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.
South Carolina’s programs are taught by Cara Zara, a professional children’s entertainer and science educator.
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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Cara ZaraNC & SC Lead Teacher & Regional Manager: Orbit Earth Expo Cara Zara is a professional children’s entertainer and science educator. Cara has performed at festivals, events, libraries, charity functions, and summer throughout the Southeast and has interacted with over 250,000 children at more than 200 private and public schools. She earned her BA in English/Communications at UNCC. She was born (under a full moon) and raised in upstate NY. Cara has moved up and down the east coast and currently lives at Lake Norman NC. |









































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.