Title: Coal Areas in the United States
Level: Primary - Middle School ( 3 - 7 )
Time: 30 - 45 minutes depending on age/level of student
KERA Goals: 1-2, 1.3, 1.5 - 1.9, 2.1, 2.2, 2.7. 2.8, 5.1, and 6.3 

Objective: Student will demonstrate knowledge of where coal is located by reading a chart.

Background Information:

This map shows where coal is found in the United States.  The information below tells which states mine coal and how much they produced in 1993.

1993 U.S. Coal Production, by State
         (Thousand Short Tons)

StateTotalState

Total

Wyoming210,129Utah21,847
Kentucky156,299Arizona12,173
West Virginia130,525Washington  4,748
Pennsylvania  59,700Maryland  3,355
Texas  54,567Tennessee  3,047
Illinois  41,098Louisiana  3,134
Virginia  39,317Oklahoma  1,758
Montana  35,197Alaska   1,601
North Dakota  31,973Missouri      653
Indiana  29,295Kansas      341
Ohio  28,186Iowa      175
Alabama  24,768Arkansas       44
Colorado  21,886

Activity:

  1. Fill in the names of the ten states that produced the most coal in 1993.

  2. Can you tell from this map how many tons of coal we have in the United States?  Why or why not?

  3. What region of the country does not have coal reserves?

  4. Does your state produce coal?  Does your electricity come from coal?

Provided by the Mineral Information Institute