Egg Drop Challenge

Type of resource: Websites

Web address

Language: English

Description

Investigating which materials and designs work best in protecting an egg from breaking

Scientific concept introduced

Designing and making

Creative and critical thinking

Critical Thinking:

1.Explanation

2. Prediction

3. Suggest hypotheses

Creative Thinking:

1. Imagining

2. Designing

3. Making

Mathematical reasoning

1. Sorting
2. Measuring

Scientific thinking

1. Questioning
2. Explaining
3. Planning
4. Sorting and Comparing
5. Observing
6. Predicting
7. Analysing results
8. Drawing conclusions
9. Devloping craft handiling skills

Learning how to learn

1. Following guidelines
2. Self-efficacy in learning
3. Fun in learning
4. Reflective learning

Additional

1. Teamwork
2. Following rules of safety
3. Literacy – vocabulary development
4. Oral language development
5. Drawing skills
6. Skills in cutting with scissors

Egg Drop Challenge

Overall aims

• to enable pupils to investigate which materials and designs work best in protecting an egg from breaking
• to develop pupils’ skills in planning, designing and making (engineering skills)
• to develop pupils’ skills in listening and following guidelines
• to develop pupils’ skills in observing, predicting and hypothesising
• to develop pupils’ construction skills
• to develop pupils’ craft handling skills
• to develop pupils’ measuring and cutting skills
• to develop pupils’ expressive language skills
• to develop pupils’ skills in reflecting on learning

Vocabulary – keywords should be understood

Egg, crack, shell, yolk, egg white, break, protect, invention, container, height, materials, drop

Expected learning outcomes (operational aims)

The child will be enabled to:
• follow guidelines for the investigation
• identify properties and characteristics of an egg
• sort materials- identifying suitable materials for their design
• measure materials
• cut materials
• design a simple construction to protect an egg from breaking
• make a simple construction to protect an egg from breaking
• make observations and predictions during the experiment
• test their hypotheses

STEM skills – to which the learning unit is related to

CORE STEM SKILLS

• Questioning
• Explanation
• Imagining
• Planning
• Sorting
• Comparing
• Designing
• Making

• Measuring
• Observing
• Predicting
• Analysing results
• Drawing conclusions

ADDITIONAL SKILLS

• Following guidelines
• Self-efficacy in learning
• Teamwork
• Following rules of safety
• Literacy – vocabulary development
• Oral language development
• Fun in learning
• Reflective learning
• Drawing
• Cutting with scissors

Teaching methodologies/activity outline

Introduction:
1. Show the pupils an egg and elicit properties and characteristics of an egg.
Sample Questions: What shape is an egg? Where do eggs come from? What are the parts of an egg? (Shell, yolk, white) What different ways can you cook an egg? (boiled, fried, poached, scrambled, baked).
2. Recite the nursery rhyme ‘Humpty Dumpty’ (See section 9 below for words). Ask pupils what happened to Humpty Dumpty? Discuss the rhyme and ask pupils what happens when an egg falls? (The shell cracks and the egg breaks). Then crack the egg on a flat plate to demonstrate how easily an egg can break.
3. Inform pupils that they are going to work in groups to make their own invention that will hold and protect an egg from breaking when dropped from a height.

Activity:
(Asks pupils to work in groups of 4, reminding them to work together)

Materials: (per group)
• An egg
• Scissors
• Glue
• Tape

Selection of materials for construction, for example:

• Cotton wool

• Bubble Wrap

• Elastic bands

• Kitchen/Toilet roll tube

• Cloth

• Paper cups

• Balloons

• Sponge

• Tin foil

• String

• Ribbon

• Boxes

Instructions:

Day 1:
1. Have a class discussion about what types of materials would be best for helping to stop the egg from cracking and breaking when it’s dropped, noting ideas with a mind map on the board.
2. Give each group a sheet of paper, asking them to plan, design and draw their invention.
3. Continue the investigation on Day 2 to allow materials to be gathered by yourself and/or your pupils at home.

Day 2:
4. Begin by asking each group to explain their invention and how they think it will work in preventing the egg from breaking.
5. Then ask every group to make their egg holding invention/container.
6. When everyone is ready, bring the pupils to a suitable outdoor location for the Egg Drop Challenge where they will drop their eggs in their containers from a slight height. (Close adult supervision and assistance required for this.)
7. Ask the class to predict which invention they think will work best in protecting the egg. Then ask each group to drop their eggs.
8. Check the eggs to see which eggs cracked/didn’t crack and discuss what worked best/didn’t work. (Adjust height and repeat if necessary.)
9. Ask groups to suggest improvements they would make if they were doing this again.

Conclusion:
1. Ask pupils to complete a Learning Log for this investigation drawing/writing about the following:
○ The most interesting thing they learned
○ One thing they’d like to know more about

Assessment of learning

Pupil observation sheet

Equipment and materials to be used in learning unit (tools, ingredients etc)

For Pupils (per group):

• A sheet of paper and pencil

• An egg
• Scissors
• Glue
• Tape

Selection of materials for construction, for example:

• Cotton wool

• Bubble Wrap

• Elastic bands

• Kitchen/Toilet roll tube

• Cloth

• Paper cups

• Balloons

• Sponge

• Tin foil

• String

• Ribbon

• Boxes

For Teacher:
• An egg
• Stapler (optional)

Kind of setting

Classroom

References – source

Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.

https://buggyandbuddy.com/stem-kids-egg-drop-project/#:~:text=Thekidsalwayslookforward,eggfromahighfall

https://www.sciencekids.co.nz/projects/eggdrop.html

Image from buggyandbuddy.com