A group of school children went on a rare guided tour of the lava flow from the volcano Kilauea in Hawaii. 

The trip was guided by Hawaii County Civil Defense and Hawaiian Volcano Observatory officials who were teaching the children about the science of eruptions, reported The Associated Press. 

"The students didn't know a lot about the lava flow when they first got out here, and they had a lot of questions," Keaau Elementary Principal Keone Farias, the incoming complex area superintendent for Kau, Keaau and Pahoa schools, said to AP. 

The tour was part of a pilot program only open to the school children who were on a field trip -- and later to about 20 journalists. If the program proves successful officials said they may expand the tours to the general public. 

The Hawaii County Civil Defense and Hawaiian Volcano Observatory worked with the county, the University of Hawaii, Hawaii Electric Light Co. and the county Public Works Department to set up the tour. 

On the tour there were about five informational kiosks with educational displays at the transfer station. There was also a walking tour of the cooled, stalled lava flow that entered the transfer station parking lot and came within a few yards of the building after an eruption, reported Star Advertiser, a local Hawaii newspaper.