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Our Pennsylvania Story
L E S S ON 8
Our Minerals and Fossil Fuels
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1. mineral
2. fossil fuels
3. electricity
4. petroleum
5. natural gas
6. steel
7. glass
8. sand
9. limestone
What is a
mineral
? Amineral is a substance found under the earth’s surface. Our
state hasmany kinds of minerals that aremined or pumped from the earth.
Among the best known of these are our
fossil fuels
– coal, natural gas, and oil. These
fuels are used to produce heat and power for homes, cars, and businesses. These fuels
also help us to produce
electricity
. Pennsylvania is the second (2nd) largest producer of
electricity in the United States.
A good part of our state has coal lying under the ground. Our state produces both
hard and soft coal. In fact, we are the fourth (4th) largest producer of coal in our
country. Much of our coal is used in power plants to produce electricity.
Long ago near Titusville, EdwinDrake drilled the first successful oil well in theworld.
Today, our state does not producemuch
petroleum
. However, most of our oil is so good
that it is used tomakemotor oil for cars and
engines.
Our state hasmore than 40,000
natural gas
wells. Natural gas is used to heat big furnaces
that are used tomake
steel
and
glass
. It burns
cleaner than coal. Because it gives off less
smoke, it is replacing coal as away to heat
homes and businesses.
Sand
is another important mineral. Sand is
used tomake glass. Glass is one of themost
useful products in theworld. There aremore
than 100,000 kinds of glass products! The
Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company is the second
largest glass company in our country.
Limestone
is another important mineral.
Limestone is used tomake crushed stone and
cement. Thesematerials are used to build
roads and bridges. In our state, iron ore, clay,
and slate also aremined. Iron ore is used to
make steel, clay is used tomake bricks, and
slate is used tomake roof tiles.
EdwinDrake’s first oil well near
Titusville, Pennsylvania.
