Be sure to have an adult with you to help with this experiment!
We all know that if you want to make an omelet, you have to break a few eggs. But in the Egg Drop Challenge, our goal is to protect our egg from breaking. How can we keep them safe? It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.
1. SLOW THE SPEED AT WHICH THE EGG FALLS
Gravity is a force which tries to pull two objects toward each other. Earth’s gravity is what keeps you on the ground and what causes objects to fall. Your egg or chosen payload will be pulled to the ground by gravity.
Weight (mass x gravity) is the force of gravity pulling the mass of the egg in a downward direction- toward the center of the earth.
Drag is the force created between the Lander that you build and the air. This force acts opposite to the direction of motion and can help slow down your egg. Try different shapes, materials and sizes of Landers to see which creates the most drag. See this video to learn more about air and drag.
2. LAND ON THE STRONGEST PART OF THE EGG
Eggs have a built in “Air Bag” at the wide end. Can you use this to help keep your egg from breaking?
3. PROVIDE SHOCK ABSORPTION
If you can design a Lander to reduce the force of the impact with the ground, you can save the day and keep the egg from cracking! Think about how airbags provide a cushion in automobile collisions, or how packing material protects delicate items during shipping. These safety features slow down the collision and spread the impact force over a larger area to protect the precious cargo.
Challenge:
Use the materials provided to construct a Lander that will protect your egg from a fall.
For a more difficult challenge – limit the number of materials each person can use or assign them random materials they must use.
Materials:
Prep:
Name your Egg payload – Meggan, Shelley, Eggward, Reggie– you name it!
Gather your materials.
Select a safe location as your Drop Site and Landing Zone.
Drop Site: Identify a space you can drop your Lander from safely. Adult supervision is required. Some options may be as follows: a stairwell, balcony, deck, step stool, or ladder where you can maintain 3 points of contact. Drop a test egg to make sure it will break when dropped.
Landing Zone: Identify a space your Lander can land without damaging anything or landing on people. You’ll want to find an 8×8 space in case the Lander’s flight pattern shifts. Mark a target in the center. A tarp or garbage bag may be used for easy clean up.
How:
Use the Engineering Design Process and the science you learned above to create the Lander.
If your egg lands and doesn’t crack, that counts as a success!
Remember: Celebrate Success & “Failure” – Failures give us the opportunity to learn new things and try again!
Remember: When you improve your design, try to only change one variable at a time so you can see how it affected your experiment.
Experiment Further:
Take a photo or video of you and your family doing our Try It activities and tag us on social media with the hashtag #ScienceAtHomeDSC
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We’ll share some of our favorites so that we can all learn from each other! Plus, check back on this page where we’ll highlight the submissions we receive so you can see what others are doing!
Here are just a few ideas for photos or videos you can share:
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