Engineering an Egg Drop

The second project we've taken on in our engineering unit is creating an egg drop.  The students learned from our noodle and marshmallow towers that engineers use creative and new ideas to build things and take them apart.  We've also learned that we have to be problem solvers who keep trying a new idea if the first idea didn't work.  The value of teamwork is not only an engineering lesson we've realized, but a life lesson! 

With a partner, each group was given a shoe box filled with supplies: a toilet paper tube, a cup, 2 paper towels, 2 popsicle sticks, 2 pipe cleaners, 2 cotton balls, 2 straws, and a role of masking tape.  The goal is to create a way for an egg to be dropped safely from 3 different heights without breaking.  The teams could use as many or as little of the supplies they needed to accomplish this.

Day 1 of construction was done without the egg.  The teams needed to think through their design and problem solve a way to keep the egg safe.  On day 2, each team got an egg to add to what they had constructed up to that point.  They were given time to make changes if needed now that they had the egg to work around.

We've discussed what happens if the egg breaks after the first drop.  We'll do what engineers do!  Think through what went wrong and make a new design.  The students are having a lot of fun with this project!  We will begin dropping on Monday.



Day 1:

Day 2: