An elementary school student spotted a glaring error in his state-approved science textbook – causing the book’s bigwig publisher to acknowledge the mistake and promptly correct it.
Liam Squires, a fifth-grader at Virginia‘s HM Pearson Elementary, made the find while reading the Exploring Science All Around Us textbook, published in 2016 by Virginia-based Five Ponds Press.
A ‘Level 5’ tome covering Earth Science, the book was approved by the school district back in 2015 – but a mistake involving a diagram depicting the geological rock cycle managed to creep through.
Noticing the photos of igneous and sedimentary rocks were miscaptioned, Liam told teacher Serena Porter that he had uncovered a mistake.
Initially skeptical, the instructor soon realized the preteen was right, and reached out to the school’s supervisor for science to confirm the error. She proceeded to contact Five Ponds, who then rectified the mistake – sending Liam a handwritten letter of gratitude in the process.
Liam Squires, a fifth-grader at Virginia’s HM Pearson Elementary, made the find in Five Pond Press’ Exploring Science All Around Us, spotting a diagram error involving mislabeled rocks
A ‘Level 5’ tome covering Earth Science, the book was approved by the school district in 2015 – but the diagram depicting the geological rock cycle still managed to creep through
Porter recounted how the correction transpired to the Fauquier Times, saying she initially did not believe that such a error could make its way into a preapproved textbook.
‘My first instinct was, “Okay, shoot. I must have been doing this wrong,”‘ Porter told the Virginia outlet Wednesday, more than a month after the publisher reached out to her student.
‘[I thought] maybe I taught it wrong, because surely, it’s not wrong in the textbook,’ she added.
‘But I go back to the page that the rock cycle is on, and I’m like… “Dude, I think you might have found an error.”‘
Porter quickly notified Linda Correll, the school’s instructional supervisor for science, health, and physical education, who confirmed that Liam was correct in his initial assessment.
Correll then reached out Five Ponds Press – which currently has 16 other textbooks in circulation – to notify them of the mistake, which they quietly acknowledged in the form of the handwritten letter.
While not shared, the letter thanked Liam for ‘paying such close attention in class’, and said that future editions of the book – generally released by the year – will amend the mistake.
The error saw publishers mislabel igneous and sedimentary rocks in a diagram demonstrating the geological process
Liam is a student at Virginia’s HM Pearson Elementary, which reached out to the publisher after confirming the youngster spotted a mistake. The publisher promptly sent a letter of thanks
In addition to the token of thanks, Liam received further recognition from the head of the school district in a gushing video
In addition to the token of thanks, Liam – who told the Fauquier he’s been left in awe by the reception he’s received since spotting the error – received further recognition from the school district, who approved the book in the first place.
‘A student at Pearson Elementary School whose name is Liam and Miss Porter’s fifth grade classroom discovered an error in one of these science textbooks and pointed it out to the teacher,’ Fauquier County Public Schools Superintendent David Jeck said in a video posted to the district’s YouTube account earlier this month.
‘And as a result, the publisher sent Liam a letter thanking him,’ said Jeck, before singing his song of praise for the preteen.
‘That was pretty amazing and pretty cool. So, hats off, Liam – great job.’
Porter, meanwhile, said it was not the first time the precocious student pointed an error out, even correcting her at times.
‘Liam is fantastic. He’s easily one of the smartest students that I have,’ Porter told the Times. ‘He is incredibly bright. He’s very poignant. He sees something that’s wrong or something that’s not right… and he has no problem pointing it out.’
As for the de facto editor, he simply said he was surprised by the publisher’s letter and did not expect be thanked so warmly.
‘I expected it to be more of a good job, a pat on the shoulder,’ he told The Times. ‘I did not expect it to be this.’
