Celebrating Valentine’s Day: A STEM-Inspired Kitchen Table Project

A Lab That Inspires Creativity

Remember watching a lava lamp as a kid and wondering how it worked? That same curiosity drives engineers to create amazing things every day. When you create your home or school-based versions with your budding engineers, you’ll be exploring the very same ideas that help develop new medicines, better manufacturing processes, and protect our environment.

The Engineering Story Behind the Design

Back in 1963, when inventor Edward Craven Walker spotted an unusual egg timer filled with oil and water in a cocktail shaker, it captured his attention and imagination. Like any great engineer, Walker saw potential where others might have seen just an ordinary object.

Through countless experiments and careful observations, he transformed that simple idea into the iconic lava lamp that has been enjoyed over the years and we know and enjoy today. He tested different materials, adjusted temperatures, and refined his compositions until he created the perfect mixture – a special wax that would rise and fall in mesmerizing patterns when warmed.

Today in your kitchen, we’ll take a page from his same inventive playbook. Instead of wax, we’ll use simple ingredients you already have at home to make colorful bubbles move. Our take on the colorful lamp shows how STEM concepts surrounds us in everyday life. Through the lab you’ll begin to understand some of the same engineering principles that are used in everyday life – from constructing safer bridges and wind turbines to improving how machines mix cake batter and how bottling systems keep sodas fizzy. Get ready to transform your homes ordinary items into something extraordinary. Let’s check what supplies we need to begin…

Gathering Your Project Materials

What you’ll need for your lab:

• Clear container with a secure lid (tall bottles will showcase the movement best)
• Regular tap water
• Kitchen cooking oil
• Different colors of food coloring and red food coloring for Valentine’s flair
• Alka-Seltzer tablets
• A flashlight or small lamp for illumination
• Safety glasses for each participant
• Have quick access to paper towels nearby
• A timer – watch, clock, or a phone will work perfectly
• Notebook for recording discoveries

Set Up A Dedicated Space

Before your investigation begins:

• Select a clean, flat workspace
• Everyone puts on safety glasses
• Position paper towels within reach
• Review the steps together
• Get ready to record your observations

Building Your Design

1. Pour water to the halfway mark of your container
2. Add 3 drops of red coloring (or any color combination) – watch it spread
3. Slowly introduce your oil until your bottle is about 80% full
4. Allow 2 minutes for complete separation
5. Add 1 of your Alka-Seltzer tablets
6. Sit back and begin the observation period

Understanding the Science & Engineering at Work

Your Valentine’s lamp combines principles from Walker’s original design with an exciting chemical twist. Here’s what’s happening:

In Walker’s Classic Model:

• Light bulbs warm special wax
• Heat makes the wax less dense
• Warmed wax floats upward
• Cooling wax sinks back down
• This cycle continues with power

In Your Valentine’s Version:

• The effervescent tables create carbon dioxide
• Bubbles attach to colored droplets
• Once combined the bubbles and drops become lighter than oil
• When your bubbles pop the drops return downward
• Each tablet that you add in the bottle starts a brand new cycle

Level Up With Even More Creative Challenges

1. Operation Temperature Investigation

• Create 2 identical setups
• Next use cool water in one while using room temperature water in the second
• Look closely at the movements, document the differences, and note the reaction duration

2. The Container Quest

• Try testing different containers of varying sizes
• Next compare wide and narrow shapes
• Take time to see the changing flow patterns
• Final step is to record which performs best

Problem-Solving in Action

Just as Walker refined his invention through patient testing, you might need to adjust your creation. Here’s how to handle some common challenges:

When Your Reactions Move Too Quickly:

If your bubbles zoom upward too fast, try using slightly cooler water or break your effervescent tablets into smaller pieces for more control. If you need more resistance add extra oil into the mix. The results will deliver more graceful movement patterns.

Slower-Than-Expected Movements:

If your lava lamp’s motion is sluggish, check the water temperature. If you used small tablet pieces to generate bubbles, you may need to add more. However, wait a minute before doing so—sometimes, giving the liquid extra time to separate completely results in smoother motion.

When Bubbles Stick Around:

For bubbles clinging to the walls of your bottle or containers instead of creating patterns that rise, try emptying the container to clean. Try again after you give the bottle a good rinse and dry with a towel. Consider filtered water to reduce minerals affecting your bubble formation.

The Connection to Professional Engineering Fields

Modern engineers apply these same principles you’re exploring in fascinating ways:

Chemical Engineering Applications:

Today’s chemical engineers design reaction vessels that control bubbles and fluid movement, just like the lamp you’ve built. They carefully manage temperatures and mixing rates to create products we use daily, from medicines to food items. Your observations of how liquids separate and combine mirror their larger-scale processes.

Environmental Solutions:

When environmental engineers tackle ocean cleanup challenges, they study how different substances move through water – similar to watching your colored water travel through oil. Understanding these movements helps them design better systems for removing pollutants and protecting marine environments.

Medical Innovations:

Biomedical engineers apply fluid dynamics when designing ways to deliver medicines in the human body. The principles you observe in your lamp – how substances flow, mix, and separate – help engineers to create more effective treatments.

Age-Specific Discovery Paths

For Ages 4-6:

Turn your lap into an exploration of colors and counting. Watch the bubbles rise together, predict their paths, and practice careful pouring skills. This age group particularly enjoy tracking bubble patterns and mixing different color combinations.

For Ages 7-10:

Encourage measuring and timing activities. Create simple charts to track reaction durations. It’s fun to compare the different container shapes that you’ve used during the experiment while documenting observations through detailed or colorful drawings.

For Ages 11-14:

Guide them in exploring variables systematically; they calculate material ratios, graph temperature effects, and design their own experimental variations. They might enjoy researching real-world applications of fluid dynamics.

Keep the Fun Going Extending Your Discovery

Here’s how to extend your inspired journey:

Document everything with a visual record that you create of your Valentine’s Day investigation. Sketch each of the patterns you observe, note successful modifications, and write about anything you find to be unexpected. This documentation mirrors how the professionals track their project development.

Design Thinking in Action:

Consider how you might modify the basic design. What would happen with different container shapes? How might changing liquid ratios affect the patterns? Each question leads to new possibilities for investigation and improvement.

Building Tomorrow

Engineering surrounds us in unexpected ways. From the lava lamp’s humble beginnings in 1963 to your kitchen table today, simple curiosity about how things work continues to drive innovation. As you explore these principles with kids aged 4-14, you’re participating in a tradition of discovery that spans generations. Real engineering skills are practiced with each variable that’s adjusted and every new approach employed. The observations you make today might inspire solutions to tomorrow’s challenges, just as Walker’s curious observation of an egg timer led to an invention that still captures imaginations in 2025.

Did you enjoy this project? Get ready to explore more hands-on learning adventures at a location near you, with classes and camps tailored for all skill levels. Contact your local center to discover how we bring real-world concepts to life through hands-on discovery.