Academy Legacy · Family preview

Legs feed the wolf · Family testing edition · September 18, 2026

Choose a question.
Build your explanation.

Three original missions to lead together, on any day. Start with what the learner can explain. Move straight to the challenge when the foundation is secure; return to a model when it is not.

Adult-led enrichment previews, not a complete course or placement test. Work on paper: this page collects no answers or learner records. Print this guide to use at either home.

01

Scientific model · Adult-supervised activity

Archimedes’ workshop

Question: can a smaller load balance a larger one?

Set up

Use a ruler, a pencil as the pivot, and identical small counters. An adult stabilizes the pivot on a clear table. Use only small tabletop loads. Keep small parts away from younger children.

First balance the empty ruler at its center. Place one counter the same distance from each side. What happens if you move just one counter farther out?

The governing rule

A weight farther from the pivot produces more turning effect. In our ideal model, balance means the two sides have equal counter count × distance. Real results can differ because the ruler has weight, the pivot has width, and counters can slide.

Worked model: two counters at 6 cm balance three counters at 4 cm: 2 × 6 = 3 × 4 = 12. These are classroom comparison units, not standard torque units.

Try it, then explain it

  1. Concrete entry: balance one counter against one counter. Draw the pivot and both distances. Predict before moving anything.
  2. Three counters sit 4 cm left of the pivot. Where would you place two counters on the right? Draw and label your prediction.
  3. Four counters sit 3 cm left. Two sit 5 cm right. Predict which side goes down. Change only one distance to restore balance.
  4. Challenge: find three different whole-number pairs with a turning-effect score of 24. Which can your ruler actually test? Explain the difference between a mathematical possibility and your equipment’s limit.

Transfer

With an adult, compare gently pushing an ordinary door near its hinge and near its handle. Keep fingers clear. Explain what stayed the same and what changed. Do not use heavy, spring-loaded or fire doors.

Return after two days

Without today’s model, draw where one counter could balance two counters placed 3 cm from a pivot. Explain your rule before testing.

Science reference: NASA Glenn: torque. Academy’s explanation and tasks are original.

02

Original fiction · Philosophy or interpretation

The Torn Map

Question: what can you choose when a plan goes wrong?

Mira drew a map for the family’s garden hunt. A gust lifted it from the bench. When she caught it, one corner tore.

“Now it is ruined,” she said.

Her brother reached for a pencil. “Can we change the wind?”

Mira shook her head. She still felt angry.

“What can we do next?”

Mira laid the pieces on the table. She asked for tape, repaired the corner, and redrew the missing path. Then she put a stone on each edge.

The map still had a scar. It also had a clearer route.

When the hunt began, Mira told everyone where the paper had torn and how she had fixed it.

This is a new Academy story inspired by a Stoic question about choices. It is not a quotation from an ancient author. Feeling upset and taking useful action can coexist.

Read at the useful depth

An adult can read aloud while a beginning reader follows. A fluent reader can read independently, summarize without looking, and defend an interpretation. Do not require a learner to repeat mastered syllable drills simply because of age.

Worked inference: “Mira was honest” is a claim. Her explanation to the group supplies evidence for that claim.

Study the words

Worked model: rebuild means build again. The prefix re- changes the meaning of the base build. Meaningful word parts and spoken syllables are different ways to examine a word.

Read an unfamiliar word, spell it in a sentence, explain it, and use it in a new context. One remembered spelling is not the whole reading profile.

Try it, then explain it

  1. Name an event Mira did not choose and two actions she chose. Point to the story.
  2. Someone says, “Mira stopped caring about the map.” Explain whether the text supports that reading.
  3. Investigate redraw, redrew, and reusable. What does each mean? Which word changes tense? Which includes a part meaning “able to”?
  4. Challenge: write a different ending in which asking for help improves the plan. Include a consequence and a line of dialogue. Defend your character’s choice without claiming it is the only reasonable one.

Make it useful

Choose a small repair or shared household task. State the problem, ask what help is needed, make a plan, and check the result together. Describe the action rather than judging someone’s character.

Return after three days

An outdoor plan is cancelled by rain. Name a possible feeling, a fact nobody in the family controls, and two useful next actions. Private feelings do not need to be disclosed or graded.

Parent references: Epictetus, Enchiridion §1 · UFLI’s foundational-reading approach. No UFLI lesson or worksheet is reproduced; no endorsement is implied.

03

Established evidence · Model and observation

Moon detective

Question: why does the same Moon seem to change?

Moonlight is reflected sunlight. Ordinary phases change as our view of the Moon’s sunlit part changes; they are not caused by Earth’s shadow. Use a dotted ball and an adult-managed lamp to model this. Never look at the Sun. The tabletop model is not to scale.

The Moon’s rotation

Watch the marked face as the Moon travels. Predict whether keeping one face toward Earth means the Moon does not rotate.

Open NASA rotation video →Source and accessible description

Phases: north-up view

Pause at a crescent, a half-lit disk and a nearly full disk. Sketch the visible illuminated portion.

Open NASA north-up video →Source and visualization notes

Phases: south-up view

Compare the same date and time in both views. Separate orientation from the amount illuminated.

Open NASA south-up video →Source and visualization notes

Videos open only when an adult continues to NASA. No autoplay or recommendation-feed embed. Credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio. The phase animations show archived 2023 dates, not tonight’s forecast. If video is unavailable, use the source descriptions and ball model below.

Model the movement

Put a removable dot on a ball. Move it around a central object while keeping the dot facing the center. Observe how its orientation changes relative to the room. Draw four positions. An adult handles the lamp; use a cool light source and keep walkways clear.

Model the fraction

Worked example: four shaded sectors of an eight-sector paper circle represent 4/8 = 1/2. These wedges are fraction practice, not an exact drawing of the curved boundary between light and dark on the Moon.

Try it, then explain it

  1. Concrete entry: fold a paper circle in half, then in half again. Describe the equal parts. An adult can prepare the circles.
  2. On three eight-sector circles, shade two, four, and six sectors. Name each fraction in simplest form. Explain how you know the parts are equal.
  3. Does a ball turn relative to the room when it keeps the same face toward the center of its orbit? Demonstrate your answer.
  4. Challenge: compare north-up and south-up video frames at the same displayed time. What changed? What did not? Explain why a change of viewpoint is not a different Moon.

Return later

After two days, explain rotation and orbit with two objects and no video. After a week, simplify 6/12 and explain why a half-lit disk does not mean half the Moon disappeared.

Rights review, September 18, 2026: these three NASA visualization pages identify NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio and no third-party restriction was found in their listed credits. Use remains subject to NASA’s media guidance; no NASA endorsement is implied.

Keep the evidence. Come back to the idea.

On paper, record the date, mission, actual time, support given, one explanation and the next recall date. Distinguish an independent attempt from an answer after help. A completed activity or video does not award mastery.

Between blocks, use a brief familiar movement reset or rest suited to the learner and space. Challenge can feel uncomfortable; pain, dizziness, breathing difficulty or loss of form means stop. Movement is practice, never a penalty for an incorrect answer.

Continue with the full sample day →

Review before continuing

You are leaving this site for a separate provider. Review the destination and the terms that apply there.

For a payment, match the merchant, amount and invoice reference. A bank connection is separate consent, not permission to charge. Do not include medical records, child records, tax returns, bank credentials or verification codes in an inquiry.

Read the entity and payment policy