INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — All too many students in elementary, middle and even high schools throughout the country will never experience what it means to spend a prolonged period of time engaged in scientific inquiry and producing a poster presentation to an audience of their peers, parents, teachers and administrators.

At Lake Tahoe School, participation in the school's annual Science Fair is considered a fundamental rite of passage, with submissions required of all students in grades 4-7.

"Lake Tahoe School students spend six weeks from the initial curiosity about a project topic to the culmination of an all school Science Fair to share their efforts," said Elementary Science Teacher Wendy Losee. "We are proud of our students who participated in the Science Fair this year with such commitment and excitement."

This year, Science Fair projects included learning about thorium and investigating the color spectrum to baking in altitude and teaching others what "coquina" is.

On Thursday, Feb. 11, nine students were selected from among all students' submissions to move on as finalists at the Western Nevada Regional Science and Engineering Fair on March 25-26.

Visit nevadasciencefair.net to learn more about the regional science fair.

— Peyton Jobe is Director of Admissions and Marketing at Lake Tahoe School. Visit laketahoeschool.org to learn more.