Students should be presented with the egg drop idea and given two to three weeks to work in small groups to design and build a container with the given set of materials. The instructor should teach them the basics of free-fall and gravity to introduce this assignment. Throughout the process, students should record their planning process in their class notebooks.
Students should break into small groups and brainstorm ideas for a container using the given materials. They may use any kind of container (plastic, Styrofoam, cardboard) but must include the straws, yarn and rubber bands provided. The teacher can decide whether parachutes are allowed. The students should predict the outcome for each container they design and choose the one that they would like to build. The container’s volume must be less than 1,600 cubic centimeters in volume, no side should be longer than 25 centimeters and the mass, including the egg, should not be greater than 1 kilogram.
The three drops should vary in distance. In a school setting, it is usually easiest to use the top of a ladder, and the first and second stories as the drop measurements. If any eggs remain intact after two stories, you can go higher and see what the containers will withstand. After each drop, open the container to see if the egg withstood the drop. Cracks and breaks mean the container was not protective enough.
This experiment gives students a chance to experiment, use prediction and practice independent and group interpretation. According to the National Science Education Standards, this experiment should be presented to students as something to figure out for themselves and with “clearly defined procedures.”