Buried Treasure
What natural resource is Minnesota the No. 1 producer of in the United States?
Iron ore
Which crop is ground into flour at Minnesota's flour mills?
Wheat
What is the nickname for the U.S. region hit by the most tornadoes each year?
Tornado Alley
Minnesota is called the Land of 10,000 Lakes. How many lakes does it actually have?
More than 15,000
What is the lower-quality type of iron ore that Minnesota has started mining?
Taconite
Are most of Minnesota's forests in the northern or southern part of the state?
The northern part
What is Minnesota's record low temperature?
Minus 60 degrees
What melted 10,000 to 12,000 years ago to form Minnesota's lakes?
Glaciers
Iron ore is shipped from which Minnesota city across Lake Superior?
Duluth
What hand-held blades did farmers use to cut wheat before machines?
Scythes
Which part of Minnesota gets the most rain and snow each year?
The southeast
In which lake does the Mississippi River begin?
Lake Itasca
What are the huge ships that carry iron ore across Lake Superior called?
Freighters
Who invented the mechanical reaper in 1831?
Cyrus McCormick
Why are rain and snow so important to our lakes and rivers?
They refill them. Without rain and snow, evaporation would dry them up.
What does the Chippewa word "Mississippi" mean?
Father of Waters
Name the three ranges in northern Minnesota where iron ore is mined.
Mesabi, Cuyuna and Vermilion
Which animal was almost hunted to extinction, then taken off the endangered-species list in 2012?
The gray (timber) wolf
About what percent of Earth's water can people use for drinking, bathing and cooking?
About 1 percent
Which two lakes together form the largest lake inside Minnesota?
Upper and Lower Red Lakes