Iron Hill Science Center
Designed with the homeschooling community in mind, our programs feature subjects related to the Iron Hill region and beyond. We have Homeschool Days that will focus on a certain topic monthly during the year. We also have our standard program tiers- Nature at a Glance, Learning Together, and Geology + Collect. All programs are appropriate for a range of ages and abilities, activities include an educator-led tour of the Museum & Science Center, and a chance to explore various topics through historic artifacts, photographs, natural history, and demonstrations. Students and their families also get time to explore the Museum & Science Center on their own. See below for more information.
Our Buildings
Depending on where you live, your region may have many different museums, or just a few. Let us introduce you to our museum and science center.
Natural history inside the Iron Hill Science Center
Collections frequently include fossils, rocks and minerals, and preserved plants and animals. This building is located on Robert L. Melson Lane, and has been our main building since 2016.
Human history in the Iron Hill Museum
The collections are on display within a 1923 built school house. Those collections include iron mining & history of Iron Hill Village, the history of the school house, and the lives of the Lenape people.
Upcoming Classes
These classes are not for Co-ops. If you are part of a Co-op and want a tour for the Co-op you are part of, keep scrolling down until you see the Program Information logo.
Every month during the year, we have Homeschool Days! Explore the world in Iron Hill Museum & Science Center’s homeschool classes for individual families. Students ages 5-18 from the homeschool community can attend sessions designed to complement homeschool science curriculums and make homeschooling more convenient, interactive, and engaging for your family. You can register by clicking on the interested month below.
Homeschool classes meet on certain week days each month. Each month is a different topic. Each class during that month is the same program for the entire month. Please check dates and times on the registration page for each month. Admission is $3 per student. Registration is required for these classes.
Each class runs from 10:30am until 11:30am.
October 9th, 23rd, and 31st- Going Batty
How to bats live, eat, sleep, fly at night, or talk? Learn about how bats do AMAZING things for nature, and how many bat types there are in the world compared to just Delaware. Find out what White Nose Syndrome is, and how we can help bats survive.
November 11th & 26th- Squirrel Nature Study
Squirrels can be so entertaining to watch, but they can be destructive to. There is more to them than storing nuts for the winter, and we hope to uncover what that might be. How do they help the environment? Do they really eat all of those nuts? Who are their distant cousins? Let's find out!
Classes are designed to serve small homeschool co-op groups, individual homeschool families that want a particular program, or private schools with small classes (this can accommodate up to 10 people). These classes can be booked Tuesday through Friday.
To book a program, please email Maureen Zieber at director@ironhillsciencecenter.org or by calling 302-368-5703.
Nature at a Glance Program
This program costs $30 if your group is less than 10 people (children 4 and under are free). Every additional student exceeding the number of 10 is $3 each. All adults are $2, unless the group is less than 10 people. The program includes:
-
General admission to the building with self guided pamphlet.
-
1/2 to 1 hour of instruction on any topic we offer. This includes our field trip topics, and our outreach topics that can be tailored to be in our classroom.
-
Access to our small classroom or outside pavilion if families wanted to teach a subject or two in a different location than their normal spot.
Learning Together Program
This program costs $50 if your group is less than 10 people (children 4 and under are free). Every additional student exceeding the number of 10 is $5 each. All adults are $2, unless the group is less than 10 people. The program includes:
-
General admission to the building with self guided pamphlet.
-
1 hour of instruction on any topic we offer. This includes our field trip topics, and our outreach topics that can be tailored to be in our classroom.
-
A 1/2 hour museum educator lead nature hike through our woods.
-
Access to our small classroom or our outside pavilion if families wanted to teach a subject or two in a different location than their normal spot.
Geology + Collect Program
This program costs $70 if your group is less than 10 people (children 4 and under are free). Every additional student exceeding the number of 10 is $7 each. All adults are $2, unless the group is less than 10 people. The program includes:
-
General admission to the building with self guided pamphlet.
-
The Earth Science + Collect Program that is listed on our field trips page. Total time is 2-3 hours.
-
Access to our small classroom or our outside pavilion if families wanted to teach a subject or two in a different location than their normal spot.
Image by Stacye Del Prete