About Us ~ American Coal Foundation

mining, energy, fossil fuel, natural resource

About The American Coal Foundation

Who is the American Coal Foundation?
Who Is Involved with the ACF?
Are ACF Materials Useful to Teachers?
What are the ACF's Activities?

Who is the American Coal Foundation?
The American Coal Foundation (ACF) was created in 1981 as a 501(c)(3) organization to develop, produce and disseminate coal-related educational materials and programs designed for teachers and students. The ACF does not engage in lobbying. All corporate contributions to the ACF are tax deductible.

Who Is Involved with the ACF?
Support for the ACF is provided by coal producers and manufacturers of mining equipment and supplies. In addition, electric utilities, railroads and organized labor have supported the work of the Foundation over the years. The ACF Board of Directors, comprised of industry executives, manages the operation of the Foundation.

Are ACF Materials Useful to Teachers?
ACF staff work closely with outside educational partners to develop credible and effective educational materials for distribution to teachers. Working with these educational professionals, ACF developed standards-based lesson plans for this website, with hyperlinks to actual standards for math, science and social studies. For teacher comments about ACF materials, click here.

What Are the ACF'S Activities?

Distributing Educational Materials: The ACF distributes free-to-inexpensive educational materials to teachers, students, librarians, counselors, museum staff, bookstores, and the general public. These materials include:

Online and print lesson plans and curriculum activities for both elementary and secondary students;
Coal samples and posters;
Online articles and print brochures offering general information about coal, electricity, and land reclamation, as well as the coloring and activity books Let’s Learn About Coal , and Power from Coal activity book and teacher guide;
A guide to coal videos and CDs; and
Science Fair ideas brochure.

Sponsoring Workshops
The ACF also works cooperatively with other coal- and energy-related groups to educate the public about coal and energy. Each year, the ACF co-sponsors workshops about coal for science and social studies teachers throughout the United States. A co-sponsored workshop typically provides

Class presentations by industry representatives, educators, researchers, and economists on various aspects of the coal industry;
Tours of underground and surface coal mines, power plants, coal preparation facilities and barge-loading facilities; and
Hands-on activities that can be transferred to the classroom.

To find out about co-sponsored workshops, click here.