Fractal

To enroll your child(ren) please send an email to madisonfractal@gmail.com Prior registration is required to participate in these sessions!!! Or register via Sector67′s Classes Page

Classes will be held at Sector67-2100 Winnebago St.Madison, WI from 1-4pm next week.

Sessions are $50/day or $200/week

Monday
We’ll be visiting the Madison Children’s Museum to do a walk through with exhibit designers and participating in exhibits to discuss the science/math that goes into exhibit designing. They’re also looking for feedback from the kids as to how to make the museum more older kid friendly.

Tuesday
Mummifying Apples isn’t just for ancient civilizations. We’ll be discussing how and why ancient civilizations mummified people and animals and the science used in the process. This project takes a full week so the kids will be creating a science journal to use and take home with them. We’ll also be discussing what a Scientist does and how the Scientific Process is never ending.
We’ll also be making Jiggling Worms for our snack. This experiment will be using fruit juices to create jello jigglers to discuss phase change and the molecular makeup of the ingredients.
To finish up the day we’ll be making Recycled Paper. While this may be an activity done in art class, we’ll talk about molecular bonds and how recycling works in nature and at the Recycling Facilities.

Wednesday
Wear some clothes that can get dirty because we’ll be working in the Sector67 Garden. Gardening isn’t as easy as dig, plant, water. We’ll be prepping the soil and discussing the chemicals and “nutrition” needed to grow plants. We’ll also be taking Soil Samples from different locations around Sector67 to test the PH levels and discuss how/why samples not far apart may be different due to environmental affects.
Our snack will be Carbonated Fruit. We’ll pressurize different types of fruit pieces (you get to choose) to see how much carbonation each fruit can hold.

Thursday
We’ll be making Cheesy Candles with everyday household items. These candles will really show some Wisconsin pride!
For snack we’ll be testing our senses for Sweet & Sour. Discuss the different areas of taste buds on our tongues and how they work together to create different tasting experiences. We’ll also be discussing how sight/touch/smell work into how we perceive taste of items.
We’ll then be building boats from limited resources to have a Boat Race. Mechanical engineers work long and hard on trying to make every piece of your car, boat, lawnmower, etc.. work perfectly. The kids will have to use what they’re given to try and make a boat that will float and outpace the other boats.

Friday
Is it a solid, or a liquid?? We’ll be doing some testing of Gooblek to discuss phase change and how there really are more than 3 states of matter.
Snack is still undetermined
To end the week we’ll be blasting off Chemical Launchers. By using chemical reaction’s we’ll see who can launch their cork higher into the air.

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Classes are posted for Saturday sessions during the next few months. I also will be offering Homework Help on Monday’s from 3-7pm by appointment. If Monday doesn’t work for your child but you’re still interested in help please send us an e-mail to madisonfractal@gmail.com to set up another day/time that works for you.

We held our first Spring Class over the weekend making a Joule Thief. A Joule Thief is like a mini-flashlight where we re-purpose an otherwise “dead” AA battery by stealing the remaining joules from it to light an LED. The 2 participants were in 6th and 3rd grade and had a great time learning about how the Joule Thief works, what joule’s are, and learning basic soldering skills to complete the project. The did a great job and I hope they come back again for other classes!

Unfortunately our next class isn’t until March but we hope you’ll sign-up to attend! Parents are more than welcome to stay and participate in all the classes!

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Fractal will be offering a week long camp during MMSD Winter Break.

Sessions will run from 1-4 pm Monday, January 2nd-Friday, January 6th and are limited to 10 participants per day.

Parents and Participants can find out more information under the Classes Tab or email madisonfractal@gmail.com

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Please check the Calendar Page for upcoming events where Fractal will be attending or participating at.

If you know of any other events going on in the Madison or surrounding Communities for kids please email madisonfractal@gmail.com and it will be added to the Calendar Page.

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Erin and Heather had a great time this summer working with all the kids! We would like to send a special Thank You to the staff, leaders, and participants at Madison Schools & Community Recreation, the Goodman Community Center, and the Madison Children’s Museum!
We appreciate everything everyone has done to make sure our first summer was a success!

Plans for sessions this fall are in the works and continue to watch for updates to find out upcoming weekend sessions and further events!

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A huge Thank you to our friend James Wilson for his generous donation towards Fractal’s success! Because of James, Fractal is able to fund 50+ projects that without us having to worry about asking other sponsors or parents to pay for!

We would also like to say a huge Thank you to Rayovac here in Madison! Rayovac generously donated 500 AA batteries to Fractal to help power numerous lessons teaching about electricity and other creations built by participants!

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