 Egg Drop Challenge The Egg Drop Challenge

California content standards addressed  High School:  9: Physiology  Investigation and Experimentation  Junior High School  5: Structure and Function of Living Organisms  Investigation and Experimentation

Where the idea came from  I first saw this at a GK-12 poster presentation at Society for Neuroscience conference this past October.  I have since seen many versions on the internet, however most do not incorporate anatomy into the project.

Topics to be addressed before activity  Students need to be aware of the different types of tissues and what their functions are in the body;  Ex. Skin, bones, connective tissue, fats, muscle  Students had to worksheets of different types of tissues, which they color in.  Student also looked under the microscope at slides containing different types tissues.  Might also be worthwhile to compare anatomy between different types of animals and how some animals might have advantages over others.  Ex. Humans, insects, worms, cnidarians, etc.

The Goal of this Challenge  Your goal is to make an egg survive a drop of approximately 8 feet.  You must use the supplies given to you and nothing else to help the egg survive the drop.

Material at your disposal  Cardboard  Cotton balls  Tape (no duct tape)  Glue  Toilet paper  Straws  Plastic baggy (not optional must have one)

Some things to think about before you start  Given the list of materials, you must decide what types tissues do these materials most resemble?  Ex. Skin, fat, bone, etc.  You must also give your rationale (statement of reasons) for why you chose the materials to make your protective cover for your egg. Relate you design to human anatomy or anatomy of another animal.

Directions  Working in pairs and just using the materials previously listed you must create a protective cover/casing for you egg.  Your design must be able to fit into a quart sized baggy.  Take from what you have learned about how tissues can protect vital organs like our heart and brain from damage to help you design your cover/casing.  You may also want to test your design before the challenge date.  You must bring your egg with the protective covering with you to class on the November 24 th.  On the 24 th, you will place your egg in a plastic quart sized baggy before the drop to prevent a mess in the event your egg does not survive the fall.  Also you must answer questions 1 and 2 on your worksheet.  If you egg survives the first 8 foot drop. It will be then dropped from the second story. EXTRA CREDIT will given to groups whose egg survive the send story fall.

Restrictions  You cannot alter the egg shell in any way.  No gluing the egg shell  No wrapping the egg shell in tape of any kind.  Your egg with the protective body must fit into a quart sized baggy.  You cannot put your egg in a box. You can construct a box out of cardboard to fit around the egg.  Basically, be creative.

Pre-Activity Discussion  Students shared and discussed with other groups about their design for their protective covering.  Students were told they must be prepared to explain their design, using the language of the discipline, to the class before their egg was dropped.

After activity discussion  As a class we discussed why some students’ designs were more successful than others. This helped students to answer question 3 on their worksheet.  Gave some examples on how our bodies are designed to protect vital organs.  Next time would ask student what types of material might be better to work with and better represent the types tissues in the bodies.  Ex. Rubber band for ligaments.