Field trips near Pittsburgh: Take your elementary students, grade school students or science class out for the day on an educational field trip in Pittsburgh they will never forget. Tour-Ed Mine and Museum has created an exciting Pittsburgh science adventure ½ mile beneath the earth’s surface. School students will participate in “Coal School” and learn what part coal plays in America. They will discover many uses for coal and explore its challenges. Many do not know that there are three types of coal. You will learn about these and what each are used for. Students will get a hands-on experience how coal was formed and the machinery used to mine this valuable natural resource today and in the 1800s. Students will learn where coal comes from and how coal is formed. Your group will also enjoy an interactive experience of how coal is mined and processed.
Tour-Ed Mine’s science-filled field trips are guided and instructed by real coal miners who will showcase and demonstrate the type of equipment used for coal mining in the 1800s and today. Your students or group will enjoy a ½ mile ride beneath the earth’s surface in an actual coal miner transportation car called a man trip. Here, the mine instructor will incorporate the science and history of mining of yesterday and today.
Visitors will learn the majority of underground coal is mined two different ways. One is “room and pillar” coal mining where seams of coal are partially mined to leave large pillars or sections of coal intact to support the overlaying earth as they mine deeper into the earth. When the section of mining is complete, the miners then practice “retreat” mining, extracting as much of the remaining pillars of coal as they can as they reverse their way out of the mine. The roof of the seam will have a controlled collapse as they exit each area.
The second way of underground mining is called “Longwall Mining”. This involves cutting long tunnels into the coal seam and extracting this coal by a conveyor belt. Hydraulic support systems will hold the ceilings in place. But, in the 1800s they didn't have the conveyor belts and used donkeys and carts to transport the mined coal and the miners had to construct a beam system to hold the ceiling in place.
Tour-Ed Mine & Museum is one of the best and most unique science-filled field trips in Pittsburgh for elementary and middle school students. We designed our field trips for schools in Pittsburgh and beyond for any grade, but most of our visits are for 5th grade field trips, 6th grade field trips and 7th grade field trips. We have created a one-of-a-kind educational adventure combining science and history in an exciting attraction that will keep the attention of all and provide a learning experience they will remember throughout their lives. This attraction is most educational for school kids from early ages through middle school, but will even hold the attention of teachers, staff members and adults alike.
The Tour-Ed Mine & Museum has been modified for maximum visitor safety and comfort. The mine is inspected and certified annually as an attraction. Please see our tour information.