Science

To Enable Students To Understand and Appreciate The Physical World–and the Profound, Life-Sustaining Role of Science and Technology In Our Lives

"[Mr. Peltz] has an amazing way with the kids and has made a huge impact on Zach! He LOVES science and geography." –Jeff & Julie L., parents

"I can't wait to do biology with [Mr. Peltz] in detail next year." -Arya T., student

"Thank you for the year of excellent teaching and inspiration. Your excitement and passion for learning and sharing that with the kids is unique and a wonderful gift." –Susan K., parent

At LePort, science is about the world, not about words. We teach science as an exciting story of discovery—each student's own discovery of the world in which he lives, and the discovery of natural laws by heroic men and women of science, whose work so benefits human life. While at LePort, your child will not memorize scientific jargon or equations out of context: he will learn meaningful, practical and observation-based science in every grade.

We teach science primarily for two reasons:

• So that our students come to understand the world around them and use the knowledge they gain to better enjoy and appreciate that world. As they observe nature, classify their observations, and follow the logic of scientific discovery, students come to appreciate both the wonders around them and the scientists who discovered those wonders. From this basis, they gain a profound understanding of, and respect for, the life-sustaining role of scientific discoveries and technology in their lives.
  
  
• So that students improve their thinking skills, and learn to reflect on what they know. We use the scientific method as our guide to structure our science curriculum. We start out with observations the students can make independently, then take our students on a journey of discovery—introducing them, step-by-step, to scientific questions in key fields spanning the life sciences and physical sciences. We help them discover not just the answers, but also the evidence-based approach that is at the foundation of all scientific thinking.

We understand that we cannot aim for the deepest abstract level of scientific explanation by 8th grade. Rather than fill our students' minds with erudite theories they do not yet have the capacity to grasp meaningfully, we focus on guiding our students to become engrossed in the phenomena of nature and technology, and familiar with the broad picture of scientific discovery. We equip them with the observational facts on which all scientific knowledge is built, and we foster their ability to be independent minds that can reflect on the status of their knowledge. In short, we give them the evidentiary foundation necessary to appreciate the theoretical frameworks they will explore in high school and college.

Success for us is a student who is enthusiastic about discovering nature, who has the breadth of factual knowledge necessary to investigate advanced scientific theory, and who is eager and ready to tackle the next level of challenge in his science education.

Observations of the World, and Exploration of the Questions That Arise From These Observations–Not Jargon-Filled Memory-Work or Disconnected Hands-On Experiments

While most young children are fascinated by the world and eager to learn science, this curiosity is all too often stifled by middle school. And no wonder: Massive textbooks. Long lists of definitions and formulae to be memorized out of context. Abstruse, technical details and diagrams: it is not surprising that by the time science courses are made elective in late high school and college, student enrollment in them drops significantly, and only either the bravest (or those naturally inclined toward rote memorization) remain.

It doesn't need to be that way: at LePort, we understand the errors that throw children off the path of scientific discovery–and our method ensures your child will remain at least as excited about science in 8th grade as he or she was when entering elementary school.

Many science programs make two common and instructive errors:

Error 1: Trying to teach highly sophisticated and mature scientific knowledge out of context. Proponents of this approach make use of diagrams and analogies which artificially make a theory seem observable (when it really isn't), then require students to memorize the associated terms and definitions. This is what happens, for example, when 4th graders learn about the atomic structure of matter. The students assume that a model is an observation, and do not have a clear understanding of the actual relationship between the model and reality. Teachers and curricula rarely, if ever, stress that atoms and their parts are basically imperceptible and were discovered to exist only after certain advanced facts about chemistry had been established. (And worse than that: most 4th graders learn about atoms without having first cultivated any appreciation for the appearance and properties of the important substances that make up the world in the first place!) Another example is when 7th graders learn about the organelles and biochemical functions of the cell, but without any knowledge of the kind of information and questions that led to these largely invisible structures and processes having been elucidated in the first place. They have no choice but to take this presentation on faith, and memorize it by rote. Again, what students are learning represents knowledge of a disconnected model—not knowledge of the real world.

Error 2: Emphasizing critical thinking and scientific method at the expense of the factual information that makes those skills possible. In such a program, students might spend the majority of lessons engaging in potentially worthwhile laboratory activities, such as building electronic circuits, connecting voltmeters and ohmmeters, and recording the displayed numbers on a graph. But without any knowledge of what kinds of direct observations give rise to such concepts as "voltage" and "resistance" in the first place, such an activity lacks a clear purpose. After all, mankind did not simply wake up one day and find devices called "voltmeter" and "ohmmeter" sitting in front of him. The scientific method of thinking is the method of starting from things you can observe and verify directly, asking questions, making new observations, and building sequentially up from there. The desire to cultivate critical thinking is noble, but critical thinking cannot occur in a vacuum—to learn to think critically, a student needs a factual knowledge base which he can think critically about.

Contrast this to the LePort approach:

• At LePort, we don't emphasize content over method, or method over content. We teach practical, meaningful content, using the scientific method as our guide for how the content should be presented. We start out with content that the students can observe for themselves, and thus truly grasp (as against just memorizing it.)
  
  
• We teach science based on observations our students can make of the world. This ensures that science remains about discovering the world, not memorizing mere jargon. For example, in astronomy, a fourth or fifth grader learns to identify some useful and interesting constellations, and spends time observing the regular motions of the planets, moon and sun. He learns to predict their positions, and therefore develops skills in thinking like a scientist.
  
  
• We systematically spiral through the subjects–and build knowledge upon knowledge in a cognitively appropriate sequence: our students move from directly observable facts to the inferences scientists draw from them as they search for explanations of the oftentimes puzzling things they observe. In astronomy, our seventh or eighth graders build upon their earlier observations: we introduce the key evidence that allows us to infer that the Earth is round, that the Earth and other planets circle the Sun. By making such observations we are also able to present evidence that leads to the discovery of some of the basic laws of physics, such as Galileo's principle of inertia, which are demonstrated very clearly by motions of objects in space.

LePort's approach to Chemistry. One of the major topics covered in LePort's chemistry curriculum is the many inorganic substances necessary for modern civilization–such as cement, metals, glass, acids, and more. We have our students work with these materials, so they can understand, first-hand from their own experience, the materials' physical characteristics, their form in a state of nature, how they are processed, and the myriad ways in which they benefit our lives.

As students study these materials, their own observations give rise to countless interesting and important questions. Guided by the teacher, many of these questions serve as the framework motivating a mystery that paves the way to deeper understanding. For example: why do metals increase in weight when heated over long periods in a kiln, but other substances, such as wood, obviously decrease in weight when burned?

The exploration of this question leads to an unraveling of the mystery of what is happening, chemically, when a substance burns. Strangely enough, it leads us to profound implications about—of all things—what happens when we breathe! Historically, it is also one of the crucial pieces of evidence for the theory of the elements (i.e. the Periodic Table), which states that all substances can be broken down into one or more of about 90 naturally occurring simplest substances. And so on. In this way, one observational thread leads to another, gradually creating the tapestry that is our modern scientific understanding of the world.

Basing our approach to science in observable phenomena, and following the logical series of questions that leads to deeper understanding (sometimes retracing, in effect, the discovery process that historical scientists had to take in order to discover scientific laws) has two important benefits for our students:

• We keep students' genuinely motivated throughout the process—because new knowledge answers questions that have become relevant and meaningful based on earlier knowledge they acquired, and thus satisfies a curiosity that arises naturally. Coming to know the physical world is not a passive, automatic process. It requires active exploration on the part of the learner. Thus, it is essential to maintain each student's interest–and what better way to ensure interest than to teach science like a detective story, where observational evidence leads to questions, which then get answered by following the journey of scientific discovery!
  
  
• We set the right example of how to think by following the essential method of science: first, observe–then explain! Observing nature carefully, documenting one's observations, and integrating them–first, by rigorous reasoning, then using mathematics and more advanced scientific methods, such as experimentation with controls–is at the core of the scientific method. Our students become careful observers, who come to really see the world and all its wonders, from birds and bugs, to tides and moon phases, to metals and rocks. They learn to classify what they see, to integrate their observations and to think deeply about them, often anticipating the next key questions and discoveries. In a word, they acquire the mindset of scientists. They are thus well prepared and eager to tackle the more challenging, theoretical curricula of high school and college courses.

An In-Depth, Systematic Curriculum That Spirals Through The Life Sciences and Physical Sciences, Focusing On Content Students Can Observe and Truly Grasp for Themselves

Science is our means of knowing the physical world around us, of discovering its numberless wonders and drawing the inferences that make technological innovation possible. Science is the study of the physical world: its objects, processes, and underlying laws. Taught right, science first presents students with fascinating questions, then helps them excitedly discover and investigate the answers.

At LePort, we teach key areas in the major categories of scientific knowledge: the life sciences (including zoology, botany and anatomy) and the physical sciences (including earth science, astronomy, physics, and chemistry). We include in our curriculum some of the important applications of these sciences, the technologies that enable our survival and flourishing–from medicine to generators, from plant and animal domestication to cement. We revisit each area of science several times as each child progresses from 4th through 8th grade, and ensure that what we teach at each age is developmentally appropriate and builds sequentially to an integrated, growing scientific knowledge base.

We are purposefully selective in what we teach: we understand that the most important lesson we can impart to our elementary and junior high students is that science is a fascinating discovery of profound truths about the world. To ensure that our students see, in instance after instance, the power of scientific progress, our program presents science as a detective story. Starting with a systematic exploration of nature, students are lead, step-by-step, to the broad generalizations and causal explanations that form the principles of science. By immersing our students in the world of directly observable phenomena, and studying a selective curriculum step-by-step and in depth, our students remain motivated and engaged. They understand why science is relevant. It actually helps them understand their world!

These examples should help to illustrate our approach :

Life sciences: In the life sciences, we focus primarily on zoology, botany and anatomy in grades 4-6; in the later years, we expand our study to include some of the observational data of modern biology, such as the cell and microscopic organisms, as well as early observational data on heredity and physiology.

In each area, we begin our study with systematic observations, and guide our students to be attentive, to classify their observations, and to draw conclusions from what they see. For example, when we study classification, we do not content ourselves with merely memorizing terms or written statements of their definitions. Instead, we ask our students to apply what they learn. In a typical class, our science teachers might show photos from select groups of plants or animals, ask students to place them in the appropriate family, and then explain their placement. These exercises are fun for our students–and by applying what they learn, they remember, and become attuned to nature. The students enjoy this work so much that many of them will even bring to class photographs they take in their free time of animals or plants, or will relate experiences of the organisms they identify in their backyard, on vacation, etc.

What do these fruits have in common, and how do you know?

Physical sciences: Our course of study here includes earth science (primarily geology), chemistry (primarily the study of inorganic materials, their characteristics and uses), astronomy, and physics (especially mechanics and the observational data of electromagnetism). The early grades are dedicated to making observations and classifying them; by the junior high grades, we build upon their wealth of observations and take our students on a journey of exploration that follows the logic of discovery behind some of the basic principles in physics.

For example, in geology we start out by handling all kinds of rocks, and classifying them by their characteristics. We handle limestone, sandstone and clay, and carefully observe their properties. (How hard are they? What are their colors? What happens when we apply acid to them?) We contrast these rocks with granite and basalt, guiding our students as they discover the classes to which these rocks belong (sedimentary and igneous). We take our students on field trips, where they can see the rocks in their natural environments. And ultimately, we build upon these and other observations as we help them understand how geologists have developed the theories that explain the key geological phenomena we can experience around us–such as volcanoes, earthquakes and mountains.

With the preparation they receive at LePort, our students are motivated to continue their science studies. They seek answers to the questions framed by the principles of modern biology, chemistry, physics, and earth science–and are ready to tackle the more advanced, theoretical explanations they will encounter in well-formulated high school science curricula.

Young Scientists, Excited About Nature, Science and Technology, and Equipped with the Essential Knowledge and Skills They Need to Success in High School and Beyond

"I am tickled to see how [my daughter] applies what she has learned [in science] to her own life." -Ruthie T., parent

"When I grow up, I want to be a science teacher." -Jordan S., student

"Mr. Peltz make(s) science come alive for these kids! [His] love of this subject infects [his] students with the same emotion…" -Karen R., parent

"As [Joshua] has progressed into high school I am again pleasantly amazed at how wonderful he has been prepared…. 'I wonder what Mr. Peltz would think of that?' or 'I would love to show that to Mr. Peltz' are comments he often makes." –Shanan C., parent

At LePort, success is a student who loves discovering the world and is eager and ready to tackle the next, deeper level of scientific explanation. By making science about the world, not words, we deliver that, and more:

• Our students are excited about nature and the wonders it holds; about science and its ability to explain the world and make it at once fascinating and understandable; and about technology and the tremendous, life-fostering benefits it provides to human life. Most of all, our students are eager to learn more science!
  
  
• Our students acquire the skills and habits they need to thrive in life. Our students pay careful attention to external details. They become skilled observers of the natural and physical world. They learn to look and listen, so that it becomes second nature for them to see, hear and notice the things going on around them. Through years of practice, they develop the habit of connecting and applying what they learn to their own body of personal experiences and observations outside of class. Our students also acquire a rare skill: the ability to begin reflecting on the status of their own knowledge, and differentiate between what they know fully (all the way back to the observations that give rise to the concept or theory) and what they know only partially and may need to investigate further. In a word, they acquire the foundation of a scientific mindset.
  
  
• Our students acquire the knowledge they need to feel at home in the world. They build a vast, well-organized storehouse of observational facts that will allow them to make sense of the deeper level of explanations found in high school science curricula. Our students develop a systematic foundation of key observational facts and first-level explanations on which their further scientific knowledge can be built. Through example after example, they also come to internalize the general principle that knowledge requires evidence based on observation.