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Student demand for science surged at Lorton Station Elementary School after a third-grade robotics program attracted three times as many applicants as it could accommodate.
The overwhelming response helped inspire the school’s first SPARK Expo Science and Engineering Fair, an event designed to let students investigate scientific subjects that interested them most.
Advanced Academic Program teacher CasSandra Tynes said organizers wanted to remove the “ceilings” on student learning by creating more room for independent exploration.
Projects ranged from the vastness of space to a problem just outside the school. Armaan explored general relativity, examining the theory behind how gravity and mass shape the universe. Another student developed a mobile app intended to reduce delays in Lorton Station’s Kiss and Ride traffic.
The expo also gave teachers a fresh look at what students could accomplish when allowed to pursue their own questions. Educators described the experience as eye-opening and saw the projects as evidence of the potential unlocked through curiosity and freedom to explore.