SparkPoint Innovations opened a Georgia office in October of 2012. After receiving multiple requests from schools in North and South Carolina, it was decided that the next chapter in the SparkPoint Innovations story would be expansion. The Carolinas office opened in the fall of 2015 with the debut of Orbit Earth Expo. The Big Canyon Balloon was added to the roster in the fall of 2016.
Teachers in South Carolina love our programs because they are aligned to the SC Academic Standards and Performance Indicators for Science at grades K-6 & 8. Our programs can be used as an introduction, review, or for preparation for the 4th & 8th grade Science PASS tests.
With our huge, patented cold air canyon, we fast forward into the future to see how nature’s forces change our 15 ft tall canyon model. Students debate fast versus slow changes to the earth while they experience weathering, erosion and deposition. They participate to create landforms including a barrier island, a sand dune, and a delta. Forces causing erosion are explored as we pause to compare rocks and minerals – what is the difference? What are types of rocks we know and how are those formed? Inside the canyon, students will discover a fossil record and an oil deposit. What are the fossils telling the explorers about the relative age of these layers? How did the oil form? Is it a renewable or non-renewable natural resource? The answers to these questions and much more will be discovered during out unforgettable, interactive earth science programs for each grade level.
Students journey into space to create and experience the cycles, systems and relationships between the earth, moon and sun using our huge, inflatable Earth model and scale-sized moon. While interacting with the inflatable representations in a darkened gymnasium with a light to represent the sun, students manipulate the models to experience eclipses, seasonal/lunar cycles, creation of winds, day/night cycles, tides, rotation vs revolution, physical characteristics of the earth, moon and sun, gravity, order of the planets, seasons and more! The Orbit Earth Expo Program correlates to the state and grade level science objectives. There are different age-appropriate programs for each grade level.
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Kourtney CloptonNC & SC Lead Teacher: Orbit Earth Expo Kourtney Clopton is originally from Germany, but lived in Texas most of her life. She is a proud Ohio State University and Texas State University alumni with 14 years of experience in education. When she is not teaching tomorrow’s leaders, she is spending time with her partner and their amazing son, traveling with friends, and enjoying live music at concerts. |
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Tracy CusterMarketing Director Tracy is a lifelong resident of North Carolina, though she loves to travel. She was a NC Teaching Fellow at Elon College and earned her M-LIS degree from UNC-Greensboro. She has been a classroom teacher, school librarian, and technology guru over the course of her twenty plus years in public education. She was the Orbit Earth Expo lead teacher for the Carolinas from 2015-2019 and is passionate about making earth science accessible for K-8 students. She is married and has two children in their early twenties. When she is not working, she loves to read, play the Sims, and spend time with her family, which includes four cats and a bearded dragon. |









































Districts
Schools
Classes
Students
Where Have Rocky and Orb Taught?
Waccamaw Intermediate
Greeleyville Elementary
See pictures from our 2016 visit or our 2017 visit or go to the school’s website.
Pelion Elementary
Check out the school’s website.
Hunter Street Elementary
See pictures from our 2017 visit or our 2018 visit or check out the school’s website.
Little Mountain Elementary
See pictures from our visit or check out the school’s website.
Forest Lake Elementary
See pictures from our visit or check out the school’s website.
Doby's Mill Elementary
See pictures from our visit or check out the school’s website.
Mathews Elementary
See pictures from our canyon visit or our earth visit or check out the school’s website.