Challenge your children by trying a safe and easy science experiment with them at home. The Science Olympiad's "Egg Drop" is a great activity that teaches the principles of engineering and design, in a fun and engaging way! The goal of the experiment is to design a device of straws and masking tape that will protect a large egg when it is dropped from a fixed height to a target. Don't forget to lay down a tarp or plastic garbage bag for easy clean up. Remember: DON'T BREAK THE EGG! Appropriate for students in Grades K-6.

What’s the Science? "Egg Drop" is an activity that you can easily relate to the simplest every day events, like driving your child to school! Imagine that you're the egg, and your car is the Egg Drop container. You need to make the "container/car" as strong as possible to help protect the "egg/people" inside!

You will need:

1. 20 plastic non-flexible straws
2. 1 meter of one-inch masking tape
3. Scissors
4. 1 tarp
5. 1 egg

Instructions:

1. Spend 20 minutes constructing the device to cushion the egg and prevent it from cracking or breaking.
2. Drop the device from a height of 2 - 3 meters (1 meter = approximately 39 inches) onto a target. And remember - no tape may be attached to the egg.

Did your egg "survive" the fall? Open your device and lay the egg on a paper towel or napkin. If the napkin is dry and none of the egg contents are leaking through the shell, you win! Now you're an incredible egg scientist!

© Science Olympiad, Inc. 2009