Egg Drop Designs

Naked Egg Drop
Purpose: To engineer a container that will catch a raw egg and prevent it from breaking
Materials: Eggs (Provided by the teacher)
Whatever you choose to make your container out of
Problem:
Eggs will be dropped from a beginning height of 1 meter (100 cm) and increase in by 1 meter increments until a
height of 6 meters (600 cm) is reached. Students will be given two trial drops to collect information on their
containers success and time to redesign their container after each trial before the final drop. Each trial drop will
last until the egg breaks.
For safety reasons, all participants must wear safety goggles at drop time. Goggles will be provided by your
teacher.
Team members will be responsible for centering their platform below the drop site and your teacher will drop
the egg. A plumb line will be provided by the teacher to help members center their containers, but must be
removed before the drop.
The best score will be considered for the final team score. Team members will be allowed to choose their egg.
Once the egg has been selected, members are responsible for the egg from that point on. If the egg breaks before
the drop is completed, one additional egg will be provided and 10 points will be deducted from the final score.
A team may receive no more than two eggs for each trial.
Constraints:
(1) The container cannot be more than 50 cm in width or length.
(2) The container cannot mass more than 2,500 grams (2.5 kilograms)
(3) The container cannot be made from glass (including fiberglass), metal, or wood materials.
(4) All parts of the container must remain inside the container during and after the drop. A drop that results in
“lost” materials will be given a score of zero for that trial.
(5) The container can be any height, but the lower the total height from the floor, the higher your score.
Scoring:
All containers will be measured on the day of the drop. The judges will record the length, width, and height of
the container. Measurements will be taken from the highest or widest points. Any concerns with the
measurements must be brought to your teacher’s attention at the time of the drop.
Team members are expected to design an initial solution and redesign their solution after each trial to make
their container more effective. Redesigns of their container can either keep the egg from breaking or try to
decrease the height to increase score. All designs and redesigns must be sketched and described on the Project
Planning Sheets provided. Teams will not be allowed to participate in drops unless the Project Planning Sheets
are complete for the initial design and for each redesign.
Drops that result in broken eggs will receive a zero score. Eggs are considered broken if they leave a wet spot
on a paper towel. Scores will be calculated by dividing the height of the drop point by the height of the
container. The highest score will be declared the winner. (HINT: Try to create the shortest container that will
catch an egg and keep it from breaking from a 6 meter drop.)
Example Scoring:
Team Super Egg created a successful container that is 6 cm tall. If the drop height is 300 cm (3 m), their team
score would be 50 points (300 cm (drop height) ÷ 6 cm (container height)).
The container for Team Egg Heads prevented the egg from breaking and measured 12 cm in height. If the drop
height was 300 cm, their team score would be 25 points (300 cm drop height ÷ 12 cm (container height)).

Final Drop
Egg Drop Designs
Initial Design Sketch (include a description of materials) Initial Design Notes (rationale and predictions)
Results of Trial 1:
L: _____ cm W:_____ cm H: _____ cm
Drop Height Achieved: _____ cm
Second Design Sketch (include a description of materials) Second Design Notes (rationale and predictions)
Results of Trial 2:
L: _____ cm W:_____ cm H: _____ cm
Drop Height Achieved: _____ cm
Third Design Sketch (include a description of materials) Third Design Notes (rationale and predictions)
Results of Final Drop:
L: _____ cm W:_____ cm H: _____ cm
Drop Height Achieved: _____ cm