Lesson T9.3.1

T9.3.1 Limited resources and recycling Quiz: KS3 Chemistry, Unit 9

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

In partnership with Revision Ninja

Lesson T9.3.1, Limited resources and recycling: 20 multiple choice questions for the KS3 Chemistry (National Curriculum), Unit 9: Earth and atmosphere, written with Revision Ninja.

Host it live on the board and students join with a game code on their own devices, or revise alone with Free Play. The answers are revealed in the game.

Host this setFree Play

The 20 questions

  1. What is meant by a limited resource?

    • A resource that grows back in days after it is harvested
    • A resource that will run out because it cannot be replaced quickly
    • A resource that can never be used in any industrial process
    • A resource that is found only in the sea and in lakes

  2. Which of these is a non-renewable resource?

    • Wood from a managed forest
    • Crude oil
    • Solar energy
    • Wind energy

  3. Which of these is a renewable resource?

    • Crude oil from wells
    • Coal from deep mines
    • Wind energy
    • Natural gas

  4. Why is recycling metals useful?

    • It saves ores and the energy needed to extract new metal
    • It makes metals stronger and more reactive when they are heated
    • It removes the need for electricity completely in all factories
    • It increases the amount of ore in the ground for future mining

  5. Why does recycling aluminium save energy compared with making new aluminium?

    • Aluminium is a gas that is cheap to collect from the air
    • Extracting aluminium from ore needs a lot of electricity
    • Aluminium is found uncombined in the ground as a solid
    • Aluminium is easy to extract by heating it with a flame alone

  6. What is one disadvantage of recycling?

    • It removes the need for any natural resources at all
    • It needs energy for collection, transport and processing
    • It increases the amount of rock mined from the ground each year
    • It makes all materials poisonous to the local environment

  7. Which option would conserve Earth's resources most?

    • Reducing, reusing and recycling materials
    • Burning all waste without recovering energy
    • Mining more ore to make more products
    • Throwing materials into landfill as quickly as possible

  8. Which resource is a finite source of metals?

    • Metal ores in the Earth's crust
    • Sunlight shining on solar panels
    • Air used for breathing
    • Rainwater collected in rivers

  9. Which material is most easily recycled and reused?

    • Materials glued together in layers
    • Glass
    • Mixed composite plastics
    • Contaminated food packaging

  10. Which statement about fossil fuels is correct?

    • They are limited because they take millions of years to form
    • They are made only from wind energy captured in turbines
    • They are renewable because they grow back quickly each season
    • They can be replaced within a single year of being used

  11. Why is it important to conserve limited resources?

    • So they can be turned into gases
    • So they last for future generations
    • So they become more reactive over time
    • So more waste can be produced

  12. Which of these shows sustainable use of a resource?

    • Clearing a forest and not replanting it
    • Replanting trees after harvesting timber
    • Burning all oil without any alternatives
    • Mining all ore from one site at once

  13. Which process uses less energy than making new paper from wood?

    • Drying wood to make pulp
    • Cutting down a new tree
    • Burning paper for fuel
    • Recycling waste paper

  14. Which is a benefit of recycling plastic instead of burying it in landfill?

    • It creates more crude oil in the ground for future use
    • It makes plastic renewable within a single day of use
    • It reduces the need to make new plastic from crude oil
    • It stops all plastic from being made in every factory

  15. Which of these is a limitation of recycling?

    • All materials can be recycled at no cost, so the process is free
    • Some materials are hard to separate, so recycling them is difficult
    • Recycling makes ores form again underground over a few years
    • Recycling produces new fossil fuels in the ground over a few years

  16. Why is extracting metals from ore a limited process in terms of resources?

    • Metal ores regrow after each extraction in a few years
    • Metal ores are found in every river and in every lake
    • Metal ores are not renewable and are used up over time
    • Metal ores are made in a few days inside the rock

  17. Which statement about recycling and energy is correct?

    • Recycling usually saves energy compared with extracting new material
    • Recycling creates energy from waste materials in a power plant
    • Recycling has no link to energy use in industry at any stage
    • Recycling always uses more energy than extracting new material from ore

  18. Which option is a sustainable alternative to using fossil fuels for electricity?

    • Using solar panels to generate electricity
    • Mining more coal faster from new open pits
    • Clearing forests for fuel and wood products
    • Burning more oil for heating in every home

  19. Which resource is most at risk of running out at current rates of use?

    • Crude oil
    • Sunlight energy from the Sun
    • Rainwater collected in rivers
    • Wind power from turbines

  20. Why can landfill sites cause environmental problems?

    • They make limited resources renewable again over time
    • They can release methane gas and take up land
    • They produce oxygen gas in large amounts each year
    • They remove carbon from the rock layers below the ground

All KS3 Chemistry quizzes