Egg drop experiment gives MLES fifth-graders a lesson on inertia, motion, gravity
This week, the students of Mountain Lake Public Elementary School (MLES) fifth-grade teacher Justin Thompson were challenged with the Classic “Egg-Drop” experiment. It is an experiment that focuses on learning about inertia, motion and gravity.
The experiment asks students to construct some type of container that will keep a raw chicken egg from cracking when dropped from ever-increasing elevations.
To drop an egg without it breaking, one needs to find a way to minimize the force of the impact and its effects on the delicate egg shell. The best ways to do this is to cushion the egg – while changing the way it drops and the way it lands.
On Thursday, September 25 and Friday, September 26, the students had the opportunity to prove the worth of their egg-protective capsules and accoutrements (a variety of “parachutes”).
The eggs in their respective containers were first dropped from Thompson’s waist level. Those surviving the first round moved on to a second round – this time dropped from the ceiling of the classroom. The monster challenge came in the third round when the eggs were dropped by Thompson from the top of a step ladder, the egg-containing receptacles picking up a little more speed and gravitational pull before landing on the playground’s asphalt.
All of the students whose eggs survived rounds one and two – also saw their eggs come out of the final round uncracked and unscrambled.
Following are a few photos from the egg drops.
MLES FIFTH-GRADE teacher Justin Thompson stands on a classroom chair in order to reach the ceiling to complete the egg drop’s second round – dropping the eggs tucked in their containers and attached parachutes to the flonor. In the first round, the egg drop was done from Thompson’s waist.
FOR THE THIRD and final round, the “survivors” took their containers outside for a drop from a stepladder. Above, Thompson drops Faith Simon’s egg in its protective pod – styrofoam plates sandwiching layers and layers of cotton balls.
AND . . . THE egg package design was a success. Faith digs out her egg from inside the cotton balls – and the shell is still intact.
HARLAN MUNNING PLACED his egg inside a padded coffee container, and used a plastic parachute to float the capsule to the asphalt. His egg, too, came out unscathed. At back, Mercedes Saengosoth hands her canister to Thompson for its drop test.
SMILE OF SUCCESS. Mercedes’ egg, packed inside a small stuffed teddy bear – that was additionally packaged inside a pillow and placed in a shoe box – with an attached plastic bag parachute – survives!
TOMMER VONGKAENCHAN’S COMPLICATED container includes a protected tuck-away egg basket, a design that indeed served to safely save the egg from a destiny of splatter.
DAMON KHAMVONGSA SHOWS off his egg that made the third-level drop all in one piece. Damon features balloons on his capsule to help slow the pace of its descent to the ground.
STYROFOAM, COTTON BALLS and plastic plates comprised the majority of parts of Sommer Majerus’ egg drop receptacle. Sommer’s smile – and the perfect egg in her hand – says it all as for the end result of the test.
ONE LAST DROP . . . and . . . is it another safe egg story?
LOOKING UP AT Thompson, Jordan Wright shows her teacher that her egg did indeed persevere that drop. Students – and their egg cradles – advancing to the third round were a perfect 7-for-7 in the monster drop.
