The Incredible Egg – Egg Drop Challenge

Engineering Science
Time 1 hour
Age 7 & up
Group Size 4 or more
Tags Egg, Experiment, Problem Solving,   more...
Structures Teamwork

Can you save this egg from getting scrambled?

Engineering activities give kids a chance to develop problem solving and observations skills, to work with interesting and engaging tools and materials, and to learn how to work as a member of a team. In this activity, your students will get to do all of that as they are challenged to protect an egg from breaking after it is dropped from a set height. This activity is part of the Incredible Egg series of activities, which are designed to be done during the Spring.

Preparation

Arrange the recycled materials in a way that prevents a free-for-all. You might only put out some of what you assume will be the most popular items so that the first few teams don’t take them all, then replenish those materials as they run out. Place any tools (scissors, etc.) on the tables for children to use. Lay out the newspaper or drop cloth on your “drop zone.”

The Incredible Egg – Egg Drop Challenge
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Suggested Materials

  • 2 raw eggs per team (there may be accidents…)
  • Tape, glue, glue guns and other adhesives
  • String
  • Scissors
  • Newspaper or plastic drop cloth
  • Lots of recycled materials (cardboard tubes, foam, styrofoam, plastic bags, sponges, straws, tissue paper, packing peanuts…anything you have around)
1

Make it Matter

Opening Discussion

Show your students a raw egg and ask them what they think would happen if you dropped it on the ground. Do they think they could design some way of preventing the egg from breaking using the materials you’ve laid out on the table?

The Challenge

Save you egg from certain doom by creating a way to protect it from the cold, hard ground!

2

Make it Happen

Doing the Activity

  1. Divide your students into teams of 3. When they are ready, hand each team their egg. Tell them that the challenge starts now—they don’t want their egg to break before they even get a chance to drop it!
  2. Tell them what their challenge is—they will need to create some method for protecting their egg after it has been dropped from a certain height (the height depends on your available space—the higher, the better). Set them off to the challenge by showing them the height from which you’ll drop the egg. It could be from as high as you can hold it, from the top of a ladder, out the window—it’s up to you to decide. Make sure that you are taking safety into consideration, and that you are the only one doing the dropping.
  3. Create the egg protectors! Make sure you have lots of different kinds of materials for teams to experiment with.
3

Make it Click

Let’s Talk About It

When everyone has been working for 10 minutes or so, take a break and have them come together as a group to discuss their process so far. How are they going to protect the egg? What materials are they using? Are there any designs that they considered but then decided not to try? This discussion should last no more than 5-7 minutes.

4

Make it Better

Build On What They Talked About

When everyone is done, drop the creations one by one, and check inside to see if the egg broke or was protected. What do the successful designs have in common? What do the less-successful designs have in common? If they were to do this activity again, what would they try? If you have time and enough materials, give teams a chance to try another design, or repeat this activity on another day.

Suggestions

  • Kids tend to go tape crazy—you might want to provide a tape limit (ex. 10 feet of tape per team).
  • Parachute designs work very well for this activity. If you are working with younger children, have lots of plastic bags, tissue paper, string and other materials appropriate for making parachutes. If you are working with older students, you can limit these parachute materials to increase the challenge of the activity.
  • Make the final drop a big show—the more dramatic you are, the more fun it will be!
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