In this lesson you will use teamwork to design a container that would protect a raw egg as it falls to the ground from a height of 8 feet. Your team will receive an egg and a bag of materials. You will be given time to brainstorm how you might construct a protective mechanism for dropping your egg without breaking it. You are only allowed to use the materials in your bag within the time frame allotted. It will be important to work well with your teams in analyzing the materials you are given and predicting which materials will safely protect your egg during its descent.
Team Roles:
1. Materials Manager – the person whose birthday is the nearest in the future. Picks up, manages, and returns all materials. 2. Checker – the person to the right of the materials manager; makes certain all tasks are carried out correctly, answers team questions and seeks out assistance when team requests it. Also responsible for navigating to the websites identified by the instructor to check for resources explaining the outcomes of their trials; 3
. Encourager – the person to the right of the Checker; responsible for establishing and keeping a positive team spirit. 4. Reporter/Recorder – the person to the right of the Encourager; responsible for taking down (entering into the computer) the team brainstorming notes and the selections for assembling the protective mechanism as well as recording the results of the team trials. This person will also report the findings of the team. 5. If there are five team members the fifth person will be the reporter.
After your team has assigned and reviewed the roles, the materials manager can pick up the team materials.
Materials
1. Computers with Internet access
2. One egg for every group of students
3. One piece of newspaper for every group of students
4. One foot of tape for every group of students
5. Some materials you may choose are poster board, cardboard
cotton, Styrofoam, tape, glue, socks, toilet paper, and straws.
6. Garbage bags
7. Area outside or in school stairwell.
In your design, you should choose one or two variables and test the results of this variable on your crate. Your design must not include changing the egg in any way (no tape on the egg, no nail polish on the egg, no hollow eggs…). You will write a lab report with all the standard sections and produce a final product to describe your work. In this project, you should be trying to apply some of the knowledge about motion.
Part I. (10 minutes)
Once the team has taken time to read the egg drop instructions and look over the materials, they will brainstorm ideas on how to create the most protective mechanism. After brain storming, the checker makes sure everyone’s idea is discussed and the most agreed upon plan will be selected. The checker may consult with other groups if their teams wish.
Part II. (15 minutes)
When the team has decided upon the construction plan, they may begin to construct their mechanism. Following the construction, the group then chooses a slogan for their group and select an energizer which they would like the group to give them as they complete their drop. The encourager leads the cheer following the group’s presentation
Part III. (10 minutes)
When all teams have completed their mechanisms the instructor will bring them to the “drop” site. Following the concluding drop, each of the groups will review the results and hypothesize why the mechanisms performed as well or poorly as they did. The materials manager returns the supplies and picks up the egg drop lab sheet. The group discusses the analysis and work together to individually complete each sheet.
The group then chooses a slogan for their group and assist the recorder in preparing a graphic organizer for teaching the whole group about what they learned. They also select an energizer which they would like the group to give them as they complete their presentation.
The encourager leads the cheer following the group’s presentation
Part IV
Processing: Each team assesses the quality of the work their team accomplished in the egg activity.
ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
1. Did the craft survive the fall from the stairs?
2. What was successful in the design of the craft?
_
3. What would you change about your craft if you did the experiment again?
_
4. As the egg drops, what type of energy conversion is taking place? Explain
_
The Amazing Egg Drop
COOPERATIVE GROUP CHECKLIST
Group Member Name
Encouraging
Attentive Listening
Working toward Consensus
Staying with the group and with your role
Scoring Key
0 Never
þ Sometimes
+ Frequently
Egg Drop Data:
Egg Number/Name
Time of Fall (s)
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
Group 5
Group 6
Group 7
Group 8
avg
Scoring Rubric for Team Performance of Amazing Egg Drop
Criteria:
1. Team engaged in brainstorming; analyzed ideas and selected plan 2. Made predictions regarding motion, acceleration and air resistance. 3. Completed construction of container
4. Correctly identified variables in laboratory report
Not YetAlmost ThereGot It!!
Brainstorming; analyzed ideas and selected planNo evidence that the team brainstormed and analyzed several plansTeam clearly brainstormed and analyzed several plans before selecting construction planTeam brainstormed several good ideas, engaged in analysis and selected an effective construction plan Made predictions regarding motion, acceleration and air resistanceNo evidence of predictions regarding motion, acceleration and air resistanceTeam shows good evidence of predictions regarding motion, acceleration and air resistanceExcellent evidence of predictions regarding motion, acceleration and air resistance Completed construction of container.
Team demonstrated an inability to construct a container in the time allottedTeam effectively used the time allotted to create a well-designed containerTeam effectively used the time allotted to create a well-designed container Correctly identified variables in laboratory reportLab report was incomplete, failed to address variables and/or had incorrect informationLab report is complete, addresses variables and provides correct informationLab report is very well written, addresses variables, provides correct information and presents valid conclusions
Sample of Egg Drop Project Writeup
Step 1: Identify the problem
The problem in this situation is that Billy Bob must design a device to protect an egg from a drop using only one sheet of newspaper and one foot of tape.
Step 2: Hypothesis
I hypothesize that a parachute design will protect the egg from breaking in the fall. This design will have four long thin strips of paper attached to the remaining four corners of the newspaper and then to the egg.
Step 3: Testing
(no written work for this step)
Step 4: Evaluate
(Example: “My design was successful in protecting the egg. Other parachute designs were also successful. Other designs involving wrapping the egg in newspaper were, for the most part, not successful. The results of my classmates were as follows:
Parachutes-
number broken: 2
number not broken: 6
Wrapping egg in newspaper- number broken: 5 number not broken: 1
Step 5: Conclusion
I conclude that the _______________is the best way to protect the egg from a fall. It had a far better success rate than the _____________..
