egg drop project lesson plan

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90 Minutes | 3rd – 12th Grades

Egg drop devices simulate parachutes and other similar features seen in nature, such as the helicopter seeds that are dropped from some trees. The process of slowing descent to resist the force of gravity has been used in a number of instances in history, and continues to be an important science – especially currently around emergency aid and transportation of goods to inaccessible areas.

Lesson Plan: Lesson Plan – Egg Drop

Handouts: Egg Drop Handout Reverse Egg Drop Handout Egg Drop Checklist

Presentation: Egg Drop + Brain Injuries Egg Drop Prezi Reverse Egg Drop Prezi

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• TeachEngineering
• Naked Egg Drop

Hands-on Activity Naked Egg Drop

Grade Level: 5 (4-6)

(60 minutes for lesson and building, 60 minutes for testing)

Expendable Cost/Group: US $0.25

Group Size: 2

Activity Dependency: None

Subject Areas: Measurement, Physical Science

NGSS Performance Expectations:

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Engineering connection, learning objectives, materials list, worksheets and attachments, more curriculum like this, pre-req knowledge, introduction/motivation, vocabulary/definitions, activity scaling, additional multimedia support, user comments & tips.

Engineers must understand well the concepts of energy transfer, conservation of energy, and energy dissipation in order to design uncountable real-world projects. They also need to understand the properties of materials in order to design complex systems. Materials can dissipate energy through various means, such as heat, light, and vibration. For example, engineers design skyscraper foundations using concrete and steel so that any given foundation can withstand the huge force of the building it supports as well as the dynamic forces it may experience during earthquakes. Engineers who design computer keyboards want to select a material that can be repeatedly tapped, can be easily and permanently be printed on for the letters, feels good under finger tips, is inexpensive and environmentally benign, and is cleanable. Identifying the materials that help to meet project constraints is an important aspect of the design process.

After this activity, students should be able to:

• Explain the transfer of potential to kinetic energy of a dropped egg and explain where the energy goes after it hits the egg catcher.
• Explain why some materials are better than others for absorbing the kinetic energy of a falling egg.
• Describe the relationship between height and the kinetic energy of a dropped egg.
• Explain design modifications made during the design process, weighing factors such as height and materials.

Educational Standards Each TeachEngineering lesson or activity is correlated to one or more K-12 science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) educational standards. All 100,000+ K-12 STEM standards covered in TeachEngineering are collected, maintained and packaged by the Achievement Standards Network (ASN) , a project of D2L (www.achievementstandards.org). In the ASN, standards are hierarchically structured: first by source; e.g. , by state; within source by type; e.g. , science or mathematics; within type by subtype, then by grade, etc .

Ngss: next generation science standards - science, international technology and engineering educators association - technology.

View aligned curriculum

Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!

Each group needs:

• 1 or more sheet(s) of paper, to sketch and plan egg catcher designs
• tape and/or glue; white glue for younger students; hot glue for adult helpers and older students
• at least 1 raw egg (depending on the number of testing trials planned per group)
• computer with Internet access, for the research phase of the engineering design process
• Novice Engineer Pre-Assessment , one per student
• Naked Egg Drop Rules and Score Sheet , one per group
• Expert Engineer Post-Assessment , one per student

To share with the entire class: materials for building egg catchers:

• Provide materials such as cardboard or paperboard, clean food containers, foam, tissue paper, fabric, rubber bands, packing peanuts, fiberfill, bubble wrap, cotton balls, grass and other soft and cushiony materials. Reduce the cost by salvaging these materials as much as possible and/or asking students to salvage and bring items from home.
• Do not provide the following materials because they are such excellent shock absorbers (it is nearly impossible to break the egg from amazing heights): food and food ingredients, powders (sand, flour, baby powder), and pastes and gels that stay wet.

Competition supplies to share with the entire class:

• 6 foot (or taller) ladder
• tape measure
• tarp, newspaper or butcher paper, to simplify clean up
• concrete or asphalt slab on which to hold the egg drop competition since grass absorbs a significant amount of shock
• (optional alternative to the ladder) To improve student safety and increase the wow factor, build an egg dropper rig using the materials list and building instructions provided in the Egg Dropper Construction and Use (see Figure 2). Building the device is especially recommended if a district or regional competition is planned as part of the Elementary School Engineering Design Field Day unit, since its labor and material costs can be shared among many instructors/classrooms/schools. Estimated materials cost for the rig is ~$300.
• (optional) Especially helpful for large competition events, make a tool to enable quick measurements of egg catcher diameters and heights before the egg drop, as a way to easily enforce the design constraints. The homemade device in Figure 6 consists of a 25-cm diameter circle cut out of wood and an arm with a sliding ruler for measuring device height.

Students should be familiar with types of energy, specifically gravitational potential, kinetic, thermal and elastic, and the engineering design process. At a minimum, younger students should understand that energy can be transferred and designs can be improved through evaluation and improvement.

Imagine that you are at the Olympics competing in the 10 meter (~30 feet) platform diving event. You've practiced your flawless dive countless hours and you are ready to win a gold medal. You bend your knees, your toes push against the rough surface of the platform, you take a deep breath, and you jump. You whiz through the air, moving faster and faster for what feels like forever. You twist and turn, doing flips as you watch the faces of your supporters. Suddenly, your fingers dip into the water with your arms, shoulders, torso falling from the sky into the depths of the pool. You make the smallest of splashes. Your powerful legs kick and you surface to see all 10.0s from the judges.

Think about what type of energy you had before your jump, during your jump, and right before you hit the water. What allowed you to jump from a great height safely and confidently? What type of energy did you have at the beginning of the jump? (Answer: Gravitational potential energy.) What type of energy did you gain during the jump? (Answer: Kinetic energy.) How could you tell?

Teacher Background

In classic engineering egg drop competitions, an egg gains potential energy the higher it is held above the landing surface. When the egg is released, this gravitational potential energy converts to kinetic energy, as gravity pulls the egg towards the Earth's surface. Once the egg hits the ground, all the kinetic energy (movement energy) needs to transfer somewhere. We know that energy must be transferred into different forms of energy because once the egg stops moving, it no longer has any kinetic energy.

We know by the reliable nature of our world—in this case defined as the law of conservation of energy—that energy is neither created nor destroyed, so in the case of the egg, it must be transferred to different forms of energy. Options for the egg's dissipation of energy as it hits the pavement are sound (the splat of an egg), heat (the egg heats up from the friction of hitting the ground), and/or the continuation of kinetic energy as seen by the breaking of the shell.

As an example of how energy can dissipate, watch what happens to a rubber ball as it hits a wall in the four-second Squash Ball Bounce video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IOvqCHTS7o . The ball is elastic so it is able to squish dramatically and then reform to its original shape.

Engineers and material scientists use machines (like the one shown in Figure 3) to test materials' stretchiness or elasticity by crushing and releasing test materials between two sensors. An egg's shell is very brittle (not elastic) so elastic materials are the best choice to absorb a falling egg's kinetic energy. If the egg catcher is well designed and the egg does not break, then the material absorbed enough of the egg's energy so that the egg's kinetic energy is not transferred to sound, heat and/or a broken shell. Instead, the energy is transferred to the elastic catcher material, which might squish and then reform to its original shape, as is seen with the squash ball in the video clip.

Refer to the three What Are Newton's Laws? lessons (about Newton's first, second and third laws of motion) and the Solid, Liquid or Gas? activity (about materials) as background or information sources for teachers and students.

Teacher Design Considerations and Tips

Overall, to create a winning design, students must thoroughly understand the competition rules and scoring so that they know the constraints (requirements and limitations) of the problem well (refer to the Naked Egg Drop Rules and Score Sheet ). This means that like real-world engineers, students must balance competing factors to be successful in this activity. Like professional engineers, they pick appropriate materials, considering the ability to dissipate kinetic energy as well as cost, reused and repurposed materials, and environmental impact of materials used. For example, while plastic foams absorb a lot of kinetic energy, they do not biodegrade quickly.

The ingenious use of materials such as packing peanuts, tissue paper, fabric, rubber bands and grass can cushion and protect an egg from damage; see the Materials List for additional material ideas and refer to the rules and score sheet for prohibited materials (because they work too well!). As students follow the steps of the engineering design process (Figure 4), encourage them to try different materials, different amounts of materials, and/or combinations of different materials in their egg catcher devices. Expect the designs to incorporate their knowledge of materials and the properties of those materials.

Beyond the smart use of materials, another strategy is to design and build catchers that combine the concepts of a hammock and a trampoline. In this approach, the catcher curves around the egg to hold it similar to a hammock, and is also elastic like a trampoline. Students can modify these sorts of designs by changing the height of the suspended hammock and/or the "give" of the springs or spring-like structures.

For the egg catcher footprint, it is best to use the largest surface area possible for increasing the likelihood of catching the dropped egg. Then, working within the constraint that the catchers must be no more than 25 cm in any direction, direct student teams to decide what shape gives them the largest surface area for aiming the egg at, as well as complying with the 25 cm rule. (A circle footprint provides the biggest surface area within this constraint.) Once groups have mastered the catch from the highest possible height, have them iterate through the design process for size. Have students aim to reduce the surface area since the competition tie-breaker depends on minor diameter, which is defined with a sketch in the rules and score sheet.

If highly elastic materials are used, the egg may bounce off and crack on the ground. To prevent this from happening, students may build walls on the device. As part of the engineering design process, direct students to aim to minimize the catcher height while still preventing breakage or bouncing.

Before the Activity

• Decide whether to provide students with an assortment of building materials from which to use, or break the first hour into two parts, with time in between for the teacher and/or students to acquire building materials as specified from group designs. Then, for the building component of the activity, assemble scavenged or purchased materials and/or request that students bring scavenged or purchased materials from home. Take note of the banned list of materials—items that are too effective at being shock absorbers!
• Gather and assemble materials for students to plan and build egg catchers.
• Gather and assemble competition supplies and equipment. Arrange for extra helpers and judges if necessary.
• Make copies of the Novice Engineer Pre-Assessment , Naked Egg Drop Rules and Score Sheet and Expert Engineer Post-Assessment .

With the Students

• Administer the pre-assessment, as described in the Assessment section.
• Present the Introduction/Motivation content to the class.
• Divide the class into groups of two students each. Hand out the supplies, including the rules and score sheet.

• Review the steps of the cyclical and iterative engineering design process (see Figure 4). Tell students that as student engineers, they might begin by asking questions to understand the problem, including its criteria and constraints, then researching to learn more, then imagining ideas before making plans for how to create the best solution they can think of. Next, teams each create a prototype, test it, and change and improve the design from what they learn through testing.
• Ask: Identify the need and constraints . Have students read the first page of the competition rules and score sheet. As mentioned earlier, the engineering "need" is to design a device to catch an egg dropped from a height without the egg breaking. Make sure teams are aware of the constraints (requirements and limitations). Remind students that the egg catchers must be made of approved materials (no gels, food, powders), have all materials secured, and be less than 25 cm in any direction.
• Research the Problem . Have student teams independently investigate materials science and energy of motion topics. Show the class the Squash Ball Bounce video and discuss the elasticity measuring device. Additional research might focus on inventions such as trampolines, catchers' mitts and rock climbing pads to learn about their design approaches and materials.
• Imagine: Develop possible solutions . Direct student teams to brainstorm together and then design and sketch on paper their ideas for egg catcher designs. Remind students to include dimensions and materials lists. Remind them to calculate the surface area available to catch the egg of their planned devices. Encourage students to salvage materials or use materials some people consider waste (what's in the recycling bin?). Engineers often try to incorporate underutilized materials like "waste" to decrease the cost and the environmental impact of their designs. Examples include saved and dried paper towels used as cushioning in the egg catcher or an empty cereal box to make the egg catcher exterior structure.
• Plan: Select a promising solution . After teams have developed a few design ideas, have them decide on a final design. Remind them to review the rules and scoring sheet to make sure the design addresses and considers all the constraints.
• Require the final plan to include a drawing of what the catcher will look like including labels that describe special features, and a list of materials and amounts, especially if the teacher is providing the materials.

• Test and evaluate prototype.
• Use the score sheet to record pre-competition material and dimension checks (see Figure 6) to verify that team prototypes meet all the constraints, balancing the conflicting factors of their devices. This includes a check for permitted vs. banned materials and a shake test, plus measurement of the catcher height and footprint area (all dimensions must be < 25 cm).
• Then test the catchers by dropping eggs either by hand from a ladder or by using an egg dropper device (like the one shown in Figure 2). The minimum drop height is 100 cm and the maximum height for the egg-dropping device is 365 cm. The maximum height using a ladder depends on ladder height and student safety limitations.
• During competition, give each group three drops; let them pick how much to increase the height between each successful drop.

• Improve: Redesign as needed . Expect students to learn a lot from their egg catcher tests and from observing other teams' tests, resulting in many ideas for design improvement and refinement.
• Regroup the teams or class to discuss what parts of their designs worked well and what needs to be changed during the re-design process. If an egg breaks due to bouncing, a revised design might raise the catcher walls. If an egg breaks due to inadequate cushioning, a team might change the material amount or type. Other issues might be the result of student error, such as poor aiming of the dropped egg or sloppy placement of the catcher on the ground below the egg.
• Then direct teams to restart the design process with their design changes in mind. Test again, as time and materials permit, declaring a winner at competition end.
• Administer the post-assessment, as described in the Assessment section.

constraint: A limitation or restriction. For engineers, constraints are the requirements and limitations that must be considered when designing a workable solution to a problem.

engineering design process: A series of steps used by engineering teams to guide them as they create, evaluate and improve a design solution. Typically, the steps include: identify the need and constraints, research the problem, develop possible solutions, select a promising solution, create a prototype, test and evaluate the prototype, redesign as needed.

gravitational potential energy: One type of potential energy due to the mass of Earth pulling objects towards its surface.

kinetic energy: The energy of an object's motion.

potential energy: The stored energy of an object.

prototype: A first attempt or early model of a new product or creation.

Pre-Activity Assessment

Pre-Assessment: Before starting the activity, administer the three-question Novice Engineer Pre-Assessment to gauge students' base level of understanding about the egg drop challenge and the types of energy involved. Answering the questions also helps students begin to formulate solutions.

Activity Embedded Assessment

Rules and Score Sheet: Have students use the Naked Egg Drop Rules and Score Sheet to prepare for the competition. Throughout the design process, observe and evaluate students' catchers to help them think through the constraints of the challenge.

Discussion Questions: Ask students questions to determine their depth of understanding, such as:

• What are ways you can get disqualified from the competition? (Answer: Using prohibited materials, building an egg catcher with any dimension greater than 25 cm, not securing materials to the structure of the egg catcher.)
• What egg catcher shape maximizes surface area under our constraints? (Answer: A circle.)
• What materials dissipated the kinetic energy from the falling egg? (Answer: Elastic materials.)
• Why might you need walls on the sides of an egg catcher? (Answer: To prevent the egg from bouncing out and breaking on the ground.)
• What are safety concerns with this activity? (Answer: Falling off the ladder.)

Post-Activity Assessment

Post-Assessment: After the activity, administer the six-question Expert Engineer Post-Assessment to gauge student comprehension. This short-answer test gives students an opportunity to write about their successes and failures through experiencing the design process.

Discussion Questions: As a class, ask the following questions to reveal students' depth of comprehension:

• How did your design change from your initial sketch to your first-built catcher prototype to your last catcher? (Have each team share its story.)
• Why was it important to test your catcher before competition?
• What did you learn by doing a test? (Listen to examples from many teams.)
• Why do professional engineers build prototypes and models and test them?
• Why is it important to understand the properties of materials for your designs?
• What types of energy or energy transfer are present in the fall of the egg? (Answer: Prior to the drop, an elevated egg has a large amount of gravitational potential energy due to its height above the ground. When it is dropped, that the energy is transferred from potential to kinetic. Right before the egg hits the egg catcher, (nearly) all the potential energy has been converted to kinetic energy.)

Presentations: As an alternative post-activity assessment, require student groups to make brief summary class presentations of their egg catchers to the rest of the class, pointing out their features, lessons learned, improvements and final results.

Safety Issues

If using a ladder to drop the eggs, do not permit any rough-housing around the ladder. Have one person dedicated to holding the ladder when a student is climbing it.

• For lower grades, relax the construction requirements to permit larger devices or more materials.
• For higher grades, increase the construction requirements to smaller egg catchers or increase the initial drop height.
• Have more advanced students do some area calculations to determine the shape that provides the biggest egg catcher design surface area within the 25 cm constraint. (A circle footprint.)

Show students an example of how energy can dissipate by watching what happens to a rubber ball as it hits a wall in the four-second Squash Ball Bounce video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IOvqCHTS7o .

Imagining themselves arriving at the Olympics gold medal soccer game in Rio, Brazil, students begin to think about how engineering is involved in sports. After a discussion of kinetic and potential energy, an associated hands-on activity gives students an opportunity to explore energy-absorbing mate...

Contributors

Supporting program, acknowledgements.

The contents of this digital library curriculum were developed by the Renewable Energy Systems Opportunity for Unified Research Collaboration and Education (RESOURCE) project in the College of Engineering under National Science Foundation GK-12 grant no. DGE 0948021. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policies of the National Science Foundation, and you should not assume endorsement by the federal government.

Heartfelt thanks to Travis Smith, for developing, building, testing and writing instructions for the egg dropper device (Figure 2). Travis also designed and made the device for quickly measuring the dropper (Figure 5). You can see from Figure 2, where Travis is pictured in the hat and blue shirt, that he is a wealth of knowledge on engineering, geekery and fashion.

Last modified: May 27, 2022

Egg Drop Challenge

Lesson Summary: Students use the engineering design process to create a device that will protect an egg from a two story drop. Materials: List of Materials Materials: Egg Drop Design Handout Egg Drop Recording Sheet Large tarp - optional but helpful for clean up Possible Materials (you can use anything you’d like): Paper towels Straws Tape Cardboard Tubes Paper Popsicle sticks Baggies Old boxes Bubble Wrap Scissors Glue Tape Agenda: Inside - 50 Minutes 10 Minutes - Intro to lesson, read aloud, video 10 Minutes - Students brainstorm ideas and complete design handout 30 Minutes - Students form groups and create egg saving device Outside - 20 Minutes 15 Minutes - Students take devices outside and drop them off a second story balcony. Students complete Egg Drop Recording Sheet 5 Minutes - Students reflect and clean up

Egg Drop Lab

Students work in teams to design a container for an egg using provided materials. Students drop their containers, then analyze factors which can minimize force on the egg.

Optionally, students can complete a second round of the experiment if time permits. Students work in teams to design a container for an egg using provided materials.

Lesson Files

• Egg Drop Guidelines (.docx)
• Explore Momentum and Impact Force in an Egg Drop (.docx)
• Explore Momentum and Impact Force in an Egg Drop (.pptx)

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Additional DCIs in This Strand

Materials needed for this lesson plan.

• Straws, set of 250
• Bag of Cotton Balls
• Popsicle Craft Sticks (100 pieces)
• Scotch Tape
• Gallon Ziplock Bags

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Egg Drop Project

This is the classic egg drop experiment. Students try to build a structure that will prevent a raw egg from breaking when dropped from a significant height. They should think about creating a design that would reduce the amount of energy transferred from potential to kinetic energy on the egg shell. Some ways to do this would be to decrease the final speed of the egg using air resistance, increasing the time of the collision using some sort of cushion, transferring the energy into something else, or whatever else they can think of!

Each group of students gets the following:

• 2 small paper cups
• 1 sq ft of cellophane
• 4 rubberbands
• 4 popsickle sticks
• 2 ft of tape
• 1 egg (not provided)

Subjects Covered

• Energy Conservation

Provided by requester

• One egg for each student group
• Floor covering (Ex: Newspaper, Tarp)

Provided by us

• Small paper cups
• Rubberbands
• Popsickle sticks

Physics Behind the Demo

The Egg hitting the ground is a collision between the Earth and the Egg. When collisions occur, two properties of the colliding bodies are changed and/or transferred: their Energy and Momentum . This change and transfer is mediated by one or many forces . If the force is too strong, it can cause the shell of the egg to crack and break.

Momentum Transfer and Impulse (no Calculus)

Starting with the definition of Force a and knowing that acceleration is just the change in velocity over the change in time

$$ \textbf{F}=ma=m\cdot{\frac{\Delta v}{\Delta t}} $$

If we move the $\Large \Delta t $ to the left side of the equation we can see how Force is related to momentum

$$ \textbf{F} \cdot{\Delta t}=m \cdot{\Delta v}$$

This means that the Force multiplied by the change in time, or duration of a collision, is equal to the mass multiplied by the change in velocity. Momentum (p) is defined as the mass multiplied by the velocity so the right side is the change in momentum. This change in momentum is the Impulse ( J )

$$ \textbf{J}= \textbf{F} \cdot{\Delta t}=\Delta \textbf{p}$$

a: In this case we are actually talking about the average force, but to keep things simple we will just call it the force.

Momemtum Transfer and Impulse (Calculus)

In Progress

Awesome Egg Drop Project Ideas

Take the egg drop challenge for an awesome  STEM project for young kids and older ones too! Your imagination is the limit with this cleverly styled egg drop as you investigate what makes for the best shock absorber for dropping an egg. We have tons more STEM activities for you to try!  Read on to find out how the egg drop challenge works and what are the best materials for an egg drop.

Take the Egg Drop Challenge

Egg drop challenges are super cool and are terrific STEM activities! I have been waiting to do a classic egg drop project for some time with my son but felt like he was too young.

The goal of the egg drop challenge is to drop your egg from a height without it breaking when it hits the ground.

Most egg drop projects use many loose materials, design making, and tinkering that my son isn’t ready for yet. I thought we could expand on it by using materials in our kitchen to protect the eggs including ziptop bags to control the mess.

What else can you do with eggs? Watch the video!

What Makes a Good STEM Project?

First, what is STEM? STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering, and math. It’s the new word on the street because of our tech-rich society and the lean towards the sciences and getting kids engaged early.

A good STEM project will have a little of at least 2 of the 4 pillars of STEM and often you will find a solid experiment or challenge naturally uses bits and pieces of most of the pillars.  As you can see these 4 areas are very intertwined.

LEARN MORE:  What Is STEM?

STEM doesn’t have to be boring, expensive, or time-consuming. We love to always try out neat STEM activities, and you can use super simple supplies to make great STEM projects.

Make it an Egg Drop Experiment.

Want to turn this fun science activity into a science fair project? Then, you will want to check out these helpful resources.

• Easy Science Fair Projects
• Science Project Tips From A Teacher
• Science Fair Board Ideas

Here are some ideas to remember to change the variables for an egg drop science fair project.

Standard Egg Drop : Start with the classic challenge where students must design a contraption to protect a raw egg from breaking when dropped from a certain height. They can experiment with different materials and shapes for their protective devices.

Materials Investigation : Have students investigate the properties of different materials. Ask them to design a container for the egg using various materials like paper, cardboard, plastic, and foam. Then, compare which material offers the best protection.

Shape Experiment : Explore the impact of the shape of the container on the egg’s safety. Students can create different shapes, such as cubes, spheres, or pyramids, and see which one works best.

Parachute Design : Challenge students to design a parachute system that slows down the egg’s descent. This adds an aerodynamics element to the project.

Weight Constraint : Introduce the maximum weight constraint for the entire contraption. This requires students to think about the trade-off between protection and weight.

Altitude Variations : Change the height from which the egg is dropped. Ask students to adjust their designs for different drop heights and explain how they made these adjustments.

Add These STEM Questions for Reflection

These STEM questions for reflection are perfect to use with older kiddos to talk about how the project went and what they might do differently next time around. Use these questions for reflection with your kids after they have completed the STEM challenge to encourage discussion of results and critical thinking .

—> Get the printable STEM questions list here .

• What were some of the challenges you discovered along the way?
• What worked well and what did not work well?
• What part of your model or prototype do you really like? Explain why.
• What part of your model or prototype needs improvement? Explain why.
• What other materials would you like to use if you could do this challenge again?
• What would you do differently next time?
• What parts of your model or prototype are similar to the real world version?

What are the Best Materials for an Egg Drop?

We have two versions of this egg drop challenge below, one for older kids and one for younger kids. Do you need real eggs? Usually, I would say yes, but given the circumstances, how about candy-filled plastic eggs ? If you don’t want to waste food for any reason, don’t! Find a workaround instead.

Grab the FREE Printable Egg Drop Worksheets Here!

Egg Drop Ideas for Older Kids

Older kiddos will love coming up with ideas to protect the egg in an egg drop. Certainly, egg drop designs can be more involved the older a kid gets making this a great activity to try each year. Some materials they may want to use…

• Packaging materials
• Old t-shirts or rags
• Recycling container goodies
• And so much more!

Here’s a past year’s winner in the egg drop challenge! It even included a plastic bag parachute!

Egg Drop Ideas for Younger Kids

You will need eggs and plastic ziptop bags to contain the mess! How many is up to you. We had 7 bags left, so we came up with six items from around the kitchen to fill the bags and protect the eggs and one with nothing.

I tried to pick items that weren’t too wasteful, and we had a few expired and unused items in the pantry.  Some materials you could use to protect the egg…

• paper towels
• dry cereal {we used very old wheat puffs}

How Does the Egg Drop Challenge Work?

Create your own egg drop designs to protect your egg from breaking when it is dropped from a height. 

If using the zip lock bags, fill all your bags with packaging materials while carefully fitting an egg into each bag. You can tape the bags shut if you want. We did use tape for the bag of water.

Once your bags are completed, your egg drop challenge is ready for you to test. Make sure to drop the eggs from the same height each time.

Make predictions before you drop each bag and ask the kids why they think that will happen.

Note: I wasn’t sure what my son was going to do with the cups, but it was up to him to decide. He thought of making a lid out of the big cup. That’s the best part of a STEM challenge!

Check Our Our Egg Drop Experiment

The first egg drop challenge had to be the egg in the zip-top bag. We had to ensure the bag wasn’t protecting the egg, right? Crash and splat went that egg drop. Since it’s already in a bag, I might as well squish it around!

We continued with the egg drop challenge, testing each bag and then examining the contents. This egg drop project had some clear winners!

IDEAS THAT FAILED!

Obviously, the egg did not fair well with no protection. It also didn’t make it through an egg drop in water or ice. Note: We tried the water twice! Once with 8 cups and once with 4 cups.

EGG DROP IDEAS THAT WORKED!

However, the egg drop did make it through the crazy cup contraption. We were all impressed. It also made it through a drop in a bag of cereal. The egg, however, did not fare well in the paper towels. He didn’t think the towels were thick enough!

It would be a great egg drop project idea to explore: how to drop an egg without breaking it using paper!

We concluded the egg drop challenge, with a bag of flour mix. {This was very old gluten-free mix we will never use}. The flour was “soft” apparently making for great protection against the fall.

What is the Best Way to Protect an Egg in an Egg Drop?

We learned that there is no best way to protect an egg.  There are multiple ways to do the egg drop successfully.  What egg drop design ideas will you come up with?

We did love that clean-up was a snap with our eggs in the bag! The eggs and bags that didn’t make it went right to the trash, and the other materials were easily put away. Although we taped the bag with water in it, it still got things a bit wet!

This egg drop style is great for young kids as it is quick and simple but fun. I also love that it encourages a bit of problem-solving and experimenting without being overwhelming.

More Egg Science Activities

Get the eggs ready for more simple science projects to explore chemistry, biology, and physics!

More Favorite STEM Challenges

Straw Boats Challenge – Design a boat made from nothing but straws and tape, and see how many items it can hold before it sinks.

How Strong Is An Egg – Test much weight one egg can hold before it breaks.

Strong Spaghetti – Get out the pasta and test our your spaghetti bridge designs. Which one will hold the most weight?

Paper Bridges – Similar to our strong spaghettti challenge. Design a paper bridge with folded paper. Which one will hold the most coins?

Paper Chain STEM Challenge – One of the simplest STEM challenges ever!

Spaghetti Marshmallow Tower – Build the tallest spaghetti tower that can hold the weight of a jumbo marshmallow.

Strong Paper – Experiment with folding paper in different ways to test its strength, and learn about what shapes make the strongest structures.

Marshmallow Toothpick Tower – Build the tallest tower using only marshmallows and toothpicks.

Penny Boat Challenge – Design a simple tin foil boat, and see how many pennies it can hold before it sinks.

Gumdrop B ridge – Build a bridge from gumdrops and toothpicks and see how much weight it can hold.

Cup Tower Challenge – Make the tallest tower you can with 100 paper cups.

Paper Clip Challenge – Grab a bunch of paper clips and make a chain. Are paper clips strong enough to hold weight?

Printable STEM Pack for Kids

80+ Doable Engineering Projects in one convenient pack!

• Full instructions with sample images
• Activity-specific instruction sheets
• Data Collection Sheets
• Questions for Reflection
• Architecture Building Cards: Try the tallest tower challenge
• Bridge Building Cards: Explore different types of bridges to build your own.
• Paper Chain STEM Challenge: Who can make the longest chain? Great icebreaker or quick challenge!
• 3 Little Pigs Architectural Pack: Design a house that won’t blow away!
• Great marshmallow challenge: A classic challenge kids love!
• Real-world STEM challenge lesson but don’t know where to start? Our easy-to-follow template shows the steps!
• What’s the difference between a scientist and an engineer?
• Crossword and word search with engineering vocabulary.
• Engineering vocabulary cards
• Design a one-of-a-kind invention and write about it with this 5-page activity!

you worry too much about what people will think do your experiments and be happy who cares if you wasted a couple eggs. it was good clean fun with your kids.

Did any of the bags burst open? I’m interesting in leading this for a library program and need to figure out where we should drop the bags.

There was no catastrophic bag opening. I would suggest making sure the air is out of the bag first. You could also drop it into a plastic bin. Also go with quality zip top bags if you are worried. Have fun with it!

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~ Projects to Try Now! ~

The Ultimate Egg Drop Engineering Project

Categories Engineering Activities

When I was a kid, we had a book about this egg drop engineering project , and ever since then, I have wanted to try it. We live on the third floor, so we have quite a long drop from our balcony, which is perfect for this experiment.

If you don’t live in an apartment or have a second story, you might be able to test your eggs by tossing them off your roof. The egg drop challenge is one of our favorite engineering activities for kids!

We’ve also tried a turkey egg drop that was tons of fun!

How to Do the Egg Drop Engineering Project

The egg drop engineering challenge is one of our favorite engineering activities!

The goal of this project is to create a container that will safely deposit a raw egg onto the ground when it is dropped from something high.

Egg Drop STEM Challenge Ideas

Let kids be as creative in their designs as they want.  You might want to include some design challenges like they must use a cardboard box, their design must fly, or they have to use sponges.

You could also require that the designs be a certain size, such as under 10 inches.

Make your egg drop have a theme, like in our turkey Egg Drop Project with Popsicle Sticks .

Another fun twist is to try dropping the eggs from different heights. The egg padding that withstands the most tumbling is the winner!

The Science Behind the Egg Drop Challenge

I love the egg drop engineering project because it involves creativity mixed with a bit of physics.

The force of the fall and the impact breaks the egg. But with enough design adaptations, you can prevent an egg from breaking at almost any speed!

There are probably hundreds of designs that will keep the egg safe.

With a group of children, it would be fun to see what differing designs could be successful in keeping the eggs from breaking.

The more types of designs tested the better!

What You Need for Egg Drop Designs

You’ll need these supplies for the egg drop engineering challenge.

• Raw eggs (buy some cheap ones so you can make multiple attempts)
• Various containers and padding
• We used bubble wrap, cotton balls, plastic trash bags, plastic food containers, string, tape, plastic bags, and egg crates

How to Set Up an Egg Drop Engineering Project

Follow these steps to make your own egg drop STEM challenge!

Idea 1: How to prevent an egg from breaking when dropped with straws

In this version, I challenged the kids to create a cage for their egg out of straws.

It was a pretty good design!

Even though we only dropped it from the second story, I bet the design would have held up from even higher up.

Idea 2: How to prevent an egg from breaking when dropped

Monkey thought she could create a little nest for the egg like in a hot air balloon. She used the trash bag as the balloon and placed the egg in a plastic ice cream dish.

She padded the bottom of the egg, but not the sides.

When we dropped the egg, it fell onto its side and exploded.

Idea 3: Balloon egg drop design

Monkey expanded on the hot air balloon design, but this time, she made the container holding the egg larger.

She padded the egg in several layers of padding, including a plastic bag blown up to create an air pocket. She taped the container to the trash bag balloon.

When we dropped this package, it still fell pretty heavily (I’m not sure the balloon part was necessary), but the padding prevented the egg from breaking.

If you do the egg drop engineering project, share your results with us! We would love to see your creations!

More Engineering Activities for Kids

Summer Skies Marshmallow Constellations Engineering Activity for Kids

20+ Simple Lego Engineering Challenges Kids Can Do Alone!

6 Easy and Fun Engineering Projects for Kids

Pool noodle engineering wall

Share this project with a friend!

Buggy and Buddy

Meaningful Activities for Learning & Creating

March 2, 2016 By Chelsey

STEM for Kids: Egg Drop Project

Have you tried the egg drop project yet? This was our 4th year in a row taking part this super fun STEM activity for kids! Check out how to do it with your children or students, and be sure to print out our two free printable recording sheets.

Follow our STEM and STEAM Activities for Kids Pinterest board!

The kids always look forward to the annual egg drop project ! If you’re unfamiliar with this popular STEM activity, the challenge is for kids to design a contraption using various materials (usually recyclables) to protect a raw egg from a high fall.

Be sure to check out our previous egg drop challenges for tips and ideas:

• Egg Drop Challenge 2018
• Egg Drop Challenge 2016
• Egg Drop Challenge 2015
• Egg Drop Challenge 2014
• Egg Drop Challenge 2013

Although this activity is most popular in high school physics classes, we’ve adapted it for elementary aged children and have done it with my husband’s 4th grade class for years in a row. (You can even do it with preschool aged children!)

Egg Drop Project

Kids were instructed to bring in materials from home for their egg contraptions. This year we changed the rules up a bit and eliminated a few materials the kids usually use in their egg contraptions- no boxes and no battery powered items.

After collecting materials over a few days, students were able to work independently, in pairs or in small groups to design a contraption to protect their raw egg.

They recored their designs on our free printable recording sheet .

After constructing their contraptions, the class examined all the other egg containers created.

They recorded their predictions on which contraptions would work using our free printable egg drop challenge recording sheet .

They then took their contraptions outside to test them out. My husband climbed onto the school roof with all the egg containers and dropped them one at at time. Since this is the highest we’ve done the egg drop challenge compared to years past, there were quite a few broken eggs this time!

The students discussed why certain contraptions did or did not work.

Be sure to check out STEAM Kids book and ebook for even more creative STEM and STEAM ideas!

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Egg Drop Project

Have you ever wondered how to safely drop an egg from a height without breaking it? Try the egg drop challenge and find out if you can safely drop an egg without breaking it.

There are many cool and easy science experiments for kids to do at home or as a part of their school project. One such simple science experiment is the egg drop project. The egg drop project is also a fun activity to teach children about the laws of motion and gravity.

Here is a step-by-step guide to dropping an egg without breaking it.

Materials You Need For The Egg Drop Project

• A Step-By-Step GuideTo Perform The Egg Drop Project

The Science Behind The Egg Drop Project

Other ideas to ace the egg drop project, why should you do the egg drop project.

The egg drop project does need a few materials. But they are inexpensive materials you can find at home or in a craft store.  You can make it more challenging for the kids and tell them to use as few materials as possible to perform the egg drop project. Here are the instructions to build an easy egg drop device, which will ensure a successful egg drop experiment. 

Here is a list of things you’ll need for an easy egg drop device to ace the egg drop challenge. 

• An extra-large sized Ziploc bag
• Bubble wrap
• Adhesive tape
• Packing peanuts
• A large empty plastic jar
• A carton of eggs

Download Egg Drop Project Printable

A Step-By-Step Guide To Perform The Egg Drop Project  

Here is a step-by-step guide to building the easiest egg drop device. This device ensures that the egg doesn’t break when it’s dropped from a height.

Place a raw egg in the middle of a sheet of bubble wrap. Roll the bubble wrap around the egg several times. Seal the bubble wrap with some adhesive tape to ensure that the egg is securely wrapped.

Fill the plastic jar halfway with packing peanuts and place the egg in the middle. Add the rest of the packing peanuts into the jar until it’s filled. This provides good padding for the egg.

Wrap the jar in several layers of bubble wrap on all sides and secure it with adhesive tape.

Then, place the bubble-wrapped jar in the Ziploc bag. Ensure that the bubble-wrapped jar fits neatly inside the Ziploc bag.

Step 5 – Bombs Away!

Now, drop this Ziploc bag from a height and see if the egg breaks.

What is gravity?

Gravity is a force of attraction that pulls on a mass. The earth’s gravitational force is what keeps us standing on the ground. The same gravity is the reason that fruits fall from trees. This is also the reason a ball or egg that is thrown in the air falls back to the ground.

Why does the egg break when it is thrown from a height?

When an egg hits the ground, a collision occurs between the eggshell and the Earth. When this happens, the energy and the momentum of the egg and the Earth are transferred and their properties are changed. Many forces are responsible for this change and these strong forces cause the eggshell to break as it hits the ground.

Why doesn’t the egg break in a successful egg drop device?

The egg drop device provides good padding, which cushions the egg. This is the same concept as airbags in vehicles, which protect the passengers in an accident. The bubble wrap, packing peanuts in the jar, and Ziploc bag protect the egg by absorbing the impact when it hits the ground.

This is not the only way to perform the egg drop experiment. Place some yarn, adhesive tape, paper straws, popsicle sticks, Ziploc bags, trash bags, pipe cleaners, cotton balls, glue, rubber bands and eggs in front of the child. Ask them to experiment with the materials and come up with egg drop experiment ideas. Then tell them to use these ideas to build a device that ensures the egg doesn’t break when dropped. The egg drop challenge also helps children think outside the box to create a structure that prevents the egg from breaking. Place the materials in front of your child or the team of kids. Then challenge them to build a structure that holds the egg and prevents it from breaking. 

The best way for children to learn and understand science and develop an interest in it is through experimenting. When kids learn new things in a practical way, they can retain the information for a much longer time. This also keeps them engaged and helps them to develop an interest in the subject they are learning. Learning science can sometimes be confusing and at times it can be boring. Gravity and motion are one such subjects that can sometimes be too complex for kids to understand. 

The egg drop project is a great way to help kids understand these concepts quickly. The answer is to build a simple structure around the egg so that it doesn’t break even when it is dropped from a height. But, it is not as simple as it sounds. You might end up sacrificing a few eggs for the egg drop project. The design can be simple or complicated, but it should decrease the energy transferred to kinetic energy from potential energy on the eggshell. 

It can be a team activity or you and your kid can do it together. Additionally, the egg drop experiment is a great way to test your child’s creativity, imagination, and strategizing skills. Additionally, the experiment also teaches them physics concepts like gravity, motion, momentum etc. 

Frequently Asked Questions on Egg Drop Project

What are the items required for egg drop project.

The items required for the egg drop project are eggs, bubble wrap, a plastic jar, packing peanuts, a Ziploc bag, and adhesive tape.

What do children learn from Egg Drop Project?

When kids perform Egg Drop Project they learn about gravity and its important properties. Also understanding the reason behind the breakage of eggs when dropped from a certain height.

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26 Egg-cellent Egg Drop Challenge Ideas

Teaching STEM one broken egg at a time.

The egg drop may be the most versatile activity there is. It can be done in kindergarten to teach about gravity, in middle school to teach engineering, and in high school physics. (We’ve even done the egg drop in professional development as a team-building activity). These 26 egg drop ideas take the challenge far beyond basic.

1. Disaster egg drop

Have students imagine that they are trying to deliver eggs to people who have been in a disaster. They must use contents from care packages to pack and try to deliver their eggs. The focus of this egg drop is on the change from potential to kinetic energy and how energy moves when it impacts the ground.

Try it: Care Package Egg Drop at Teach Engineering

2. Parachute egg drop

Looking for tried-and-true ideas for the parachute egg drop method? Give students a variety of materials—straws, Popsicle sticks, paper, bags—and see who can make a parachute that helps the egg float instead of splat.

Try it: Egg Parachutes at JDaniels4mom.com

3. Humpty Dumpty drop

First, decorate an egg like Humpty Dumpty (smiley face, overalls). Then, fill baggies with different materials like water beads, sand, pasta, and cotton balls. Drop Humpty in and see which material protects him the best.

Try it: Humpty Dumpty Drop at I Heart Crafty Things

4. Hot-air balloon egg drop

Connect a “basket” to a balloon with yarn and see whether or not the balloon will float gently enough so the egg doesn’t break. You may try this in different types of weather to see what happens to the balloon and egg when it’s windy or not.

Try it: Gravity Drop at Science Sparks

5. Crash cart egg race

In this version of an egg drop, build a cart for an egg, then send each egg down a ramp or course to see if the cart will protect the egg.

6. Cereal egg drop

Another lesson in how energy gets absorbed. Place an egg in a can, and surround the can with a soft cereal, like puffed rice.

Try it: Cereal Egg Drop on Pinterest

7. Dodecahedron egg drop

Create a dodecahedron out of straws, place an egg in the middle, and drop it. Will the straw structure protect the egg enough for it not to break? Bonus: Students learn about geometry and dodecahedrons.

Try it: Straw Egg Drop at Sciencing

8. Styrofoam cup egg drop

Use Styrofoam cups to create a stack around the egg. Place a heavy rock in the bottom of the first cup (the rock should be heavier than the egg). Then, put six more cups on top, put the egg into the seventh cup, and cover the stack with the eighth. Tape the stack together and drop.

Try it: Styrofoam Egg Drop at Educational Insights

9. Rubber band suspension egg drop

Suspend an egg using rubber bands and pantyhose for protection. Will the egg bounce and wiggle or crack on impact?

10. Paper straws egg drop

Sometimes having limited materials brings out students’ creativity. Give students nothing but an egg, paper, and scissors, and see what they can come up with.

Try it: Paper Egg Drop at iGameMom

11. Pringles can egg drop

A Pringles can is the perfect size and shape to protect an egg. Use cushioning and pencils to hold the egg in place.

12. Sponge egg drop

Cut a hole in the middle of a sponge and fit the egg into the hole. Then, use straws and tape to secure the egg and see if the sponge will soften the blow.

Try it: Sponge Egg Drop at Green Kid Crafts

13. Paper bag parachute

Looking for more ideas that incorporate parachutes in your egg drop challenge? Place the egg in a red Solo cup with some cushioning (shredded paper, cotton). Then, attach a plastic bag to the cup and launch it in a place where the wind can catch the bag.

Try it: Plastic Bag Parachute Egg Drop at There’s Just One Mommy

14. Toilet paper and duct tape egg drop

Tuck an egg into a roll of toilet paper, pack with cotton balls, and cover with duct tape. You could use this strategy to drop the egg, or roll it down an obstacle course.

15. Oobleck-wrapped egg challenge

For a mult-step approach, make oobleck and cover the egg in oobleck. Then, put the egg in a cup that includes a soft packing material (mini-marshmallows, cotton balls). Cover the top with plastic wrap or tape and get ready to drop.

16. Ship egg drop

Give students a collection of materials and challenge them to make ships to protect their eggs. Some materials:

• Popsicle sticks or tongue depressors
• Rubber bands
• Pipe cleaners
• Cotton balls
• Sandwich bags

Try it: Ship Egg Drop at Cool Science Dad

17. Pool noodle egg drop

What can’t you do with pool noodles? Cut pool noodles into parts and use duct tape, rubber bands, and other materials to create soft, spongy pods for eggs.

Try it: Pool Noodle Egg Drop at Steam Powered Family

18. Toilet paper roll egg drop

Use toilet paper rolls as pillars to support and protect an egg, then use a sponge and rubber bands to hold it together. The big question with this egg drop is whether it will float down or crash.

Try it: Toilet Paper Egg Drop at Science Struck

19. Water bag egg drop

What happens if you put eggs in a bag full of water? Have students hypothesize whether the eggs will break based on how much water is in the bag.

Try it: Water Bag Egg Drop at Oregon State University

20. Reinforcement egg drop

Talk about what it means to reinforce an object, then provide students with different ways to reinforce an egg in boxes or jars (or jars and boxes).

Try it: Reinforcement Egg Drop at Living Digitally

21. Floam-covered egg

Cover an egg in floam and see if it provides enough cushioning to break the fall. If you don’t have floam, you can also try kinetic sand, play dough, or anything that will cover the egg and absorb the impact.

Try it: Floam Egg Drop at Momtastic

22. Peanut butter jar egg drop

Tuck an egg in a peanut butter jar, pack it with tissues, and secure in a box.

Try it: Peanut Butter Jar Egg Drop at Momtastic

23. Balloon bomb egg drop

Surround the egg in balloons filled with beads to provide a softer landing.

24. Another balloon bomb

Hollow out a floral foam disc and tuck the egg inside. Then, add balloons to soften the landing.

Try it: Balloon Bomb Egg Drop at The Caffeinated Homeschoolista

25. Bungee egg drop

This activity isn’t an egg drop, per say. Students use rubber bands to create a bungee jump for an egg and predict how many rubbers bands they will need for the egg to drop a certain length (maybe six feet). For students who are well versed in the egg drop, this is a fun spin on the idea.

Try it: Bungee Egg Drop at Museum of Science and Industry

26. Backyard egg drop

Looking for ideas to make the egg drop project more challenging? Ask students to find materials in nature—sticks, leaves, an abandoned bird’s nest—to create their egg drop structures.

Try it: Nature Egg Drop at Dream Big at Home

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