Ms. Deatherage’s Application of Matter and Energy class held a competition this Tuesday and Wednesday, where students were given a set of materials and an egg to try and create the best capsule that would absorb the impact of the fall and keep the egg unscathed.

This project could be very messy and challenging but can be very enjoyable in the end. Students were given a few days to work on their project to create something that would protect their egg. Many eggs survived falling from the desk but only a few would go on to attempt to survive the balcony. 

Students came into this project with a variety of ideas on how they could ensure the eggs safety. Kaelen Homar (9) and his group used cotton balls as the main deterrent against the force of gravity and his egg made it out unscathed. 

“The idea is that we want to protect the egg so that we can learn how forces and momentum change everyday life,” Deatherage said.

She gave the examples of this project applying to daily life by comparing it to collisions between football helmets and a car’s crumple zone.

“This project was learning about how using force resistance can help make an egg stay intact,” Homar said. 

Kaylinn Burton (9) was one of the students who successfully protected their egg. 

“It honestly surprised me, because it didn’t look sturdy,” Burton said. 

Lucas Roth (9), survived the egg drop as well, even without a set plan. 

“We didn’t really come up with an idea, we just did it,” Roth said.

Overall, this project was a good experience to give students a real-life example of the changes of force and momentum and how important it is to understand gravity.