Teacher Developed Activity, T-DA!
Dana Bigger
Activity Name: World War II Production: Win Ore Lose?
Seminar: Building America: Minnesota's Iron Range
Grade Ban: 4-8
For use with lessons about: WWII; economics: production, transportation
Time Needed: about 1 hour
Materials :
 Iron-bearing rocks to show (optional)

Photos of iron docks at Two Harbors; 1940's-era ore trains, ships
Find some photos at Minnesota Reflections:
http://reflections.mndigital.org/index.php

Overhead page of statistics
Mining Directory of Minnesota, 1946; The Bulletin of the University of
Minnesota Institute of Technology; S.C. Lind, Dean; Mines Experiment
Station, E.W. Davis, Dir.; author- Henry H. Wade

Handouts – Questions to get you thinking, Aircraft Production

Photos of tanks, planes, trucks, etc. from World War II; photos of production factories
(optional)
Overview :
This activity is designed to demonstrate how the availability of iron ore made U.S. WWII
production possible.
Essential question: How did we get the amazing array of weapons and vehicles used by the
U.S. military in WWII?
Outcomes :
 Students will be able to determine how the substantial increase in ore production allowed
for the record war production.

Students will be able to connect the source of the ore to the manufacturer of the goods.
Activity steps:
1. Begin with list of questions for students (Questions to Get You Thinking).
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2. Discuss questions and use photos on screen to begin answering questions.
3. Teacher-led presentation of iron ore deposits, places where ore is found in U.S.,
brief description of the process of getting ore from the ground to the shipping
point; Look at data sheets on screen, discuss connection between raw ore, trains,
ships, steel mills, factories.
4. Students will compare increase in ore production during the war years to the
actual number of war planes produced in those years.
Handout: Questions to Get You Thinking sheet
Handout: WWII Aircraft Production sheet
Background Information: Students have discussed non-renewable resources; have discussed
economics related to readily-available goods vs. imported goods
Rubric/Assessment tool: Students will be assessed by teacher observation, checking of the
answer to the handouts; CLASSWORK grade: pass, half-credit, or fail
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Handout 1
Questions to Get You Thinking!
1. Is steel found or made?
2. If found, where? If made, with what?
3. Name some things made from iron:
4. Where in the world can iron be found?
5. What do you think these questions have to do with our study of World War II?
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Handout 2
World War II Aircraft Production by Country and Year
UK
USA
USSR
Germany Japan
TOTALS
1939
7,940
2,141
10,382
8,295
4,467
33,225
1940
15,049
6,086
10,565
10,826
4,768
47,294
1941
20,094
19,433
15,735
12,401
5,088
72,751
1942
23,672
47,836
25,436
15,409
8,861 121,214
1943
26,263
85,898
34,900
24,807 16,693 188,561
1944
12,461
96,318
40,300
40,593 28,180 217,852
1945
12,070
46,001
20,900
7,540
8,263
94,774
TOTAL
117,549
303,713
158,218
119,871 76,320 775,671
Use the above table and the table on the screen to complete this assignment.
1. How does the number of planes produced during the war years compare to the amount of iron
ore mined and shipped from the Iron Range in Minnesota? Use complete sentences to answer the
question. Be specific. Include some data from the tables.
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Minnesota Humanities Center
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