Egg Drop

Learning Goals
1. Students are to apply equations derived in class to "real life" situation.

2. Students are to use significant figures to insure the accuracy of measured data.

Other Skills
1. Observation
2. Writing

Key Concepts
1. Air resistance is a factor in "real life" situations.
2. In order to reduce force mass must be reduced or the rate of acceleration must decrease.

Vocabulary
1. Air resistance
2. Acceleration
3. Momentum

I've used this activity in a 9th grade, lab based physics course. The activity takes approximately 50 minutes to complete for a class of 30. Students obtain all the materials needed before the lab day. Previous to the lab students must be introduced to and know how to calculate velocity, acceleration, momentum, and force. The also need to be familiar with the concept of freely falling bodies. The lab is done approximately at the midpoint of a semester long course. The lab could be made more rigorous by adding more calculations or less rigorous by omitting the calculations.

This lesson is introduced at the conclusion of a lecture of freely falling bodies. Previous to that the concepts of velocity, acceleration, momentum, and force must be mastered. Students are to obtain their own 1/2 gallon cardboard milk carton and design an internal system to deliver 2 eggs to the pavement from the roof of the school. They can use anything they want inside the carton that is nonhazardous. The outside of the milk carton can't be altered in any way except for opening up the top of the carton. The sides can't be cut open to work in the interior, no wings or parachute can pop out during flight. Students the seal the carton to its original shape with a strip of duct tape or a few staples. After the eggs are verified to be intact (or not...) the results are tallied (Over the course of 20+ classes approximately 51% have survived). We close with talking about what type of systems led to success and which ones failed. Students are then given the homework of the problems and writing up improvements if their vessel failed. Egg Drop Activity (Microsoft Word 26kB Sep9 09) Egg Drop Activity Key (Microsoft Word 153kB Sep9 09)

You need to really hit home on the carton can not be altered on the outside in any way. Students often open the whole thing up or have something sticking out (parachute). I'd also recommend a large sheet of plastic on the drop site. Students have used everything from jello to popcorn to spaghetti sauce inside their carton and it can result in a big mess. Students enjoy this lab because they get to go through the process of brainstorming, designing, building and testing their vessel.

Students hand in:
1 page paper explaining the inner workings of their vessel using physics terms.

1 page paper of why their vessel failed and what they could do to improve it using physics terms.

Sheet of calculations showing data collected, velocity, acceleration, momentum, and force.

2.2.2.2.2: Describe how things near Earth fall to
the ground unless something holds them
up.

2.2.2.1.2: Demonstrate that objects move in a
variety of ways, including a straight line,
a curve, a circle, back and forth, and at
different speeds.