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Over 80 educators from across the state attended the 14th Annual Coal Education Conference June 14-17, 2011, at the Rend Lake Resort in Whittington, Illinois. The goal of the conference is to give teachers the knowledge and learning tools to incorporate into their lesson plans coal education, from mining to electric power generation, as well as other uses of coal. After participating in the conference, the hope is that teachers will have gained greater understanding of and respect for this abundant mineral and the industry's economic impact on mining regions of the state.
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This unique curriculum provides numerous opportunities for teachers to introduce coal, Illinois' most abundant natural resource, or coal-related topics into the curriculum. In the lower grades, coal can be integrated into topics such as: goods and services, costs and benefits of choices made, decision-making, rocks and minerals, the environment, technology, Illinois history, social studies and reading and writing. At the middle school level, coal can be integrated into topics such as: density, supply and demand, persuasive writing, economics, careers, botany, graphing, determining area, environmental issues and geology/Earth history. At the high school level, coal can be integrated into topics such as: cost-benefit analysis, the role of the Illinois coal industry in Illinois economics, environmental policy and economics, ratios, proportions and percent, workplace law, the company store, biographies, environmental issues and chemistry.
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