"Eggsploring" Engineering!
Put a new twist on the egg drop by turning your students into aerospace engineers!
By Jennifer Sinsel
“3….2….1….LAUNCH!” A group of fifth graders whoop with delight as another bottle rocket soars into the air. The parachute deploys perfectly as its cargo, a raw egg, floats gently to the ground. The students rush toward the egg as it lands, anxious to check its status. As the egg is pronounced intact, a victory cry erupts from the rocket’s design team, Space Eggsploration, Inc. They succeeded!
This high-interest activity is a combination of two activities that have been popular with my students in the past: bottle rocket launches and the egg drop. It is part of a unit based on the X-Prize, a real competition that awarded $10 million to the first private company to launch three people into low-Earth orbit, return them safely to Earth, and repeat the process using the same spacecraft within two weeks. Similarly, my classroom X-Prize Competition involves launching a raw egg into “orbit” (at least 4 seconds aloft), returning it safely to Earth without breaking, and repeating the process using the same rocket within 2 days.
For the most part, this activity requires very little teacher preparation and expense. Students often help provide supplies, and once the bottle rocket launcher is constructed, it can be used year after year. For the less mechanically inclined, launchers can also be purchased through many scientific supply companies. Supplies for the rockets themselves, although consumable, are very inexpensive and easy to find. Using a 2-liter bottle, duct tape, string, trash bags, water, and other miscellaneous supplies, students can embark on an engineering challenge that promotes problem solving, teamwork, critical thinking, and is fun too!
Before I begin the unit, students complete an Internet scavenger hunt for information about the X-Prize, after which a class discussion is held to make sure everyone understands the purpose of the real competition. The scavenger hunt also gives students a chance to view some of the rockets designed by various companies, which always leads to a lively debate over which designs will work and which won’t.
I introduce our class X-Prize and the jobs in each group, which include a manager, accountant, engineer, and technician. Each team is given a budget and price list for all supplies. Students spend two weeks creating business cards for their aerospace company, planning a budget, purchasing supplies from the X-Prize store (me), designing and constructing rockets, completing test launches (with hard-boiled eggs), and redesigning for final launches. Designs are often varied – past rockets have included parachute deployment, double stages, and Apollo-like capsules which carry the egg down separately.
Math skills are used in budget planning, the purchase of supplies, and required scale drawings of rockets. Students must weigh cost vs. benefit, just as in the real world. Teams have the opportunity to conduct at least two test launches (with hard-boiled eggs), and they may purchase additional test launches if they so choose. It also doesn’t take them long to realize they can sell leftover supplies to other groups for profit, and I allow them to do so. However, as the tie-breaker for the competition involves having the least-expensive budget, teams must decide whether to pay full price for an item from the X-Prize store, or pay less, and know that the amount is added to another team’s budget. The problem solving and critical thinking skills used in their decision making is often one of the highlights of the unit!
As the final days of the competition approach, students often request extra time after school and during recess to work on their rockets. Amazingly enough, most rockets will successfully launch, and return an egg safely to Earth. Therefore, the winning teams are usually those who have managed to create a solid design by using the least expensive supplies. This is a great real-world lesson, and the entire unit has quickly become one of my favorites! For more great ideas involving egg drops, check out the following lesson plans.
Egg Drop Lesson Plans:
Students design and build a device that will protect and accurately deliver a dropped egg. They review and study a number of vocabulary words that are associated with this lesson. They work in a group to develop a successful design.
An Egg-celent Gravity Experiment
Students drop an egg from a high spot and record at least four hypotheses concerning their results. They write down observations, and information about the egg drop. Students test gravity by dropping an egg from a ladder and record their results with 100% accuracy. They complete the experiment and create a KWL chart and write an entry in their journal.
Students predict how a parachute works and draw a parachute design. Students construct a parachute that is able to slow the fall of several pennies in a cup and an egg. They explain how a parachute creates air resistance to show objects falling by gravity.
Students figure out how to design a safety device or enclosure to protect an egg as it is rolled down a ramp on increasing slopes. They use mathematical calculations to make their designs.