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Database Provider

Author

EIA

Grades

6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th

Subjects

Science, Social Studies, Earth and Space Sciences, Geography

Resource Type

  • Interactive Media

Regional Focus

North America, United States, USA - Northeast, New Jersey

Coal Energy Infrastructure and Resources Interactive Map

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Synopsis
  • This interactive map displays the locations of all coal mines, coal power plants, and coal fields in the United States, along with detailed information about each item.
Teaching Tips

Positives

  • The map is simple and easy to navigate.
  • Students can zoom in to focus on specific regions within the United States.

Additional Prerequisites

  • The map includes all 50 states and Puerto Rico.
  • The layers list (under the interactive legend) allows you to add in all fossil fuel resources and infrastructure to the map.
  • Students should be familiar with fossil fuels and how they are used.

Differentiation

  • Because this map shows all coal resources, it could be used to teach the entire process of how coal is transformed into energy.
  • This could have cross-curricular connections with a health class by having students identify coal resources near them and then research the possible health impacts on their community.
  • Students could use this map to see if the unequal distribution of these resources has an unequal impact on the communities near these locations.
  • Students could use other maps from the Energy Information Administration to compare the locations of coal plants to renewable energy resources like wind and solar.
  • Students could further study the impacts of coal energy resources using the “Belleville” Coal Ash Dumping resource, the lesson Youth Climate Story: Coal Ash in North Carolina, or the lesson Youth Climate Story: Air Pollution in Kansas.
Scientist Notes
This is an interactive map that shows the coal fields in the United States. It also shows where coal is mined and where coal is burned to generate power. You can click on the location of these for more information, such as electricity generation capacity. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Standards
  • Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
    • ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
      • MS-ESS3-1 Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how the uneven distributions of Earth's mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are the result of past and current geoscience processes.
      • HS-ESS3-2 Evaluate competing design solutions for developing, managing, and utilizing energy and mineral resources based on cost-benefit ratios.
  • College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
    • Dimension 2: Geography
      • D2.Geo.2.6-8 Use maps, satellite images, photographs, and other representations to explain relationships between the locations of places and regions, and changes in their environmental characteristics.
      • D2.Geo.2.9-12 Use maps, satellite images, photographs, and other representations to explain relationships between the locations of places and regions and their political, cultural, and economic dynamics.
      • D2.Geo.4.9-12 Analyze relationships and interactions within and between human and physical systems to explain reciprocal influences that occur among them.
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