Field Trips

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Give your students an unforgettable educational experience!

 

Iron Pour Field Trip

      

On Site Option:

During their trip to Sloss Furnaces, a trained docent will lead your students through the historic site as they learn about how the furnaces worked, the story of the men who worked at Sloss and their experiences, and why Sloss and the iron industry was important to Birmingham. Then they will experience the history first-hand as they create their own cast iron art and watch a live iron pour by the Sloss Metal Arts Program. Students will etch a design of their choosing into a sand mold, then the artists will pour molten iron into their molds creating the cast iron art piece. This unique experience provides full circle learning as they hear about how iron was made, watch iron being made, and take home a piece of iron that they designed.

  • $20.00 per student & $5.00 per chaperone* (Teachers are free)
  • Your school may be scheduled with additional groups
  • Approximately 2 hours
  • Only offered on Wednesday mornings during school year
  • Closed-toed shoes and long pants are highly recommended

*If chaperones or teachers would like to make cast-iron art, the cost is $20.00 per chaperone.
*For these kinds of trips, the number of chaperones must be limited per group. Contact our Education Coordinator for more information.

Iron Pour Field Trips are supported in part by the Alabama State Council on the Arts

In Class Option:

Get the iron pour experience right in your own classroom! A Sloss representative will deliver a sand block mold for each of your students along with instructions for making their cast iron art, a video tour of the Sloss site, and a behind-the-scenes video of the Sloss Metal Artists running their furnace. The Sloss representative can remain at the school to give instructions and answer questions if requested, with a video call option available as well. Once the sand block molds are finished, we will pick them back up to be poured on our site. We will film a short video documenting the creation of their art tiles which will be delivered along with the finished products back to your school!

  • $20 per student which includes all necessary equipment and transportation
  • Videos are between 15 and 30 minutes long
  • Small groups may experience a longer wait time for their finished art tiles as the Sloss Metal Arts Program can only run their furnaces when there is enough blocks to make it cost-effective.

 

Guided Tour Field Trip

On Site Option:

The tour consists of an educational film and touring the site to learn about the raw ingredients, how the furnace worked, the importance of Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham’s iron and steel industry and what it was like to be a worker during production. Students experience the site by visiting the underground stock tunnel where the ingredients were loaded in the blast furnace, the blowing engine room that dates back to the 1890s, and the base of the blast furnace to see where the molten hot iron flowed for 90 years.

  • $5.00 per person (Teachers are free)
  • 15 person minimum
  • Approximately 1 hour
  • Offered Tuesday-Friday during the school year
  • Closed-toed shoes are recommended

Virtual Option:

Learn about the history and workers of Sloss Furnaces from the comfort of your own classroom! We have two virtual options for seeing the site: a virtual interactive tour, and a video tour of the site. The virtual interactive tour allows students to click on locations to learn more, as well as watch an iron pour and see past versus present photos of the site. The video tour takes you through the site while a tour guide gives insight into how the site worked and the experiences of the men who worked there. With both options, our Education Coordinator, Ty Malugani, is available to do a video call session with your class to expand on topics or answer questions.

 

Picnic Lunch Area

Want to bring a picnic lunch? Reserve our picnic lunch area for either of the two on site field trip options. The area can be reserved for before or after the field trip. The lunch area must be requested in advance of at least three days before the scheduled tour. We can only offer this space to one group at a time. No vehicles other than buses, or personal vehicles that are carrying food/drinks, will be allowed to park in the lunch area.

 

Partner Institutions

To enhance your students’ learning experience, Sloss Furnaces recommends a piggy-back tour with Vulcan Park and Museum among other Birmingham-area institutions.

Important Documents

Coming on a Field Trip? Here are some important documents to look over before you arrive:

Sign Up Today!

To register for any of these programs, or for more information or questions, please contact Ty Malugani, Education Coordinator, at tyler.malugani@birminghamal.gov or at 205-254-2254.