Hands-on Science Through Stories
For the classroom, micro-school, and at-home learning groups
We tell STORIES - through the written word and through video - and we immerse kids in these stories and specifically into the lives of and challenges faced by the greatest thinkers, innovators, scientists, and mathematicians in history: Lavoisier, Darwin, Mendeleev, Bohr, Pythagoras, Euclid, Newton, Descartes.
When you walk in the footsteps of those who marshaled unrivaled creativity, intellect, and perseverance to solve the most complex questions in history, you know what it takes to solve the most complex challenges of the future.
And we bring youngsters right to the moment before new knowledge was created, then we pull back, and let them completely take over. With a few key lab supplies that we provide, and whatever logic, inference, and instinct they bring, students are challenged to make the same intellectual leaps as the great mathematicians and scientists.
The courses are delivered on a digital course platform.
Students login and go!
Better science for the student, easier delivery for the teacher!
We provide everything you need to run an exciting and rigorous science class. We pose intriguing challenges and create a little suspense in the "Launch" video and reading. We guide students on the intricate details of the experiment set-up (without giving away the results) in the "Lab" video. Responding to question prompts, students then submit their observations and analyses into a digital lab notebook. In the final "Landing" video and reading, we describe the conclusions the iconic scientists and mathematicians in history arrive at.
For every lab, students are also prompted to submit a hypothesis into their digital lab notebook. And at the end of every lab, there is an auto-graded problem set, where students can get quick feedback on what they know.
Lastly, and certainly not least, we provide supply kits, prepackaged for each student or group of students!
Our approach to science education - the student IS the scientist
We asked ourselves, how did actual science actually happen?
Perfection and getting right answers was never the objective - science has always been about working to make sense of data and observations from laboratory experiments.
All of the amazing theories and ideas in science (in electromagnetism, thermodynamics, chemistry, cosmology, evolutionary biology, geophysics, on and on) started with a simple curiosity or question…and they were all resolved through a combination of lab experiments, logic, analysis, and oftentimes a creative hunch!
With QC Courses, there are no thick textbooks, no endless strings of online lectures. Students don’t just follow the tired way of learning, reading, memorizing, and testing.
No, our students are the scientists … receiving compelling scientific challenges, performing lab experiments, and working to resolve the challenges by analyzing their own data
(In other words, students kind of just follow the scientific method … radical!)
"We love QuantumCamp. The teachers are fantastic! They love the kids. They love science. They love curiosity." -Angela Richards
How it works
Six 5-week short courses = One amazing year of science
(1) Once your student receives their supply kit, they login and start. (2) They watch a 3-minute "Launch" video, where we pose a challenge. (3) Student submits a hypothesis. (4) Student sets up and conducts an experiment. (5) Student records observation and analysis in their digital lab notebook. (5) Student watches a concluding video and can peruse videos and readings for further study. (6) Student does a problem set
Teachers and guides have access to every student's digital lab notebook and can provide rubric-based scoring and/or narrative comments.
Sample lessons:
Short Course Name: The Chemical Elements
Lesson: Lab 3A
Short Course Name: Chemistry of Atoms Lesson: Lab 4B
For the classroom
Spend time with your students, not with lecture prep and lab setup
Imagine meandering around your classroom, exploring ideas with your students, corralling or redirecting groups only when necessary, celebrating failure, encouraging students to make bold hypotheses ... ultimately having more time to build relationships with your students and support them on a social and emotional level as they advance through challenging and engaging content.
We solve three big problems with middle school science:
Problem 1 - dreadful content
QC courses are captivating stories of discovery. Your students are immersed in a narrative and look forward to the next lab, and the next lab after that.
Problem 2 - one-size-fits-all
Your students are working at different paces? Your students have varying aptitude's? We got you covered. Self-directed courses are self-paced. We also curate tons of resources from the web, which directly support progress in QC courses.
Problem 3 - teacher workload / teacher shortage
You don't have to find supplies. You don't have to prepare lectures. You don't have to conjure up compelling inquiry questions. You don't need to create quizzes. These are all baked into to QC courses.
For the micro-school AND at-home group
This could be just the science experience you were hoping to create for your students
$200 for a 5-week short course.
(Six 5-week short courses = One year of science).
The following are included with each short course.
(1) Five 1-hour synchronous sessions, led by a QC instructor!
(2) Lab supply kit
(3) 5 chapters of videos, readings, and lab challenges
(4) 5 chapters of curated web links to more videos and readings
(5) Digital lab notebook for hypotheses and lab write-ups
Expectations outside of class sessions
*about 1 to 3 hours of work
Students are expected to do one lab each week on their own (or with others!)
Students are expected to watch a few videos on the lab they just did and the lab coming up.
Students are expected to read through the lab prep articles and lab review articles
Students are expected to submit hypotheses and respond to a series of lab-write up questions
Prerequisites
Students should have a basic understanding of lab safety practices, especially for chemical reactions. Small amounts of acids are used and small combustion reactions occur, which require careful, patient, attention to following the procedure exactly. Further, we use small pieces of lab equipment, which can be easily lost, and therefore the ability to maintain and clean and orderly workspace is ideal.