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First page of “The Incredible Egg: Investigating the Design Education Challenges and Complexity of the Egg Drop Project”

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The Incredible Egg: Investigating the Design Education Challenges and Complexity of the Egg Drop Project

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2010, Volume 6: 15th Design for Manufacturing and the Lifecycle Conference; 7th Symposium on International Design and Design Education

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Connecting physics, engineering design, and flipped learning, this paper highlights best practices derived from an authentic design project developed by high school STEM/maker teachers and implemented with students. Teacher-produced flipped videos, companion web content, and diverse assessments elevate the timeless "egg drop challenge" to instruct multiple science and engineering topics. The evolved Crash Helmet Design project applies physics concepts including linear kinematics, Newton's Laws, and impulse. Simultaneously, students employ the Stanford d.school design thinking process to produce crash helmets for the purpose of protecting users from traumatic brain injury, using an egg to simulate a human head. Throughout the PBL (project based learning) unit, teachers coach students in selecting technologies to effectively construct and convey their learning, including Google Sheets to record, analyze, and graph collected data, and Tinkercad or Fusion 360 to design crash helmets for 3D printing.

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The Scientific Method For An Egg Drop

Egg

Egg drop projects can be a fun way to learn about physics and the effects of weight, mass and structure. Typically, egg drops require the student to design and test a structure that will allow an egg to safely drop to the ground without breaking. The goal is to use the least material and protect an egg dropped from the greatest height. Egg drop competitions encourage students to use problem-solving skills and the scientific method.

The Scientific Method

...

The scientific method involves organizing experiments and recording and reporting results. It provides a uniform method for scientists to set up, reproduce and validate results. There are five steps to conducting an experiment using the scientific method: observation and research, hypothesis, prediction, experimentation and conclusion. This method can be easily applied in developing a project for an egg drop contest.

Observation and Research

When planning an egg drop project, the first step in applying the scientific method is identify and then research the problem. In this case, the problem is finding the safest way to drop an egg using the smallest mass. In this phase, you should research various types of structures that would provide strength, as well as lightweight materials you can use to build them. You an find plenty of information by visiting your local library and on the Internet, particularly on structural engineering websites.

Hypothesis and Prediction

After conducting your research, come up with a design you think will solve the problem. The hypothesis is a simple statement that identifies how you think the problem will be solved. In the case of an egg drop project, a hypothesis can be a specific statement about your design and why you believe it will work best. The hypothesis should be a short statement, such as "I think a structural design using straws will best protect the egg by creating a protective barrier around it and using a minimal mass." In your prediction, you will expand on your hypothesis by stating exactly why you believe your solution will work. Discuss the scientific principles involved and state the expected outcome.

Experimentation

The experiment is where the hypothesis will be put to the test. Lay out the steps to conduct the experiment. In the case of an egg drop contest, discuss the method you will use to drop the egg structure, what you will drop it onto and how you will measure the heights from which you drop it. If possible, conduct the experiment several times. This will help show your results are valid. If an experiment is only conducted once, there is the possibility that a mistake could have been made or that the single result was an anomaly.

After the experiment, analyze the data you've recorded. In an egg drop project, you will determine how well your design performed. If the egg broke after the first drop, you know that revisions need to be made. However, this does not mean the experiment was a bad one. In science, all results are good results, because all results offer an opportunity to learn. When something goes wrong or does not work the way it is expected, it provides a chance to find out why and correct it. If an egg breaks, look at the data, assess the performance of the container you designed and use it to figure how it can be made better.

  • Science Made Simple; "Understanding And Using the Scientific Method"

Cite This Article

Garrison, Joel. "The Scientific Method For An Egg Drop" sciencing.com , https://www.sciencing.com/scientific-method-egg-drop-8661955/. 22 November 2019.

Garrison, Joel. (2019, November 22). The Scientific Method For An Egg Drop. sciencing.com . Retrieved from https://www.sciencing.com/scientific-method-egg-drop-8661955/

Garrison, Joel. The Scientific Method For An Egg Drop last modified August 30, 2022. https://www.sciencing.com/scientific-method-egg-drop-8661955/

Recommended

Egg Drop Project

Students creating a housing to protect their egg

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