Egg Drop (Protection Device)
Introduction
**Egg Drop – Design. Protect. Drop! 🥚🛡️🚀**
Welcome to *Egg Drop* – one of the most thrilling and hands-on Science Olympiad projects! In this challenge, students become real-world engineers as they design and build a protective structure to keep a raw egg safe during a high drop. It’s all about using creativity, physics, and clever design to keep that fragile egg from cracking! Will your egg survive the fall? There’s only one way to find out!
About This Project
What Can Kids Learn from the “Egg Drop” Project?
🛠️ Engineering Design Process: Brainstorm, build, test, and improve a structure to solve a problem.
📉 Physics in Action: Explore forces like gravity, momentum, impact, and air resistance.
🧠 Critical Thinking: Analyze what went wrong (or right!) and how to improve the design.
🎨 Creative Problem-Solving: Use everyday materials in smart ways to cushion the fall.
📏 Weight & Balance Skills: Learn how the shape, size, and weight distribution affect the result.
💥 Failure as Learning: Celebrate attempts, whether the egg survives or not — each test brings new ideas!
Why It’s a Smashing Success:
Kids love the suspense and excitement of dropping their creation and hoping it works! Egg Drop teaches big science ideas in a memorable, action-packed way — with plenty of laughs (and maybe a little mess) along the way.
So get ready to invent, test, and drop — and may your egg land soft and safe!
Full Article
Video
Material List
- Unpacked eggs
- Handful straws
- Roll of tape
- Pair of Scissors
- Large Painter tarp
- Bin of balloons
Instructions
- Make a triangle out of a straw and tape it together.
- Repeat this two more times.
- Tape all 3 triangles together around the egg to make a pyramid shape.
- Decide how else to cushion the egg – for example: using more straws
- Spread the painter’s tarp on the floor.
- Hold your egg high above your head and drop it on the painter’s tarp.
- Did it work? If not try a different design.
- Be creative, test your own designs and materials (styrofoam, balloons, etc)
Question for thought:
Why is our device suitable for people to use all over the world? What are its advantages and what are its limitations?
