Physics Lyceum: Middle School, Princeton

About the Middle School Physics Lyceum

The middle school program of the SoTS Physics Lyceum. The same core curriculum is offered in two formats:

• Two paired semester courses in fall and spring (16 weeks each, twice weekly): Mechanics & Thermodynamics; Electricity, Magnetism & Optics.
• Four single-topic two-week camps in summer: Mechanics, Thermodynamics, Electricity & Magnetism, Optics.

A student can mix the two formats: take a topic as a summer camp, then take the rest as a semester course or as more summer camps. A motivated student finishes all four topics during 7th and 8th grade and arrives at the Lyceum already grounded in classical physics.

This program is for kids with a talent to wonder and the patience to think hard.

Semester Courses (Fall and Spring)

Each course pairs two related topics and runs one full semester, twice weekly (theory class + seminar). 16 weeks total, in person in Princeton.

• Mechanics and Thermodynamics. How things move, push, and stay still, and what happens when they get hot or cold. Mechanics topics: motion, speed, velocity, frames of reference; mass and density; forces (gravity, friction, Hooke’s law); pressure in solids, liquids, and gases; Pascal’s law; Archimedes’ principle and buoyancy; work, energy, power, conservation of energy; simple machines and mechanical advantage; equilibrium and moments. Thermodynamics topics: temperature, thermal motion, internal energy; heat transfer (conduction, convection, radiation); specific heat and calorimetry; phase transitions with latent heat; intuitive kinetic theory; first look at heat engines.
• Electricity, Magnetism, and Optics. How electricity flows, how magnets work, and how light behaves. Electricity & Magnetism topics: electric charge, conductors and insulators; current, voltage, resistance; Ohm’s law; series and parallel circuits; work and power of electric current; Joule heating (Joule–Lenz law); magnetic field of currents and permanent magnets; Earth’s magnetic field; force on a current-carrying conductor; principle of the electric motor. Optics topics: light as rays, rectilinear propagation; reflection and mirror images; refraction and Snell’s law; lenses (converging and diverging) with the thin-lens formula, magnification, and ray-tracing for image construction; color and dispersion; the eye and basic optical instruments.

Summer Camps (Four Single-Topic Intensives)

Each summer camp covers one topic at the same per-topic depth as the semester courses, compressed into two weeks. Same instructors, same curriculum, same grading: just one topic at a time, focused.

• Mechanics camp. How things move, push, and stay still. Topics: motion, speed, velocity, frames of reference; mass and density; forces (gravity, friction, Hooke’s law); pressure in solids, liquids, and gases; Pascal’s law; Archimedes’ principle and buoyancy; work, energy, power, conservation; simple machines and mechanical advantage; equilibrium and moments.
• Thermodynamics camp. What heat really is and how it moves. Topics: temperature, thermal motion, internal energy; heat transfer (conduction, convection, radiation); specific heat and calorimetry; phase transitions with latent heat; intuitive kinetic theory; first look at heat engines.
• Electricity & Magnetism camp. How electricity flows and how magnets work. Topics: electric charge, conductors and insulators; current, voltage, resistance; Ohm’s law; series and parallel circuits; work and power of electric current; Joule heating; magnetic field of currents and permanent magnets; Earth’s magnetic field; force on a current-carrying conductor; principle of the electric motor.
• Optics camp. How light behaves and how we see. Topics: light as rays, rectilinear propagation; reflection and mirror images; refraction and Snell’s law; lenses (converging and diverging) with the thin-lens formula, magnification, and ray-tracing; color and dispersion; the eye and basic optical instruments.

Format for each camp: Two weeks, Monday–Friday, 2.5 hours per day, 25 hours total. Camp-style intensive. Graded, with certificate.

Scheduling: Two-week windows are set per cohort, mid-June to late August. Multiple cohorts run when demand is high.

How We Teach: Clear Theory and Thought Experiments

Middle school physics is often given as a show. Blow this up, spin that, watch this explode. Exciting in the moment. For some kids, it’s not enough. They want to know why.

We teach through clear theory and thought experiments: theory built up step by step, paired with questions of the form What would happen if...? Students reason through a physical situation in their minds, debate with classmates, discover where their intuition breaks, and find out why. Then they develop new intuition.

Imagine you’re in a train with no windows. Can you tell if you’re moving? How? What if the train accelerates? What do you feel?

This is how Einstein did physics. In Princeton. With pen, paper, and imagination. It’s also how real scientists work today: the demonstration comes after the understanding, not instead of it.

We do show real phenomena, once students have done the reasoning. We use a carefully selected collection of short YouTube clips that demonstrate the physics we’ve just derived: a light ray bending as it enters water, iron filings tracing the field lines of a bar magnet, a Newton’s cradle transferring momentum down the line. The clip confirms the intuition; it doesn’t replace it.

Session Format

Theory class: Concepts built from first principles at the level appropriate to middle school: real ideas, presented honestly, not watered down. Derivations worked out on the board.

Seminar: Problems of increasing difficulty, worked individually and in small groups. Discussion follows: compare approaches, argue, check each other’s reasoning. Students may present solutions on the board. Instructor asks guiding questions and addresses common errors.

Cohort size: Up to 12 students per course or camp.

No phones or computers. We focus on thinking through problems together.

Prerequisites

• Math: Comfort with basic algebra. Right-triangle trig (used in Optics for Snell’s law) is introduced as needed. No calculus.
• Physics: No prior physics required. Each course and camp starts from first principles.

Transcripts and Certificates

Students receive grades and certificates documenting their progress through each course or camp. Transcripts can be used by homeschool families and by students who want to demonstrate substantial physics coursework before high school. See the Lyceum overview for our grading philosophy.

Cost, Enrollment & Refund Policy

Location: Princeton, NJ.

Enrollment: Open for the next semester and the next summer-camp cohorts. Schedule a call to find the right entry point and topic.

Payment due at enrollment. Full refund if we cancel or minimum cohort size is not formed. If you need to cancel: full refund 1+ week before start; no refund less than 1 week before.