the storm of 2020 the peak river level was 0.3 m lower and 40 homes flooded, not 380.

Written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. List two physical and two human causes of the 2015 flood.
  2. Explain how planting woodland upstream lowers the river's peak level.
  3. Using the figures, judge how successful the scheme has been. Quote data in your answer.

  • Case study notes

    Writing

    Write the place, the facts and the figures from this lesson so you can revise them later.

    Half a page

  • Explain answer

    Writing

    Answer in full sentences, giving causes and effects. Use one figure or place name as evidence.

    8–10 sentences

  • Map or sketch

    Diagram

    Draw the map, cross-section or field sketch with a key, title and labels, then photograph it.

    1 map with a key

  • Data work

    Working out

    Plot your figures as a graph on paper and write one sentence about the pattern.

    1 graph + 1 sentence

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 17 · Watch & discover

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