Building An Egg Carrier to Sustain Force of Impact

Big Idea: How can an egg sustain force of impact?     

Focus question: How can you build a carrier for an egg that will sustain the force of impact?

Prediction: 

·        If we use the materials to cushion the entire outer shell, the cushion will protect all parts of the egg from cracking from the force of impact.

·        If we do not secure the carrier on the egg, the carrier will detach and the egg will break from the force of impact.

·        If we drop our egg from a higher distance, then we will need more support from materials to protect it from cracking from the force of impact.

Planning: 

Materials:  uncracked boiled egg, 4 cotton balls, 1 small sponge, 1 straw, 1 piece of yarn, 1 pipe cleaner, 2 square pieces of aluminum foil, journal, pencil

First, we wrapped the egg with both cotton pieces by spreading them. We put one on top of egg and one on bottom for cushion. Then, we tied the cotton and sponge crisscross the egg and down with the yarn twice around the egg. Then, we wrapped a straw and pipe cleaner around the egg where the shell was visible and secured through the yarn. Finally, we covered with both pieces of aluminum foil tightly.

Data:

Test	What you did?	What happened?
Carrier 1	Secured the outside completely with cotton and sponge and  then covered with remaining materials and dropped it from arm length down to ground	Did not crack when dropping from arm length to floor
Carrier 2	Created a parachute with foil to slow or decrease force	Did not have enough materials to secure parachute so unsuccessful/no attempt
Carrier 3	Created a base under the egg using the sponge and cotton with other materials surround the remaining part of the egg and dropped from tabletop to the floor	We thought that if we dropped the egg with the base facing the floor, then the egg would land on its base like a trampoline. The egg tilted as it fell and landed on part of the base and part of the rest of the egg. When we unwrapped the egg, we found that it had cracked in the part that hit the floor.

Claims and evidence:

We finally decided that if we cover the entire egg to cushion it all the way around with the cotton and sponge and then with the remaining materials, then it will sustain our egg from the force of impact and prevent it from cracking. Using our materials to cushion our egg all the way around before dropping it, prevented our egg from cracking. This confirmed our prediction that if we built a carrier for the egg that cushions it all the way around, it will sustain the egg from force of impact and essentially from cracking.

Conclusion:

We learned that we could not build a parachute to slow our egg during a fall if we did not have enough materials to make and secure it. We learned that if you build a carrier to only cushion one side of the egg and you drop the egg from that side, the weight of that material forces the egg to change position as it is dropping and keeps it from landing on the cushioned side. This caused the egg to crack. We learned that if you build the carrier with something soft and with cushion around the entire egg, it will break the fall. This confirmed our prediction of how to build a carrier for an egg that will sustain the force of impact and prevent it from cracking.

Reflection/ Questions:

I learned that we could build our egg carrier to include cushion support all around to sustain the force of impact and prevent it from cracking. We were unsuccessful with building a parachute carrier to support the egg’s fall with the given materials.

·       What materials can we use to create a durable parachute carrier that will slow an egg’s fall and sustain it from the force of impact and cracking?

Literacy Connections:

Parachuting Hamsters and Andy Russell by David A. Adler and Will Hillenbrand

Gravity (Fantastic Forces) by Chris Oxlade

National Geographic Little Kids First Book of Why (National Geographic Little Kids First Big Books) by Amy Shields