Inspiration: Last Year at Lumen!
Students presented wonderful projects. Check out the highlights from last year!
📸 View 2025 Photo Gallery⚙️
Engineering & Mechanics
- Rube Goldberg Machine: How to make an easy task difficult?
- How do you make an elevator?
- What goes into making a robot?
- Dropping Experiment: Can you save that egg?
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Chemistry & Matter
- Surface Tension: Is pepper afraid of soap?
- Microscopic World: Effect of vacuum on gas particles in balloons & marshmallows.
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Math, Biology & Senses
- Sampling Size: How many times do you need to roll the die to observe distribution?
- What kind of bread does mold like?
- If you alter your vision, can you still throw a ball into the hoop?
- How do you send sound over a distance?
Project Ideas for 2026
Explore these exciting concepts for your next experiment!
📐 Physics & Engineering
- Exploring Arches: How much weight can boiled eggs hold? Or how much weight can a paper arch hold? (Materials: eggs/craft paper, books, scale)
- Strength of Shapes: Can some shapes hold more weight than others? (Materials: toothpicks, whole peas soaked in water)
- Synchronizing Pendulums: How long will it take to synchronize pendulums? Vary string length to see what makes synchronizing faster.
- Slippery Surfaces: Which liquids make a surface more slippery? Time how long a block takes to slide down an inclined plane covered with oil, water, or soap.
- Pressure & Force: How much weight to pop a balloon? Explore how a larger surface area (many nails) spreads out pressure.
- Acoustics: How to make “Squeaky Clean” sounds? Investigate why shoes squeak on different surfaces or how to make music with these squeaks.
⚗️ Chemistry & Matter
- Fluid Dynamics: Which fluids produce laminar and which turbulent flow? (Materials: test tubes, soap, oil, water, metallic paint)
- Surface Tension (Coins): How many drops of water will fit on a coin? Try covering the coin with soap or oil and try again.
- Super Bubbles: Which fabric holds soap bubbles best without popping? Try adding sugar to the mixture to make bubbles last longer!
- Breaking Water Bonds: Water does not pour out of a narrow container easily. What should you add to break these bonds? (Try oil and soap)
- Testing pH: How acidic is my food? Use red cabbage as a pH indicator to see color changes based on acidity.
- Chemistry of Glues: Why do things stick together? Investigate potatoes, corn starch, slime, jello, or ice. Are these reversible glues?
🌿 Biology, Nature & Senses
- Fungus & Surfaces: Which fungus can be found on surfaces? Wipe bread on different surfaces, seal in bags, and observe.
- Handwashing: How does handwashing affect bacteria?
- Sensory Connections: Does the sound “aa” associate with red or green? Investigate the connectivity between hearing and seeing.
- Ornithology (Bird Songs): Upload the Merlin App, take samples of bird songs on your walk. What birds sing in the morning vs. evening? Compare habitats!