We’re Fostering the Future of Science and Engineering
Your Hands on Science
Students engage in laboratory experiments and STEM experiences with real-world applications.
Our STEM Lab is open again and ready for hands-on discovery! Book your on-campus field trip on August 1st and experience science like never before. Click below to learn more!
Available Experiences
Investigate and discover the exciting, interdisciplinary nature of STEM through hands-on field trip experiences that provide opportunities to explore and engage in critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration across an array of scientific concepts. Southern Research field trips expose students to various pathways that can lead to a career in STEM. Each field trip offered aligns with the Alabama Course of Study as well as the cutting-edge work conducted by our scientists.
Disease Diagnostics: Using PCR to Diagnose Cystic Fibrosis
Students will be introduced to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and how it can be used to diagnose disease. Students will participate in a hands-on activity to model the steps of PCR and how it can be used to detect and amplify specific genetic sequences, including genetic mutations. Students will be given ready-to-load DNA samples from patients interested in finding out their disease status for Cystic Fibrosis. After analyzing the gel, students will be tasked with building a family pedigree to illustrate their findings and to also predict the disease state of other family members.
Class Size: Limited to 32 students
Length: 5 hours; This field trip includes lunch
Breaking the Code: How Cells Become Cancerous
Uncover the foundations of cancer by exploring how changes at the cellular and genetic level can lead to disease. Through hands-on activities, investigate cell structure, mitosis, and how abnormal cell division and morphology contribute to cancer formation. Then, trace the role of genetic mutations—like those affecting p53, the “guardian of the genome”—and discover how these changes increase the risk of cancer development. This immersive experience connects cell biology to real-world medical science.
Class Size: Limited to 32 students
Length: 5 hours; This field trip includes lunch
Pathways to Treatment: The Science of Drug Development
Step into the shoes of a pharmaceutical scientist! In this hands-on field trip, students explore the journey of a medication—from how it interacts with cells to how scientists design effective delivery methods. Blending biology, chemistry, and biomedical engineering, this experience offers a real-world look at how science transforms ideas into life-saving treatments.
Class Size: Limited to 32 students
Length: 5 hours; This field trip includes lunch
Bitter Truth: A Taste of Genetics
Explore how your DNA influences your sense of taste through a hands-on investigation into the ability to taste PTC (phenylthiocarbamide). Use Punnett squares to predict dominant and recessive traits, then gather and analyze class data to explore phenotypic and genotypic patterns. Finally, step into the shoes of a molecular biologist as you extract DNA, amplify it using PCR, and visualize the results through gel electrophoresis to uncover the genetic code behind your unique taste experience.
Class Size: Limited to 32 students
Length: 5 hours; This field trip includes lunch
Intro to Catalyst: Using Precision Medicine to Treat Cancer
Dive into the world of predictive and precision medicine as we explore polygenic risk scores, the impact of social determinants of health, and the complex challenges of modern healthcare. Then, take a closer look at how genetics can distinguish between tumor types and how scientists and physicians use immunohistology to identify biomarkers and develop targeted treatments to fight cancer at the cellular level.
Class Size: Limited to 32 students
Length: 5 hours; This field trip includes lunch
Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria: Not Just a Phage!
Have you ever imagined a world where a mere sneeze could become a showdown? Where common infections gear up like superheroes? Welcome to the Antibiotic Apocalypse – a world in which antibiotics can no longer defeat common infections. A world where strep throat could again be fatal.
Students will explore how strains of bacteria become resistant to antibiotics through a series of hands-on activities. Students will conduct a simulation to illustrate how misused antibiotics can generate selection pressures for some bacteria to flourish. Students will then utilize biotechnology, like PCR and gel electrophoresis, to investigate whether certain strains of bacteria have developed antibiotic resistance by amplifying the ampR gene.
Class Size: Limited to 32 students
Length: 5 hours; This field trip includes lunch
Bitter Truth: A Taste of Genetics
Why can some people taste bitterness in certain foods while others can’t? In this hands-on field trip, students will explore how genes influence our sense of taste. They’ll test their ability to taste PTC using taste papers, investigate dominant and recessive traits, and make predictions using Punnett squares. Students will also examine their own cheek cells under a microscope and discover how genetic variation makes each of us unique.
Class Size: Limited to 32 students
Length: 3 hours; This field trip includes lunch
Infectious Diseases: How to Track and Diagnose Viral Outbreaks
Students will learn the basic principles of immunology, including how the presence of foreign substances, known as antigens, can induce the formation of antibodies. They will participate in a simulated disease outbreak activity, investigate primary and secondary immune responses, and diagnose disease using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs).
Class Size: Limited to 32 students
Length: 3 hours; This field trip includes lunch
Breathing New Life into Asthma Treatment: The Power of Pharmacogenetics
What if your genes could determine how well your medicine works? In this hands-on experience, students explore how pharmacogenetics—the study of how genes affect a person’s response to drugs—plays a role in asthma treatment. Investigate genetic variants that influence how patients respond to albuterol, analyze DNA mutations using molecular models, and simulate how environmental triggers impact lung function. Students will also examine how personalized medicine is changing the future of healthcare, one breath at a time.
Class Size: Limited to 32 students
Length: 5 hours; This field trip includes lunch
Molecules in Medicine: Where Chemistry Meets Care
Step into the role of a pharmaceutical chemist! In this hands-on experience, students will explore how small molecular changes can dramatically impact how a drug works in the body. They’ll analyze patient symptoms, design a custom treatment, and test their medication in an interactive simulation that bridges chemistry and medicine in a fun and meaningful way.
Class Size: Limited to 32 students
Length: 5 hours; This field trip includes lunch
Thank you for choosing Southern Research as a field trip experience for you and your students. We are thrilled to meet your group, and we look forward to a fun-filled day of STEM! Please review the following information to help prepare you for a field trip at Southern Research
For your safety, we require all visitors to wear proper laboratory clothing, which includes pants and closed-toe shoes. Individuals with long hair should have a way to secure it away from the face so as not to interfere with any experiment. All students will be provided with a lab coat, goggles, and gloves as needed. Our laboratory and maker’s space is equipped with proper safety equipment. Please let us know if any visitor has any allergies or needs accommodations. No food, drink, or chewing gum is permitted in the laboratory.
For groups arriving by school bus: Please parallel park the bus along 9th Avenue South, in the space designated by parking cones. A Southern Research team member will meet you outside the Martin Library to escort you into the building.
For groups arriving by car or van: Please park in the visitor’s parking lot, located directly across the street from the main entrance. A Southern Research team member will meet you outside the Martin Library to escort you into the building.
We want your students to have the BEST day ever while visiting Southern Research. While in the lab, we encourage students to ask questions, collaborate with each other, and actively participate in class discussions. Please remind students that Southern Research is a place of business, so they must walk, not run, through public areas quietly. The usage of cell phones for taking photos while on the field trip is at the discretion of the teacher.
All students under the age of 19 visiting the STEM Education Outreach center must have a parent or guardian sign our Student Visitor Agreement Form. This form includes a media release, which allows for students to be featured in Southern Research marketing, publications, and/or social media. We strongly encourage teachers and chaperones to take photos and video with their own devices while in the STEM Education Outreach Center. If you share your photos and/or video on social media, be sure to tag Southern Research!
We provide field trip experiences for 6th – 12th grade students here at Southern Research. Unfortunately, we cannot host K-5 students at our facility due to safety concerns. But, we love engaging with eager, young future scientists and engineers! To see what we offer for K-5 students, check out our Elementary School tab for more information.
Please fill out the request form and you will receive a confirmation email from our STEM team within 24 hours. Please note this form is a request for that date and field trip experience, and it does not lock in your reservation until you receive official confirmation from our STEM team.
Our funding enables us to serve the entire state of Alabama, thus we must limit field trip requests to one request per teacher per year. If you would like to bring more students, please collaborate with other teachers from your school. You may also submit additional requests that we can put on our waitlist, and if we have availability, we will reach out to you.
Please take a look at our calendar below. The calendar lists all open and available dates for field trips.
We host field trips at Southern Research in our STEM Education Outreach Center, located at 2000 9th Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35205.
All Southern Research field trips are free! Field trip opportunities are made possible through support from the State of Alabama.
We offer reimbursement to cover the cost of up to two substitute teachers and one district school bus for Alabama public schools. Please have someone from your finance department send an invoice to stem@southernresearch.org. Detailed instructions can be found here.
Our lab can accommodate a minimum of 10 students and a maximum of 32 students.
Generally speaking, all field trips begin between 8:30 – 9:00 AM depending on travel time. Full-day field trips end between 1:45 – 2:15 PM and half-day field trips end between 11:30 AM – 12:00 PM. We understand bus restrictions and travel time can sometimes be an issue. Please let us know if you need to adjust your arrival and/or departure time, and we will try our best to accommodate your needs.
Each student must bring a signed copy of our Student Visitor Agreement form, which you receive in your confirmation email. You can also download a copy.
We provide lunch for all attendees (students, teachers, and chaperones) of full-day (5-6 hour) field trips. Prior to your visit, you will be asked to provide any dietary restrictions or allergies of your group so that we can meet the needs of your students and chaperones.
Yes, student groups can bring their own lunches, but there is no refrigeration or microwave usage available.
Southern Research has a collaboration space within the STEM Education Outreach Center where students, teachers, and chaperones may eat.
All students are required to follow general laboratory safety guidelines, which calls for students to wear pants and closed-toe shoes.
Yes! We strongly encourage you to take photos and video in the permitted areas, which includes inside the STEM Education Outreach Center as well as by our Southern Research sign in front of our building.
In the event you must cancel your field trip, please contact us no later than 48 hours prior to your trip. Please contact stem@southernresearch.org to cancel your field trip, with the subject line: Field Trip Cancellation.
In the event of severe weather, our top priority is the safety of you and your students. Please let us know as soon as possible the need to cancel due to severe weather. We will do our best to reschedule your field trip, pending availability. Please contact stem@southernresearch.org to cancel your field trip, with the subject line: Field Trip Cancellation.
Yes; please see our Field Trip Course of Study Alignment for high school and middle school under Field Trip Experiences.
Our field trips are led by the experienced members of our STEM Education Outreach team, Dr. Kathryn Lanier, Mr. Shon Essex, Ms. Molly Langston, Ms. Kristen Bates, and our STEM Ambassadors.
Please see “Preparing for My Visit” for more detailed information. Have a question that is not answered here? Please contact our STEM Education Outreach team at stem@southernresearch.org.
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