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March 21, 2023
Spring Issue #1
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Weekly activities and lessons to keep your child thinking and progressing all year long. |
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"Kind words do not cost much. Yet they accomplish much." |
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Happy Spring!
I'm sensing good things around the corner. Spring is here. I don't know about you, but I feel a warmer air, the birds seem to be singing a little longer and louder, and the blossoms are arriving and sharing their wonderful (unless you have allergies) scents. Spring is here and we deserve a good one! Thank you winter for all the rain and snow, but enough already...
I hope you enjoy the learning activities in this week's flyer. I think you will enjoy my book recommendation. This sports themed novel touches on so many relevant topics and teaches some fantastic history about the Negro Leagues and civil rights. I know all sports fans and lovers of history are going to enjoy it. This week's Inquiry Quest is a quick and easy lesson on the physics of sound. I hope you enjoy the throwback video from the home schooling days. Take care and have a safe and glorious week.
If you know anybody who you think would benefit from the weekly learning activities in this flyer, please share it with your friends and encourage them to join The McManus Files mailing list by following the links on this page.
Peace,
Mr. McManus
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If you feel your child might benefit from a group or individual tutoring program to prepare them for the next phase of their education, please contact McManus Tutoring.
Programs are structured so that students learn independence, accountability, and self-possession. They will develop a repeatable structure that can be used to build success in the future.
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What a quick, powerful book about family, setting things right, and history. I loved the titles of the chapters and how everything was so connected to softball, yet also about life and racism. Shenice Lockwood, captain of the Fulton Firebirds, is hyper-focused when she steps up to the plate. Nothing can stop her from leading her team to the U12 fast-pitch softball regional championship. But life has thrown her some curveballs. As the sole team of all-brown faces, Shenice and the Firebirds have to work twice as hard to prove that Black girls belong in the game. Shenice’s focus gets shaken when her great-uncle Jack reveals that a career-ending—and family-name-ruining—crime may have been a setup. This leads to broken focus and mistakes on the field. It's up to Shenice to discover the truth about her family’s past—and fast—before secrets take the Firebirds out of the game forever.
Enjoy!
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Secret Bells
Create your own personal sound system with a coat hanger and string, producing musical sounds that only you can hear
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- Materials you’ll need:
- Unpainted metal clothes hanger
- String
- Scissors
- Optional: Cooling or baking rack, metal salad tongs
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Assembly
- Cut two lengths of string, each about two feet (0.6 m) long.
- Tie one end of each string to a different side of the metal hanger, as pictured above.
- Wind the free end of one string around your index finger a few times. Wind the other string around the index finger on your other hand.
- Allow your assembly to swing freely from your two fingers.
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To Do and Notice
Place your index fingers (with hanger assembly attached) gently on the small flap of skin just in front of your ears, closing off the ear canal without putting your fingers into your ears. Swing the hanger so that it bangs lightly against something hard, like the edge of a desk or a door frame, and then let the hanger hang free. As the hanger vibrates, you should hear the resulting sound ring through the strings like chimes.
To go further, try using different materials and see how well they work. Instead of using a metal hanger, for instance, try a cooling/baking rack or a pair of metal salad tongs.
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What's Going On?
Although most of the sounds we hear are transmitted through the air, air is not the only carrier of sound waves—nor is it the best. A ticking clock can be heard through the air if you’re close enough, but put your ear to the table with the clock on it and the ticking will sound much louder.
When something vibrates, the strength of the vibration and the length of time the vibrations continue can vary quite a bit, depending on the materials involved. Hit a piece of wood with a stick and the sound lasts for just an instant. Hit a metal gong with the same stick, and the sound may continue for many seconds. Water is another good transmitter of sound.
Why the difference? In some materials, the molecules are tightly packed together; in other materials, the molecules are more loosely arranged. How close the molecules are to one another can affect how easily they can bump into each other to start a vibration moving along.
When you hit the coat hanger against another object, it starts vibrating. The vibrations in the metal travel through the string and into your fingers. The vibration is transferred to your head through solid objects, not air. Compare the sound of the coat hanger swinging into a chair or desk without holding the string against your ears. The sound is much duller. This demonstrates how the same vibration sounds differently when it travels through different materials.
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Here is a little video I made back during the days of home learning. It is the same activity only with a different listening device. Enjoy! |
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Three Writing Prompts and an Essay Topic
These prompts and questions will help jump-start your daily writing. Just as it's important to read for at least 30 minutes each day, you should also write for 30 minutes a day. Don't worry about your organization or spelling, just write!
"The door flew open with a bang, and in walked..."
"I looked into the dark tunnel and thought I could see..."
"I lost my key and now I had to..."
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March 21st
Today is the day of the Vernal Equinox. This is the beginning of spring in the Northers Hemisphere.
Prompt: If this is the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, what begins today in the Southern Hemisphere? Do you know what causes the differences in the seasons? Name one thing you'd like to do today to celebrate the start of spring. Click here to see a video about season change.
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Play All Out
Click the game or this link to try this challenging logic problem.
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