How Coal Was Formed-primary

How Coal Was Formed

Student Worksheet

Place the number of each picture at the end of the description that fits it best.

When the giant plants died, they formed rotted vegetable matter called peat. For thousands of years,
plants grew, died, and formed layer upon layer of peat._______________________

When the seas were gone again, heat and pressure from the layers of rock changed the peat into
coal.__________________

More than 250 million years ago, forests of gigantic ferns, trees, and grasses covered vast swamp lands
and stored up energy from the sun.________________________

Later, when the surface of the earth changed, seas covered the land and deposited layers of shale,
limestone, and other rock on the peat.___________________________

Provided by Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center

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