Some of these changes are detrimental to the organism or other organisms, whereas others are beneficial. Humans depend on their natural and constructed environments. Humans change environments in ways that can be either beneficial or detrimental for themselves and other organisms. Properties of earth materials Earth materials are solid rocks and soils, water, and the gases of the atmosphere. The varied materials have different physical and chemical properties, which make them useful in different ways, for example, as building materials, as sources of fuel, or for growing the plants we use as food.
Earth materials provide many of the resources that humans use.
Soils have properties of color and texture, capacity to retain water, and ability to support the growth of many kinds of plants, including those in our food supply. Fossils provide evidence about the plants and animals that lived long ago and the nature of the environment at that time. The sun, moon, stars, clouds, birds, and airplanes all have properties, locations, and movements that can be observed and described. The sun provides the light and heat necessary to maintain the temperature of the earth. The surface of the earth changes.