IMSA Fusion Family Night

You are Invited

To The

IMSA FUSION Family NIGHT!!

WHO:  IMSA FUSION Students and their Families

WHAT:  IMSA FUSION Family Night

WHEN:   Jan. 12^th, 2015 from  5 pm til 6:00 pm

                *Students will have a normal IMSA meeting from

                   3-5 pm and you are welcome to join us at 5 pm.

WHERE:  Churchill Junior High, Cafeteria

WHY:  The IMSA Students will ask for your assistance in building a Gingerbread House.  The house will then be tested on the shake table to see whose house can best withstand an earthquake.  This activity is culmination of this semesters unit on plate tectonics.

**Prizes will be awarded for the Best Looking House and the Sturdiest House!

**We are asking for donations of materials with which to make the gingerbread houses.  Please bring in by Jan. 9^th.

***Drinks will be provided, however we are asking students to donate a dozen cookies by Jan. 9^th  for the nights events.*** 

12-15-14

IMSA Holiday Party

 Tonight we had Little Caesar's Pizza, pop and played a game called Mafia.
This is a game of strategy and critical thinking to try and figure out who the Mafia members are.  If you are a Mafia member you are trying to stay alive!  Everyone had a great time!  We want to wish all IMSA Fusion members and their families a Safe and Happy Holidays!!! See you on Jan. 12th for a regular IMSA meeting and for Parent Night following our normal scheduled meeting.  Please look for the flier on Parent Night that went home with the students tonight!!

12-8-14

Part 2 of Let's 

Get Ready to Tumble

 We first started by finishing the activity we began last week.  We had started to explore the bases of buildings and how they move.  We also looked at ways to reinforce the buildings base.  This week we started with the bases we built and added a 3-D structure to it.

 We then tested out our buildings on the shake table.  Most of them made it through 30 seconds of shaking without major damage.  Many were displaced and some had minor damage.

 We then took what we learned with our straw buildings and applied it to a new material...... toothpicks and day old marshmallows!!!  I have included several pictures of the building process of these structures.  The students were given 150 toothpicks and 50 marshmallows.  Their structure had to be at least a foot tall.

 Here are pictures of the various structures built and the teams that built them!

 Finally, we tested these buildings on the shake table.  The buildings had to withstand 30 seconds of shaking from Mrs. Blust and Miss Dornon.  Overall the structures help up very well!  Some swayed back and forth quite a bit and had they been real buildings they would have seen more damage.  I have posted pictures of the buildings after they went through at least a 6.0 magnitude earthquake =)


 Can't wait to see you all next week.  Remember that if you want pizza next week to bring in $2.00 to Mrs. Blust by Friday, December 12th.

12-1-14

Let's Get Ready to Tumble

Today in IMSA we started our investigation into building structures and earthquakes.  In our first activity we tested 4 different structures made of Starburst.  We tested them by putting them in a foil pan and simulating the vibrations of an earthquake.  We then evaluated how quickly and in what matter each structure was damaged.  The students then decided on and tested one structure that they picked but that was at various distances from the epicenter.   

 

The second activity took the information from the first and started to apply it to building a 3-D structure with straws, limited tape and card stock.  These structures will be tested on the shake table next week.  We will continue with the last two activities of this unit also.  

 This is all building up to the activity that the students will start developing and then carry out at our parent night.  Please keep checking back on this blog for more information about parent night and be looking for a handout on it to be coming home before break.  The parent night is
                                                      currently set for Jan. 12th, 2015.