egg experiment high school

The Cool Science Dad

A sharing of science experiences between the Cool Science Dad and his two daughters. Updates on Monday - Friday.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

The egg drop experiment.

13 comments:

Show a pic of the winners please.

Great idea John. I'll dig through my pictures and notes and publish a new post next week sometime with the winner.

this helping me wih my project

we don't have twelve sticks

Uh....okay. That's good news because you only need 10 of each type. :-)

Please tell me how to make the small box... Please!

Shaine...if I told you, all critical thinking would disappear. Try several designs yourself to see what works best.

but its due tommarrow

Yes...that's a problem. Not much I can do for you.

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

My egg container worked the first time and not the second time. Why?

Well, without knowing any specifics I can't answer that question. I could depend on how the craft landed. If it landed slightly differently this will alter the forces acting on the egg and possibly causing the break.

The Science Behind The Egg Drop Experiment

High Angle View Of Eggs Against Black Background

The Egg Drop is a classic science class experiment for middle school or high school students. Students are given an egg to drop from a high point (such as the roof of the school) onto a hard surface (such as the parking lot). They must design a carrier for the egg to house it during the drop. Typical carriers are milk cartons or shoeboxes. The students can modify the carrier by adding wings, parachutes, foam interiors or even marshmallow cushions. The students form hypotheses about which of the egg carriers will effectively protect the egg and then test those hypotheses. The experiment is not just for fun — although students do enjoy it. It is intended to teach students about the relationships between force and momentum.

Newton's Laws of Motion are the basic principles illustrated in the egg drop experiment. Sir Isaac Newton published his Laws of Motion in 1687 and fundamentally altered scientists' understanding of the world by describing the relationship between force and motion. The first of these laws is referred to as The Law of Inertia. In basic terms, an object that is in motion will stay in motion unless an external force acts upon it, and an object at rest will stay at rest unless an external force acts upon it.

In Newton's Second Law, he discusses the direct relationship between the external forces acting upon an object and the object's change in momentum. The force increases as the time required for the change decreases. If a train is moving along at a steady pace and needs to decelerate, the force experienced by the passengers will be greater as the time for deceleration is shorter.

The objective of the egg drop experiment is to keep the egg from breaking as it decelerates. It becomes clear from Newton's Laws that in order to minimize the force experienced by the egg at impact, students designing the egg carriers must increase the time over which the egg is brought to rest or decrease the egg's velocity at the time of the crash.

The Carrier

In order to decrease the egg's velocity upon impact, students must design their egg carriers to have increased air resistance. An increased surface area on the carrier, such as a flying disc shape or a parachute, will cause the egg to hit the ground at a lower speed. To increase the time over which the egg comes to rest, students must provide their egg with something to absorb some of the force of impact. A sponge or other cushion in their carrier will keep the egg from stopping instantly when it hits the ground; the egg will continue its motion for a few nanoseconds, decreasing the force. From this experiment, students also learn to form and test hypotheses and write up their observations in an organized way.

Houghton Mifflin's Project-Based Learning Space: Project 3: The Egg-Drop Experiment: A Hands-On Investigative Activity
Discovery Education: Forces and Motion

Cite This Article

Komatsu, Jennifer. "The Science Behind The Egg Drop Experiment" sciencing.com , https://www.sciencing.com/the-science-behind-the-egg-drop-experiment-12750680/. 27 June 2018.

Komatsu, Jennifer. (2018, June 27). The Science Behind The Egg Drop Experiment. sciencing.com . Retrieved from https://www.sciencing.com/the-science-behind-the-egg-drop-experiment-12750680/

Komatsu, Jennifer. The Science Behind The Egg Drop Experiment last modified August 30, 2022. https://www.sciencing.com/the-science-behind-the-egg-drop-experiment-12750680/

27 Egg-cellent Egg Drop Challenge Ideas

Teaching STEM one broken egg at a time.

The egg drop may be the most versatile activity there is. It can be done in kindergarten to teach about gravity, in middle school to teach engineering, and in high school physics. (We’ve even done the egg drop in professional development as a team-building activity). These 27 egg drop ideas take the challenge far beyond basic.

Plus, click the button below to receive our accompanying worksheet to walk your students through the egg drop challenge.

FEATURED PICK

1. Egg Drop Challenge “How-To”

Watch our how-to video for easy step-by-step instructions on the intricacies of the egg drop challenge! The video includes fun ideas to spice up the egg drop challenge and a few examples of how to craft the best device to hold your egg.

students standing to drop eggs during an egg drop challenge

2. Disaster egg drop

Have students imagine that they are trying to deliver eggs to people who have been in a disaster. They must use contents from care packages to pack and try to deliver their eggs. The focus of this egg drop is on the change from potential to kinetic energy and how energy moves when it impacts the ground.

Try it: Care Package Egg Drop

egg drop challenge with cups and coffee liner parachutes

3. Parachute egg drop

Looking for tried-and-true ideas for the parachute egg drop method? Give students a variety of materials—straws, Popsicle sticks, paper, bags—and see who can make a parachute that helps the egg float instead of splat.

Try it: Egg Parachutes

eggs for an egg drop in baggies with materials to protect them

4. Humpty Dumpty drop

First, decorate an egg like Humpty Dumpty (smiley face, overalls). Then, fill baggies with different materials like water beads, sand, pasta, and cotton balls. Drop Humpty in and see which material protects him the best.

Try it: Humpty Dumpty Science

girl holding a basket attached to a balloon for an egg drop

5. Hot-air balloon egg drop

Connect a “basket” to a balloon with yarn and see whether or not the balloon will float gently enough so the egg doesn’t break. You may try this in different types of weather to see what happens to the balloon and egg when it’s windy or not.

Try it: Gravity and Air Resistance Experiment

6. Crash cart egg race

In this version of an egg drop, build a cart for an egg, then send each egg down a ramp or course to see if the cart will protect the egg.

7. Cereal egg drop

Another lesson in how energy gets absorbed. Place an egg in a can, and surround the can with a soft cereal, like puffed rice.

Try it: Cereal Egg Drop

a dodecahedron made from straws for an egg drop challenge

8. Dodecahedron egg drop

Create a dodecahedron out of straws, place an egg in the middle, and drop it. Will the straw structure protect the egg enough for it not to break? Bonus: Students learn about geometry and dodecahedrons.

Try it: Straw Dodecahedron Egg Drop

materials for a styrofoam egg drop challenge

9. Styrofoam cup egg drop

Use Styrofoam cups to create a stack around the egg. Place a heavy rock in the bottom of the first cup (the rock should be heavier than the egg). Then, put six more cups on top, put the egg into the seventh cup, and cover the stack with the eighth. Tape the stack together and drop.

Try it: Styrofoam Egg Drop

10. Rubber band suspension egg drop

Suspend an egg using rubber bands and pantyhose for protection. Will the egg bounce and wiggle or crack on impact?

egg drop challenge idea using only paper

11. Paper straws egg drop

Sometimes having limited materials brings out students’ creativity. Give students nothing but an egg, paper, and scissors, and see what they can come up with.

Try it: Paper Egg Drop

12. Pringles can egg drop

A Pringles can is the perfect size and shape to protect an egg. Use cushioning and pencils to hold the egg in place.

an egg covered in a sponge and reinforced with straws and tape for an egg drop challenge idea

13. Sponge egg drop

Cut a hole in the middle of a sponge and fit the egg into the hole. Then, use straws and tape to secure the egg and see if the sponge will soften the blow.

Try it: Sponge Egg Drop

egg in a cup with a plastic bag parachute

14. Paper bag parachute

Looking for more ideas that incorporate parachutes in your egg drop challenge? Place the egg in a red Solo cup with some cushioning (shredded paper, cotton). Then, attach a plastic bag to the cup and launch it in a place where the wind can catch the bag.

Try it: Plastic Bag Parachute Egg Drop

15. Toilet paper and duct tape egg drop

Tuck an egg into a roll of toilet paper, pack with cotton balls, and cover with duct tape. You could use this strategy to drop the egg, or roll it down an obstacle course.

16. Oobleck-wrapped egg challenge

For a multi-step approach, make Oobleck and cover the egg in Oobleck. Then, put the egg in a cup that includes a soft packing material (mini-marshmallows, cotton balls). Cover the top with plastic wrap or tape and get ready to drop.

17. Ship egg drop

Give students a collection of materials like Popsicle sticks, straws, rubber bands, pipe cleaners, yarn, cotton balls, and sandwich bags. Then challenge them to make ships to protect their eggs.

Try it: Ship Egg Drop

18. Pool noodle egg drop

What can’t you do with pool noodles ? Cut pool noodles into parts and use duct tape, rubber bands, and other materials to create soft, spongy pods for eggs.

Try it: Pool Noodle Egg Drop

19. Toilet paper roll egg drop

Use toilet paper rolls as pillars to support and protect an egg, then use a sponge and rubber bands to hold it together. The big question with this egg drop is whether it will float down or crash.

Try it: Toilet Paper Egg Drop

a bag of water with an egg in it for an egg drop idea

20. Water bag egg drop

What happens if you put eggs in a bag full of water? Have students hypothesize whether the eggs will break based on how much water is in the bag.

Try it: Water Bag Egg Drop

egg in a box with a jar and rubber bands for an egg drop idea

21. Reinforcement egg drop

Talk about what it means to reinforce an object, then provide students with different ways to reinforce an egg in boxes or jars (or jars in boxes).

Try it: Reinforcement Egg Drop

egg covered in floam for an egg drop idea

22. Floam-covered egg

Cover an egg in floam and see if it provides enough cushioning to break the fall. If you don’t have floam, you can also try kinetic sand, play dough, or anything that will cover the egg and absorb the impact.

Try it: Floam Egg Drop

peanut butter jar tied to a box with rubber bands

23. Peanut butter jar egg drop

Tuck an egg in a peanut butter jar, pack it with tissues, and secure it in a box. Then see if that protects the egg from cracking when dropped.

Try it: Peanut Butter Jar Egg Drop

24. Balloon bomb egg drop

Surround the egg in balloons filled with beads to provide a softer landing.

child holding an egg drop challenge, a foam surrounded by balloons

25. Another balloon bomb

Hollow out a floral foam disc and tuck the egg inside. Then, add balloons to soften the landing.

Try it: Balloon Bomb Egg Drop

26. Bungee egg drop

This activity isn’t an egg drop, per se. Students use rubber bands to create a bungee jump for an egg and predict how many rubbers bands they will need for the egg to drop a certain length (maybe 6 feet). For students who are well versed in the egg drop, this is a fun spin on the idea.

Try it: Egg Bungee

27. Backyard egg drop

Looking for ideas to make the egg drop project more challenging? Ask students to find materials in nature—sticks, leaves, an abandoned bird’s nest—to create their egg drop structures.

Try it: Nature Egg Drop

Get my printable worksheet!

Click the button below to receive our worksheet, which accompanies the egg drop challenge lesson perfectly. The worksheet includes everything necessary from space to brainstorm your egg drop contraption to a section documenting your results.

If you like these egg drop challenge ideas and want more articles like this, be sure to subscribe to our newsletters.

Plus, check out stem activities to help kids think outside the box ., you might also like.

36 Fascinating Black History Month Facts for Students

Perfect for any time of year! Continue Reading

Skip to primary navigation
Skip to main content
Skip to primary sidebar

Teaching Expertise

Classroom Ideas
Teacher’s Life
Deals & Shopping
Privacy Policy

20 Incredibly Creative Egg Drop Activity Ideas

March 30, 2023 // by Rachel Cruz

Get ready for an egg-citing adventure with the ultimate egg drop challenge! Engage your students and boost their creativity with 20 fun and innovative egg-drop activities. These egg drop designs will challenge your students’ problem-solving and critical thinking skills; from designing a simple structure using only paper and tape to constructing a cardboard box or any other type of container. So, gather your supplies, get cracking, and see who can build the most egg-celent contraption!

1. Rubber Band Egg Drop

The egg bungee activity is a physics experiment where participants predict and test how many rubber bands are needed to safely drop an egg without it cracking upon touching the ground.

Learn More: Museum of Science and Industry Chicago

2. Bombs Away

Bombs away are the ultimate STEM activity for students of all ages. Students can access various materials, including tape, cardboard, foam, paper, cotton balls, rubber bands, and more. With limited resources, students must use creativity to engineer their egg-protecting contraptions.

Learn More: Teach Engineering

3. Crash Car

Crash Cars is a fun and educational project where students get to design their own protection devices for real eggs to prevent them from touching the ground during a simulated accident.

Learn More: STEM-Inventions

4. Coffee Filter Parachutes

The coffee filter parachute is a fun activity where students design and build egg parachutes using inexpensive materials. The goal is to make each parachute float back to the ground, with the parachute catching air, rather than crashing to the ground.

Learn More: JDaniel 4’s Mom

5. Humpty Dumpty

The Humpty Dumpty Science activity is a popular STEM activity for kids that predict whether a hard-boiled egg, represented by a drawn face resembling Humpty Dumpty, will crack when dropped from a table onto a variety of materials such as feathers, cotton balls, and bubble wrap.

Learn More: I Heart Crafty Things

The Egg Drop activity with helmets is a demonstration that shows kids the importance of wearing a bicycle helmet. Students use three eggs to simulate the effects of falling from different heights with and without a helmet. The activity helps students understand how helmets protect the brain from injury.

Learn More: Raising Arizona Kids

7. Balloon Eggs

Balloon egg drops are a fun and educational activity for kids that involves creating a protective device for an egg using only a few materials, like balloons and tape. Once completed, kids can drop their egg from a height and see if their contraption protects it from breaking.

Learn More: Science Sparks

This project is a fun way to learn about physics and engineering while getting creative with different designs made from straws. All you need are straws, tape, and an egg, and your students can build a contraption that protects their egg from cracking when dropped from a height.

Learn More: Sciencing

9. Paper Protection

The paper-only egg drop challenge prompts learners to design and build a container to protect a raw egg from breaking when dropped from a certain height. The catch is that the main element in their design must be made of paper.

Learn More: iGame Mom

10. Cardboard Enclosures

Design and build a protective enclosure for an egg using the provided materials in this awesome kit! Students will explore with an industry-standard drop test to explore physics concepts. The kit includes a cardboard box, foam, bubble wrap, a corrugated pad, plastic bags, and an instruction pamphlet.

Learn More: Ada Fruit

11. Fun Physics

This fun physics activity is a cool experiment for kids of all ages. Students will balance an egg or fruit on a tube placed on a plate and then whack the plate out of the way so that the egg drops straight into a glass of water.

Learn More: Just A Mum’s Kitchen

12. Sponges

Discover the science behind falling objects with a sponge egg drop experiment! Can you keep an egg from cracking when it falls from a high place? Who will have the most successful design? Let the egg-drop challenge begin!

Learn More: Green Kid Crafts

13. Plastic Bag Parachutes

The plastic bag egg drop is a fun and educational activity that can be used in the classroom to teach students about physics and engineering. After reading books like “Horton Hatches an Egg”, students can be challenged to create an egg drop that floats as it does in the story.

Learn More: There’s Just One Mommy

14. Marshmallows

The marshmallow egg drop challenge is a fun and engaging activity for teachers to use in the classroom to teach students about engineering and problem-solving. In this specific version of the challenge, students can use various materials, such as mini marshmallows, playdough, and oobleck to protect their eggs.

Learn More: 123 Homeschool 4 Me

15. Egg Ships

This egg drop experiment challenges high school students to design a ship using limited materials to protect an egg from breaking when dropped from different heights. It’s a fun and engaging way to teach students about trial and error and engineering design.

Learn More: Cool Science Dad

16. Cotton Balls

Cotton ball egg drops make for an astonishing experiment! Wrapping an egg tightly in cotton balls protects it from breaking when it’s dropped or shaken. With some creativity, you can explore how different amounts of cotton wool and different container sizes affect the egg’s survival rate.

17. Bubble Wrap

Protect your eggs with bubble wrap! Find out which type of bubble wrap provides the best protection by dropping eggs wrapped in different kinds of bubble wrap from a high place. Will oversized bubbles or square bubbles work better than standard-sized bubbles? Time to find out!

Learn More: Education

18. Toilet Paper Rolls

This is a fun challenge for students to create a device using inexpensive materials to protect an egg from cracking upon impact with the ground. The project teaches the basics of science and encourages innovative thinking.

Learn More: Science Struck

19. Water Bags

Get ready for an egg-citing adventure with water bag egg drops! In this engineering activity, students will create a device that protects an egg from cracking upon impact with the ground. Here’s the twist- the egg must be packaged in a water-filled bag!

Learn More: Oregon State

20. Extreme Turkeys Egg Drop

In turkey egg drops, students will decorate an egg to look like a turkey and then create a protective home using the materials available. The turkey eggs are then dropped from the top of a ladder and the students see which ones survive the fall without cracking.

Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers

16 Best Egg Science Experiments

We’ve compiled a list of safe, egg-cellent and egg-citing egg experiments that can be easily conducted in school or at home.

This assortment of experiments, suitable for learners across all age groups can be done with basic materials, making them perfect for classroom settings. These hands-on, educational experiments will not only enhance your knowledge of biology and chemistry but will also foster a deeper appreciation for the wonder of everyday objects.

Whether you’re a teacher looking for a fun science project or a student looking for a new experiment to try, these fun egg experiments are sure to inspire and educate!

1. Egg in A Bottle

The egg in a bottle experiment is a classic and simple science experiment that can help students understand the concept of air pressure.

This experiment demonstrates how changes in air pressure can cause objects to move, and it can also be used to explore other scientific concepts, such as thermodynamics and gas laws.

Learn More: Egg in a Bottle

2. Crack the Egg Underwater

The crack the egg underwater experiment is a simple and fun way to teach students about pressure and material properties.

Since the egg is submerged in water, it doesn’t break. This experiment can help students understand the concept of pressure and how it can affect materials.

3. Make an Egg Float

This experiment can teach students about the concept of density and how it relates to buoyancy. It can also be used to discuss how different materials have different densities, which can affect their behavior in water.

Learn more: How to Make an Egg Float

4. Glowing Egg

The glowing egg experiment is a fun and unique way to teach students about chemical reactions and the properties of light. The glowing egg experiment is a fun and educational way for students to learn about science and can inspire their curiosity about the world around them.

5. Dissolving, Expanding, Bouncing Egg

The Dissolving, Expanding, Bouncing Egg experiment is a fun and educational experiment that allows students to explore how materials can change when they are exposed to different substances.

Learn more: Dissolving, Expanding, Bouncing Egg

6. Make a Rubber Egg

This experiment can teach students about chemical reactions and how they can alter the properties of materials. The rubber egg experiment is a fun and engaging way for students to learn about science and can help them develop their experimental skills and scientific understanding.

7. Silver Egg

The Silver Egg experiment shows the chemical reaction between vinegar and an eggshell in an easy fun way.

This experiment is an excellent approach to teach children or students to basic chemical ideas and to stimulate scientific interest and investigation.

8. Egg Strength Experiment

One of the most popular eggshell strength experiments involves testing the load-bearing capacity of eggshells by applying weight to them until they crack.

This experiment is a great way to learn about the structure of eggshells and the factors that can affect their strength

Learn more: Egg Strength Experiment

9. Egg Balancing Experiment

Try to balance an egg on its end in this easy experiment. This is an excellent way to encourage children to think creatively and try out various strategies.

10. Egg Tower

The egg tower experiment is a fun and creative activity that challenges you to design and build a tower out of eggshells.

This experiment is not only a great way to test your creativity and problem-solving skills, but it also provides an opportunity to learn about the structural properties of eggshells and how they can be used to create stable and durable structures.

11. Naked Egg

The naked egg and vinegar experiment is a unique and exciting scientific experiment that involves putting the egg in a jar and observing how it reacts to being soaked in vinegar.

12. Egg Drop

The egg drop experiment is a classic science experiment that challenges you to design and build a contraption that can protect an egg from breaking when dropped from a height.

13. Egg Geodes- Crystal Growing Science

The Egg Geodes – Crystal Growing Science experiment is a fun and educational experiment that allows you to create beautiful crystal “geodes” inside real eggshells.

Learn more: Egg Geodes- Crystal Growing Science

14. Eggshell Planters

The egg planters experiment is a unique and creative way to repurpose eggshells and create a mini garden. This experiment involves planting small seeds inside the eggshells and watching as they grow and develop into plants.

It’s a fun and engaging activity that provides an opportunity to learn about gardening, plant growth, and sustainability.

15. Eggshell Mosaic

The egg mosaic experiment is a fun and creative way to use eggshells to make a colorful and unique piece of art. This experiment involves breaking the eggshells into small pieces and arranging them into a mosaic pattern on a piece of paper or canvas.

16. Tooth Decay with Eggshells

This experiment will look at the effects of various beverages on our teeth. This can be done by using hard-boiled eggs, which contain calcium and other comparable chemical components.

Egg Drop Experiments

An egg drop experiment is a classic science activity that kids love. There are many ways to set up an egg drop experiment. Read on to see my suggestions plus a list of how others set theirs up.

The overall goal of an egg drop experiment is to drop an egg from a predetermined height and hope it doesn’t break. The egg is placed in or attached to something to help it make it to the ground safely. You could wrap the egg with something, place it inside a container, or attach helicopters, parachutes, or rockets to it. Several middle school and high school Science Olympiad events have involved some sort of egg drop. Many science classes issue an egg drop challenge each year. You can try it with your kids, too!

How to Set Up the Egg Drop Experiment

Involve your child in the design process. Decide what you will be changing in your experiment. Will you be testing different designs or materials? Will you be changing the drop height?

Talk about eggs. What happens when you drop an egg? It breaks. Can you drop an egg without it breaking?

**Wash your hands after dealing with eggs. Some eggs have Salmonella bacteria on or in them.**

Here are 4 main ways {they could also be combined}:

Wrap the egg in one or more materials.
Place the egg in a protective container.
Attach something to the egg to slow down the decent {parachute, helicopter, balloon, etc.}.
Place material on the ground to cushion the fall.

Can you think of any other ways?

Our Egg Drop Experiment

We chose to test materials that will cushion the fall of the egg. I talked to Aiden about what materials he thought might work. We settled on bubble wrap, a towel, and a pile of grass. To compare, we also dropped the egg into a plastic container.

We dropped our eggs from 3 different heights: 2 feet, 5 feet, and 10 feet. We recorded our results in a data table.

Aiden was trying to break the eggs. He dropped the egg first onto a pile of grass from 2 feet up. He was upset it didn’t break. The egg also did not break from 5 feet or 10 feet when dropped onto the pile of grass. Our ground was really soft, so I wasn’t sure the egg would break with any soft material on top of it. I had Aiden drop the egg into a plastic container {a hard surface} to compare. Then, we placed the other materials on top of the plastic container.

The egg didn’t break when dropped onto the towel from any of the 3 heights.

The egg survived being dropped from 2 feet onto the bubble wrap. When dropped from 5 feet onto the bubble wrap, the egg bounced and then hit the top of the container. This broke the egg. The same thing happened when we dropped the egg from 10 feet – bounced, hit the top, and broke. I think the eggs would have survived had they not hit the container. It was interesting how high the eggs bounced when dropped onto the bubble wrap.

What materials would you use to cushion your egg’s fall?

Egg Drop Experiments from Others

There are many variations on egg drop experiments. Check out these ideas below and try some out for yourself!

Science Sparks learned about gravity and air resistance by dropping eggs in different containers – a parachute, a balloon basket, and nothing.

Planet Smarty Pants issued an engineering challenge to protect an egg when dropped from different heights. Check out all of the designs using materials from the recycling bin and see which one worked best.

Lemon Lime Adventures proposed an egg drop project in which the children were to create something (a contraption) to protect the eggs when dropped. The children journaled about what materials they would use before building their contraptions.

Life Lesson Plans set out a variety materials for an egg drop experiment and let the kids create an egg safety vehicle. They dropped their eggs and watched them break. After discussing design problems and solutions, they tried again. I love how connections were made to real life in relation to car seats, too.

No Time for Flashcards built parachutes to protect their eggs in this fun egg toss activity . Check out their materials and discussion on why the egg did or did not break each time it was dropped.

Parent Teach Play conducted their egg drop experiment in the bath tub. They tested 9 different packaging materials and recorded the results.

Buggy and Buddy participated in an egg drop challenge in which they designed containers to protect the eggs. Then, they dropped the eggs onto grass and onto concrete. (Find out if it makes a difference.) Buggy and Buddy also has a planning printable that you can download to help you plan out your designs in advance.

Have you ever done an egg drop experiment? I’d love to hear about it. Leave a link or share a picture on the Inspiration Laboratories Facebook page or tag me on Instagram .

This post was originally published on April 8, 2014.