 
iron ore is reddish earth found in various parts of the united states. 
one place is the mesabi range in minnesota, where there are huge open-pit 
iron mines. 
iron ore is highly prized because man has discovered that when this red 
earth is melted under extreme heat, part of it can be used to make iron and 
steel. 
then they can be transformed into many objects, such as automobiles and 
bridges. 
iron ore is a natural resource. 
that is, it is something found in nature and it is useful to man. 
some natural resources are nonrenewable. 
this means they can be used up with no new supplies being formed. 
once iron ore is dug from the earth, it cannot be replaced. 
at present all of our mineral resources, such as iron, coal, oil, gold, 
and copper, are nonrenewable. 
other natural resources, however, are renewable. 
that is, as we use them, they continue to grow. 
for example, as we use water, the rain supplies us with more. 
or when we chop a tree down, we can plant a new one in its place. 
a curious thing about natural resources is that something may be a natural 
resource for one group of people but not for another group. 
the indians lived in minnesota for many years. 
yet they did not find much use for all that red dirt. 
on the other hand, when the white man discovered the mesabi range in the 
1890"s, he eagerly scooped out the precious iron ore and shipped it to his 
steel mills. 
why was iron ore a natural resource to the white man but not to the 
indian? 
