Classroom News

Corning Glass Field Trip

Students got a hands on experience at the Corning Glass museum. They were provided an opportunity to tour the museum and participate in 3 workshops.

The 36 students were divided into 4 groups and sent to specialized areas of the Corning Workshop Building. The first group had hands on experience in gathering clear liquid glass from the "glory hole" and applying colored powdered glass to it's surface. The glass was reheated and then shaped by the student into a flower like shape complete with a stem. The work was then placed in an annealing oven for an extended cool down process. The students will be receiving their works of art in about 2 weeks.

The next group were given the opportunity to make glass beads using colored glass caning and a small torch. This process is called flame work. The students gathered a ribbon of white melted glass on a stainless steel rod covered with clay. They then proceeded to attach dabs of other colored glass on to the surface of the white background glass. While all this was being done, the students had to keep both the glob of glass and the glass rod hot enough to bond to each other with out melting the glass into a drip.

The final group fused fine colored glass rods and chips onto a square of glass to create a sun catcher.

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