In the world, there are thousands of different kinds of minerals. They can be found all around us and there is literally nowhere you can go without being surrounded by them. Minerals are chemically and physically homogeneous, inorganic compounds that occur naturally in the Universe. Some of them you find as a bare mineral that you can see and recognize by looking at them, while others are too small and you might need a microscope to find them. One mineral can occur alone or in combination with other minerals.
The most common place to find minerals is in the ground. Mountains, deserts, clay and volcanoes are all made up of minerals. They come in all shapes, sizes and colors and can be both soft and hard. Because of the great variety of features in minerals, they are found in all kinds of things; in our food as salt, in construction materials such as concrete and steel, in our computers, smartphones, tablets, electric cars and even in our refrigerator magnets.
Some minerals that we use are finite, meaning we might run out of the supplies one day. To make sure we do not end up without the minerals that are important for us, we need to be aware of how we use them and not to waste them.