egg drop project best design

Sciencing_Icons_Science SCIENCE

Sciencing_icons_biology biology, sciencing_icons_cells cells, sciencing_icons_molecular molecular, sciencing_icons_microorganisms microorganisms, sciencing_icons_genetics genetics, sciencing_icons_human body human body, sciencing_icons_ecology ecology, sciencing_icons_chemistry chemistry, sciencing_icons_atomic & molecular structure atomic & molecular structure, sciencing_icons_bonds bonds, sciencing_icons_reactions reactions, sciencing_icons_stoichiometry stoichiometry, sciencing_icons_solutions solutions, sciencing_icons_acids & bases acids & bases, sciencing_icons_thermodynamics thermodynamics, sciencing_icons_organic chemistry organic chemistry, sciencing_icons_physics physics, sciencing_icons_fundamentals-physics fundamentals, sciencing_icons_electronics electronics, sciencing_icons_waves waves, sciencing_icons_energy energy, sciencing_icons_fluid fluid, sciencing_icons_astronomy astronomy, sciencing_icons_geology geology, sciencing_icons_fundamentals-geology fundamentals, sciencing_icons_minerals & rocks minerals & rocks, sciencing_icons_earth scructure earth structure, sciencing_icons_fossils fossils, sciencing_icons_natural disasters natural disasters, sciencing_icons_nature nature, sciencing_icons_ecosystems ecosystems, sciencing_icons_environment environment, sciencing_icons_insects insects, sciencing_icons_plants & mushrooms plants & mushrooms, sciencing_icons_animals animals, sciencing_icons_math math, sciencing_icons_arithmetic arithmetic, sciencing_icons_addition & subtraction addition & subtraction, sciencing_icons_multiplication & division multiplication & division, sciencing_icons_decimals decimals, sciencing_icons_fractions fractions, sciencing_icons_conversions conversions, sciencing_icons_algebra algebra, sciencing_icons_working with units working with units, sciencing_icons_equations & expressions equations & expressions, sciencing_icons_ratios & proportions ratios & proportions, sciencing_icons_inequalities inequalities, sciencing_icons_exponents & logarithms exponents & logarithms, sciencing_icons_factorization factorization, sciencing_icons_functions functions, sciencing_icons_linear equations linear equations, sciencing_icons_graphs graphs, sciencing_icons_quadratics quadratics, sciencing_icons_polynomials polynomials, sciencing_icons_geometry geometry, sciencing_icons_fundamentals-geometry fundamentals, sciencing_icons_cartesian cartesian, sciencing_icons_circles circles, sciencing_icons_solids solids, sciencing_icons_trigonometry trigonometry, sciencing_icons_probability-statistics probability & statistics, sciencing_icons_mean-median-mode mean/median/mode, sciencing_icons_independent-dependent variables independent/dependent variables, sciencing_icons_deviation deviation, sciencing_icons_correlation correlation, sciencing_icons_sampling sampling, sciencing_icons_distributions distributions, sciencing_icons_probability probability, sciencing_icons_calculus calculus, sciencing_icons_differentiation-integration differentiation/integration, sciencing_icons_application application, sciencing_icons_projects projects, sciencing_icons_news news.

• Share Tweet Email Print
• Home ⋅
• Science Fair Project Ideas for Kids, Middle & High School Students ⋅

Successful Egg Drop Ideas

Egg Drop Ideas to Not Make an Egg Break From the Height of a School ...

Egg drop projects teach students to use logic and teamwork to protect their eggs from a fall. There are a variety of ways to conduct an egg drop. Begin by explaining the process and handing out eggs to the students. Set the parameters of your egg drop and a deadline when your students must be ready to drop their eggs or go bust.

Container Designs

Many successful egg drop designs use sturdy containers to protect the contents from the initial shock of the drop. These hard containers may be plastic food containers or cardboard boxes. But the hard container alone is not enough to protect the egg completely. The container needs padding inside. Styrofoam, sponges, cotton balls, bubble wrap or even wadded newspaper can all make good padding inside the container. Give your students time to practice with a variety of materials before dropping their eggs.

Straw Designs

Straws have firm walls around an empty space. The firm walls act like the sturdy container, while the empty space provides shock absorption for the egg. Build a shape around the egg with the straws. Hold the straws in place with tape. Add padding between the straws and the egg. Another way to use straws is to design a framework that suspends the egg during the drop. The frame absorbs the shock, preventing the egg from coming in contact with the surface.

Plastic Bag Designs

A hard shell is not the only way to protect an egg during an egg drop. Plastic bags are less of a shell, but they provide a structure to hold padding material around the egg. Add padding such as foam, bubble wrap or packing peanuts between the egg and the side of a small plastic bag. Place the small bag into a medium-sized bag and add more padding around the small bag. Place both bags into a large plastic bag with additional padding around the medium bag.

Alternative Designs

Try limiting your class to specific groups of materials such as ensuring that all padding is edible. Try using cereals such as puffed rice or wheat as padding. Fruit is another option. Use grapes, cherry tomatoes or orange wedges between the egg and the side of the box or container. The fluid-filled cells work in a similar way to the air-filled bladders of bubble wrap. Consider that the egg must drop but is not required to hit the ground. Insert the egg into panty hose or attach an egg-protecting container to a bungee cord to prevent the egg from hitting the ground. Suspend your egg from a helium-filled balloon or build a glider to deliver your egg to the ground.

Related Articles

Egg drop ideas to not make an egg break from the height..., how to make an egg capsule out of straws, the best ways to make an egg drop, egg drop experiment solutions without a parachute, how to make an egg drop box, how to build a successful egg drop container for physics, how to drop an egg without breaking it by using straws..., experiment on putting an egg in vinegar, how to package to protect an egg for a science project, successful egg drop contraptions for a science project, physics egg-drop experiment ideas, egg drop device ideas, egg drop experiments, egg drop school projects, egg in bottle science projects, how to build an egg catapult, science project egg experiments, materials for bouncing an egg for a science fair project, the science behind the egg drop experiment.

• PBS Kids: Egg Drop

About the Author

Based in Nashville, Shellie Braeuner has been writing articles since 1986 on topics including child rearing, entertainment, politics and home improvement. Her work has appeared in "The Tennessean" and "Borderlines" as well as a book from Simon & Schuster. Braeuner holds a Master of Education in developmental counseling from Vanderbilt University.

Find Your Next Great Science Fair Project! GO

We Have More Great Sciencing Articles!

Egg Drop Ideas to Not Make an Egg Break From the Height of a School Building

Best Egg Drop Project Ideas

Take the egg drop challenge for an awesome  STEM project for young kids and older ones too! Your imagination is the limit with this cleverly styled egg drop as you investigate what makes for the best shock absorber for dropping an egg. We have tons more STEM activities for you to try!  Read on to find out how the egg drop challenge works and what are the best materials for an egg drop.

EGG DROP PROJECT IDEAS FOR KIDS

TAKE THE EGG DROP CHALLENGE

Egg drop challenges are super cool and are terrific STEM activities! I have been waiting to do a classic egg drop project for some time with my son but felt like he was too young.

The goal of the egg drop challenge is to drop your egg from a height without it breaking when it hits the ground.

Most egg drop projects use quite a bit of loose materials, design making, and tinkering that my son just isn’t ready for yet. I happened to see this plastic bag style of egg drop over at The Measured Mom which is perfect for a mess free challenge.  I thought we could really expand on it by using materials found in our own kitchen to protect the eggs.

What else can you do with eggs? Watch the video!

WHAT MAKES A GOOD SCIENCE PROJECT?

First, what is STEM? STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering, and math. It’s definitely the new word on the street because of our tech rich society and the lean towards the sciences and getting kids engaged early.

A good STEM project will have a little of at least 2 of the 4 pillars of STEM and often you will find a solid experiment or challenge naturally uses bits and pieces of most of the pillars.  As you can see these 4 areas are very intertwined. LEARN MORE:  What Is STEM?

STEM doesn’t have to be boring, expensive, or time-consuming. We love to try out neat STEM activities all the time, and you can use super simple supplies to make great STEM projects.

SCIENCE FAIR PROJECTS

Want to turn this fun science activity into a science fair project? Then you will want to check out these helpful resources.

• Easy Science Fair Projects
• Science Project Tips From A Teacher
• Science Fair Board Ideas

STEM QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

These STEM questions for reflection are perfect to use with older kiddos to talk about how the project went and what they might do differently next time around. Use these questions for reflection with your kids after they have completed the STEM challenge to encourage discussion of results and critical thinking .

• What were some of the challenges you discovered along the way?
• What worked well and what did not work well?
• What part of your model or prototype do you really like? Explain why.
• What part of your model or prototype needs improvement? Explain why.
• What other materials would you like to use if you could do this challenge again?
• What would you do differently next time?
• What parts of your model or prototype are similar to the real world version?

WHAT ARE THE BEST MATERIALS FOR AN EGG DROP?

We have two versions of this egg drop challenge below, one for older kids and one for younger kids. Do you need real eggs? Usually, I would say yes, but given the circumstances, how about candy-filled plastic eggs ? If you don’t want to waste food for any reason, don’t! Find a workaround instead.

Grab the FREE Printable Egg Drop Worksheets Here!

EGG DROP IDEAS FOR OLDER KIDS

Older kiddos will love coming up with ideas to protect the egg in an egg drop.  Some materials they may want to use…

• Packaging materials
• Old t-shirts or rags
• Recycling container goodies
• And so much more!

Here’s a past year’s winner in the egg drop challenge! It even included a plastic bag parachute!

EGG DROP IDEAS FOR YOUNGER KIDS

You will need eggs and plastic zip lock bags to contain the mess! How many is up to you. We had 7 bags left, so we came up with six items from around the kitchen to fill the bags and protect the eggs and one with nothing.

I tried to pick items that weren’t too wasteful, and we had a few expired and unused items in the pantry.  Some materials you could use to protect the egg…

• paper towels
• dry cereal {we used very old wheat puffs}

HOW DOES THE EGG DROP CHALLENGE WORK?

Create your own egg drop designs to protect your egg from breaking when it is dropped from a height. 

If using the zip lock bags, as above, fill all your bags with packaging materials while carefully fitting an egg into each bag. You can tape the bags shut if you want. We did use tape for the bag of water.

Once your bags are completed, your egg drop challenge is ready for you to test. Make sure to drop the eggs from the same height each time.

Make predictions before you drop each bag and ask the kids why they think that will happen.

Note: I wasn’t sure what my son was going to do with the cups, but it was up to him to decide. He thought of making a lid out of the big cup. That’s the best part of a STEM challenge!

 OUR EGG DROP EXPERIMENT

The first egg drop challenge had to be the egg on its own in the zip-top bag. We had to make sure the bag wasn’t protecting the egg, right? Crash and splat went that egg drop. Since it’s already in a bag, might as well squish it around!

We continued with the egg drop challenge, testing each bag and then examining the contents. This egg drop project had some clear winners!

IDEAS THAT FAILED!

Obviously, the egg did not fair well with no protection. It also didn’t make it through an egg drop in water or ice. Note: We tried the water twice! Once with 8 cups and once with 4 cups.

EGG DROP IDEAS THAT WORKED!

However, the egg drop did make it through the crazy cup contraption. We were all impressed. It also made it through a drop in a bag of cereal. The egg, however, did not fare well in the paper towels. He didn’t think the towels were thick enough!

It would be a great egg drop project idea to explore: how to drop an egg without breaking it using paper!

We concluded the egg drop challenge, with a bag of flour mix. {This was very old gluten-free mix we will never use}. The flour was “soft” apparently making for great protection against the fall.

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO PROTECT AN EGG IN AN EGG DROP?

What we learnt is there is not one best way to protect an egg.  There are multiple ways to successfully do the egg drop.  What egg drop design ideas will you come up with?

We did love that clean up was a snap with our eggs in the bag! The eggs and bags that didn’t make it went right to the trash and the other materials were easily put away. Although we taped the bag with water in it, it still got things a bit wet!

This style of egg drop is great for young kids as it is quick and pretty simple but lots of fun. I also love that it encourages a bit of problem-solving and experimenting without being overwhelming.

MORE FAVORITE STEM CHALLENGES

Straw Boats Challenge – Design a boat made from nothing but straws and tape, and see how many items it can hold before it sinks.

Strong Spaghetti – Get out the pasta and test our your spaghetti bridge designs. Which one will hold the most weight?

Paper Bridges – Similar to our strong spaghettti challenge. Design a paper bridge with folded paper. Which one will hold the most coins?

Paper Chain STEM Challenge – One of the simplest STEM challenges ever!

Spaghetti Marshmallow Tower – Build the tallest spaghetti tower that can hold the weight of a jumbo marshmallow.

Strong Paper – Experiment with folding paper in different ways to test its strength, and learn about what shapes make the strongest structures.

Marshmallow Toothpick Tower – Build the tallest tower using only marshmallows and toothpicks.

Penny Boat Challenge – Design a simple tin foil boat, and see how many pennies it can hold before it sinks.

Gumdrop B ridge – Build a bridge from gumdrops and toothpicks and see how much weight it can hold.

Cup Tower Challenge – Make the tallest tower you can with 100 paper cups.

Paper Clip Challenge – Grab a bunch of paper clips and make a chain. Are paper clips strong enough to hold weight?

 HAVE YOU TRIED THE EGG DROP CHALLENGE?

Click on the image below or on the link for more awesome STEM projects!

you worry too much about what people will think do your experiments and be happy who cares if you wasted a couple eggs. it was good clean fun with your kids.

Did any of the bags burst open? I’m interesting in leading this for a library program and need to figure out where we should drop the bags.

There was no catastrophic bag opening. I would suggest making sure the air is out of the bag first. You could also drop it into a plastic bin. Also go with quality zip top bags if you are worried. Have fun with it!

• Pingback: Easter STEM Activities Countdown Challenge

coolreally handy

• Pingback: Simple Physics Activities Science Experiments STEM Ideas for Kids
• Pingback: 25 Best Science Experiments For Kids | Little Bins for Little Hands
• Pingback: My 10 Favorite Nursery Rhymes for Kids | Little Learning Corner

Comments are closed.

~ Projects to Try Now! ~

• About iGameMom
• Best Educational Apps for Kids
• Best Learning Tools for Kids on Mobile Devices
• Privacy Policy

• Free Resources
• Computer Coding for Kids
• Math for Kids
• Science for Kids
• General Science
• General Reading
• General Game
• Brain Training
• Productivity
• Special Need
• Good Movies for Kids
• YouTube Videos for Kids

Successful Egg Drop Project Design with Straws

Egg drop challenge science project is always fun for kids. You design a structure to hold the egg and to protect the egg from breaking when dropped from certain height. The project can be designed for different age groups with various difficulty levels. For this one, we limit the design materials on straws, tapes and hot glue only. The goal of the science project is for kids to learn physics science, design process, engineering while having fun. If you’d like to try with your kids or students, we have a free design process worksheet to help the design thinking.

STEM Challenge: Egg Drop Project Design with Straws

Before we start the design process, we did some online search to get some design ideas, then we tried the pyramid design first. Of course, it failed. The real learning happens when kids have to figure out what is wrong and how to improve. Read on to find out the learning that leads to the winning design.

First Egg drop design with Straw – Pyramid

The first step is the make a pyramid shape that holds the egg snugly. For this holder, each straw is bent to the appropriate length, so the egg can staying in it without moving.

Then tape or glue the full-length straws along the edges of the pyramid holder, so each edge is extended with a straw to stick out of the pyramid vertexes. The goal is to have the extended straws bear the forces upon touching the ground, thus deviate the force on the egg.

We used tapes and hot glue to put all straws into the place we wanted.

The test result?

After the failure, we discussed the reasons. One thing we noticed was when the egg dropped to the ground, the side that landed on the ground was on 3 straws with the same length sticking out the 3 vertexes. This makes the connecting straws parallel to the ground. These parallel straws must have hit the egg hard. With this realization, we started the next design.

Second Egg drop design with Straw – Unbalanced Pyramid

Based on the learning from the first failed experiment, we did a 2nd design to make sure all extension straws sticking out of the pyramid vertexes with a different length. But this time, the egg broke again. It was not as bad as last one, though.

We analyzed the causes again, and realized that pyramid is not a good shape to start with. Because, with this core shape, the landing side is usually with 3 straws sticking out. As we learned in geometry, 3 points form a plane, this means the landing force are equally distributed among the 3 straws, and then transfer to the crossing straws connecting these 3. Although these crossing straws are not straightly parallel to the ground, they still push the egg when it lands on the ground.

RELATED: Successful Egg Drop Project Design with Paper and Straw

The solution is to use a cube shape as the core to hold the egg. This way each side has 4 straws sticking out. The longest will be the one holding the force when it hits the ground. When only one straw is bearing the force, most of the force moves along the direction of the straw, thus little goes to the egg.

Third Egg drop design with Straw – Unbalanced Cube

Based on our analysis on the 2nd failure, a 3rd design was made. The center is a small cube to fit the egg. Then long straws are glued along each side of the cube. We made sure that each long straw extends out of the cube vertexes at a different length.

Can you guess the result?

The egg stayed as a whole, not even a crack!

Egg Drop Design Project Tips and Tricks

The key idea of a successful straw structure for egg drop project, from physics point of view, is to find a design that the straw will divert or absorb most of the forces, thus little force goes to the egg.

Lessons we learned from the egg drop challenge project design process

Focus on the design process, instead of result. Use the design process worksheet to help you. You can download the design sheet for free at the bottom of this post.

Don’t assume others’ successful ideas will automatically work for you. One of the sources we get our idea from is this Egg Drop Design YouTube video . The guy in the video made it look so easy to use a straw structure. We copied his idea, but failed. Do learn from others’ ideas. However the key is to think through the reasons behind each design and analyze the causes of failure or success.

More process and design tricks we learned through this project

Use plastic food wrap to wrap up the egg. If the egg broke, the egg white and yolk won’t flow or splash everywhere. This makes cleaning up a lot easier.

It is easier to use duct tape or washi tape to fix the straws together into shapes. Hot glue works well too, but it may not be a good option for younger kids.

Regular tape doesn’t work well with straws.

As you can tell from the pictures, we found it helpful to double up the straws for each edge and the extension.

Have you tried egg drop challenge with kids? Have you done project designs with straws? What is your challenge design? What are your winning tips?

Looking for a different Egg Drop Project Design Idea?

For more Egg Science Experiments, these Amazing Science Activities for Kids are must-tries. This Egg Painting with Vinegar is a fun one for sure. Like STEM Challenge? Try this Da Vinci Bridge STEM Engineering Building Challenge . Like Engineering Projects? Try these fun Engineering Toys for Kids

Next post: How to Build Da Vinci Bridge with Pencils – A fun STEM Challenge

Previous post: 7 Kids Science Experiments with Apples

We are definitely going to use this for our 8th grade egg drop project

hi good job on this stuff

Leave a Comment

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Welcome to iGameMom — Fun STEM learning ideas for kids. Math, science, tech, engineering activities kids love! 

Popular Posts

• RGB Color Mixing with Coding Spring Template
• 3 Coding Games to Learn Shapes and Geometry with a Cool Coding Toy
• Coding Game Improving Kids Problem Solving Skills
• Coding Game for Critical Thinking Skills
• Coding Game Improving Kids Executive Functions

Follow iGameMom!

Best STEM Learning Ideas

• 10 Hands-On Weather Science Experiments for Kids
• How to Make Mobius Strip Interlocked Hearts?
• Simple Science Experiments with Heart Themes
• 70 Fun Science Valentine Cards for Kids
• 500 Science Activities for Every Month of the Year

Best Learning Resources

• Best Learn Coding Websites and Apps for Kids
• 21 Best Math Apps Teaching Math Concepts with Games
• Best Vocabulary Learning Tools for Kids
• Best Learning Tools For Kids to Learn Counting
• Best Spelling Learning Tools for Kids on iPad and Other Tablets

Enter your email to download PDF and receive updates from OSMO

Scan to get started.

The Assessment App is available only on the Apple App Store . Please scan the QR code below with your iPhone device to download the app.

Egg Drop Project

Have you ever wondered how to safely drop an egg from a height without breaking it? Try the egg drop challenge and find out if you can safely drop an egg without breaking it.

There are many cool and easy science experiments for kids to do at home or as a part of their school project. One such simple science experiment is the egg drop project. The egg drop project is also a fun activity to teach children about the laws of motion and gravity.

Here is a step-by-step guide to dropping an egg without breaking it.

Materials You Need For The Egg Drop Project

• A Step-By-Step GuideTo Perform The Egg Drop Project

The Science Behind The Egg Drop Project

Other ideas to ace the egg drop project, why should you do the egg drop project.

The egg drop project does need a few materials. But they are inexpensive materials you can find at home or in a craft store.  You can make it more challenging for the kids and tell them to use as few materials as possible to perform the egg drop project. Here are the instructions to build an easy egg drop device, which will ensure a successful egg drop experiment. 

Here is a list of things you’ll need for an easy egg drop device to ace the egg drop challenge. 

• An extra-large sized Ziploc bag
• Bubble wrap
• Adhesive tape
• Packing peanuts
• A large empty plastic jar
• A carton of eggs

Download Egg Drop Project Printable

A Step-By-Step Guide To Perform The Egg Drop Project  

Here is a step-by-step guide to building the easiest egg drop device. This device ensures that the egg doesn’t break when it’s dropped from a height.

Place a raw egg in the middle of a sheet of bubble wrap. Roll the bubble wrap around the egg several times. Seal the bubble wrap with some adhesive tape to ensure that the egg is securely wrapped.

Fill the plastic jar halfway with packing peanuts and place the egg in the middle. Add the rest of the packing peanuts into the jar until it’s filled. This provides good padding for the egg.

Wrap the jar in several layers of bubble wrap on all sides and secure it with adhesive tape.

Then, place the bubble-wrapped jar in the Ziploc bag. Ensure that the bubble-wrapped jar fits neatly inside the Ziploc bag.

Step 5 – Bombs Away!

Now, drop this Ziploc bag from a height and see if the egg breaks.

What is gravity?

Gravity is a force of attraction that pulls on a mass. The earth’s gravitational force is what keeps us standing on the ground. The same gravity is the reason that fruits fall from trees. This is also the reason a ball or egg that is thrown in the air falls back to the ground.

Why does the egg break when it is thrown from a height?

When an egg hits the ground, a collision occurs between the eggshell and the Earth. When this happens, the energy and the momentum of the egg and the Earth are transferred and their properties are changed. Many forces are responsible for this change and these strong forces cause the eggshell to break as it hits the ground.

Why doesn’t the egg break in a successful egg drop device?

The egg drop device provides good padding, which cushions the egg. This is the same concept as airbags in vehicles, which protect the passengers in an accident. The bubble wrap, packing peanuts in the jar, and Ziploc bag protect the egg by absorbing the impact when it hits the ground.

This is not the only way to perform the egg drop experiment. Place some yarn, adhesive tape, paper straws, popsicle sticks, Ziploc bags, trash bags, pipe cleaners, cotton balls, glue, rubber bands and eggs in front of the child. Ask them to experiment with the materials and come up with egg drop experiment ideas. Then tell them to use these ideas to build a device that ensures the egg doesn’t break when dropped. The egg drop challenge also helps children think outside the box to create a structure that prevents the egg from breaking. Place the materials in front of your child or the team of kids. Then challenge them to build a structure that holds the egg and prevents it from breaking. 

The best way for children to learn and understand science and develop an interest in it is through experimenting. When kids learn new things in a practical way, they can retain the information for a much longer time. This also keeps them engaged and helps them to develop an interest in the subject they are learning. Learning science can sometimes be confusing and at times it can be boring. Gravity and motion are one such subjects that can sometimes be too complex for kids to understand. 

The egg drop project is a great way to help kids understand these concepts quickly. The answer is to build a simple structure around the egg so that it doesn’t break even when it is dropped from a height. But, it is not as simple as it sounds. You might end up sacrificing a few eggs for the egg drop project. The design can be simple or complicated, but it should decrease the energy transferred to kinetic energy from potential energy on the eggshell. 

It can be a team activity or you and your kid can do it together. Additionally, the egg drop experiment is a great way to test your child’s creativity, imagination, and strategizing skills. Additionally, the experiment also teaches them physics concepts like gravity, motion, momentum etc. 

Frequently Asked Questions on Egg Drop Project

What are the items required for egg drop project.

The items required for the egg drop project are eggs, bubble wrap, a plastic jar, packing peanuts, a Ziploc bag, and adhesive tape.

What do children learn from Egg Drop Project?

When kids perform Egg Drop Project they learn about gravity and its important properties. Also understanding the reason behind the breakage of eggs when dropped from a certain height.

Egg Drop Project Ideas That Really Work

By Kelly Ladd Sanchez

What is the egg drop project?

If you have young kids and haven’t heard of the egg drop project yet, you definitely will in the next few years. Kids ranging from elementary school through high school age are being assigned a science ( STEM ) project, where they will have to use their ingenuity to design a package out of everyday items that will keep an egg from breaking when dropped from ten feet in the air. (Of course, some teachers, especially for older kids, may have different requirements for the assignment.)

The idea of the of the egg drop project is to use as few materials as possible to make the packaging strong enough to withstand the fall. Some teachers may also place a time limit and weight limit on the project.

Advertisement

My parents live on the seventh floor of a condo. Over the summer, my son Kai spent a week with them. The egg drop challenge was one of the many projects he and his grandpa did together. They made their contraption using a grocery bag parachute and mini box filled with lots of cotton balls for padding. It didn’t crack! Kai dropped it over the railing so many times.

Here are some of the items and materials that can be used in the egg drop project:

• Masking tape
• Toilet paper
• Plastic bags

Looking to get some help brainstorming ideas for the challenge? Look no further. Here are a few egg drop project ideas that really work, even from extreme heights. Check them out in the slideshow.

More Activities for Kids:

• How to Make Paper Airplanes: 9 Tutorials That Fly Sky High
• 15 Best Paper Plate Crafts for Kids
• 15 Affordable DIY Rock Projects for Kids

Egg Drop Challenge Ideas That Work

Gentle touch down.

Using balloons for a soft touch down is a smart idea. This student even fills a balloon with glass craft gems , which help guide the contraption down to the ground. Pure genius! Get the project details . Photo credit: My Little Homestead

Peanut Butter Jar Success

The fourth grader who created this project had even more rules to her project. She wasn’t allowed to use parachutes, balloons, bubble wrap, or Styrofoam. So she lined the inside of an empty peanut butter jar with foam squares and placed the egg inside. She then suspended the jar in a box using rubber bands .  Get the project details. Photo credit: Living Digitally

Preschool Egg Drop Ideas

Who says this experiment is only for school aged kids? Get your preschooler’s creativity revved up with some creative ideas. Our favorite experiment: Wrapping the egg in store-bought Floam and then placing it inside a shoebox filled with crinkled paper . This project is sure to get your little ones excited about science. Photo credit: Parent Savvy

Balloon Bomb

Using hallowed out floral foam and balloons, your egg is sure to be safe. The foam helps protect the eggs, while the balloons give the package some air resistance. Bombs away! Get the project details. Photo credit: The Caffeinated Homeschoolista

Creativity Counts

When it comes to protecting the egg, you’ve got to be creative. This family even used cloth diaper inserts. Use things you have around the house to cushion the fall! Make a parachute or balloon from a trash bag to help soften the blow. Check out the video to see how it really does work. Get the project details. Photo credit: Steamsational

Record Your Results

We love these ideas mostly because of how the family recorded all of the data. The kids recorded predictions as well as the results for each of their many experiments. They figured out that packing paper, multi-wrapped bubble wrap, and a cardboard box with packing material was the best egg protection. Score! Photo credit: Parent Teach Play

Epic Fails and Epic Wins

Looking for some creative ideas to help your child’s egg drop challenge to be a success? Check out these ideas—some worked (like placing an egg in a toilet paper roll with the tube taken out); some, unfortunately, did not (like placing an egg in a bag full of marshmallows ). You win some, you lose some.  Get the project details. Photo credit: Homeschool Creations

#1 YouTube Video

With 27 million views, Mark Rober’s "Egg Drop Project" video is by far the most popular one on YouTube. It shows five different design ideas. Beware: Since this is the number one egg drop video, many other kids in your class may use similar designs. Get the project details. Photo credit: Mark Rober

Egg Drop Soup

Here’s an inventive idea that worked the first round but may need some extra protection if you plan on using a lot of force. Hollow out a sea sponge and place your egg inside. Then add extra cotton for more cushion and place it in a cute Chinese take-out container . Fingers crossed your egg doesn't turn into egg drop soup. Get the project details. Photo credit: Follow Greg

Try, Try, and Try Again

Sometimes in science, failing is just as important as accomplishments because it helps you understand the big question: WHY? Check out this idea as something not to do and most importantly find out why it didn’t work. Get the project details. Photo credit: Feels Like Home

Bombs Away!

There are always some failures before there are successes! That’s exactly what happened to these two projects, which used a parachute made from a coffee filter and a grocery bag. These kids had to make a few adjustments to their designs before they worked. Get the project details. Photo credit: Lemon Lime Adventures

No Break Egg

Cover a raw egg with tissue paper and bubble wrap . Then tape it together until it's secure. (Use colorful duct tape to give the project extra pizazz.) Get the project details. Photo credit: Kids Activities

Simple Egg Drop Success

Here’s an egg drop experiment video perfect for younger elementary school students. Simply stuff a box with packing peanuts , stick an egg in the middle, and let it drop. Easy peasy and totally doable. Get the project details. Photo credit: Planning Playtime

Science Is Fun

Here are some fun ideas (only one of which worked) that some older kids experimented with. Their winning idea: placing an egg inside of a hallowed out grapefruit. (We don’t recommend climbing on top of the roof, though.) Get the project details. Photo credit: BullsFan7777777

Survived a Twenty-Foot Drop

Here’s a design that withstood a twenty-foot drop. This ingenious plan has a space made specifically for the egg in a cardboard box stuffed with paper towels. Straws and rubber bands are wrapped around the box for added support. Creativity counts! Get the project details. Photo credit: MyGamingJourney_Skye

Kelly Ladd Sanchez, a former magazine editor and writer, now works as a professional craft stylist and paper artist out of her home studio in Orlando, Florida. Kelly is always creating something whimsical, bright, and colorful, with easy-to-follow instructions. Looking for more creative and fun DIY and craft projects to try yourself? Check out Kelly's blog, handmadebykelly.com  and her paper art site . When she’s not covered in little shreds of paper, she can be found having fun and hanging out with her son and wonderful husband. Follow her on Facebook , Instagram , Twitter  and Pinterest. 

Share article

How to Give a 3-Minute Blow Job

15 Awesome Outdoor Birthday Party Ideas For Kids

This is Why We’ll Request No Gifts At Our Kids’ Next Birthday Parties

Mom Tattoos: Super Cool Ways to Get Your Kid’s Name in Ink

DIY Mason Jar Aquarium for Kids

15 Cleaning Games That Make Even The Most Boring Chores Fun

Turn a Drink Pouch Into a Rocket With a Few Basic Supplies

3 Crafty Ways To Enhance Movie Night With The Kids

Activity Length

45 mins. (20 min. for drop), forces and motion, activity type, exploration.

In this exploration, students design, evaluate, test, and suggest improvements for a container that will protect their precious payload: an egg.

The Classic "Egg-Drop" experiment has been a standard in science instruction for many years. Essentially, students are asked to construct some type of container that will keep a raw egg from cracking when dropped from ever-increasing elevations.

There are three basic ways to increase the likelihood of safely dropping an egg:

• Slow down the descent speed . Parachutes are an obvious method for slowing the decent speed, as long as the design includes a way to keep the parachute open.
• Cushion the egg so that something other than the egg itself absorbs the impact of landing. The largest end of the egg has an area of air trapped between the egg's two membranes. This air space forms when the contents of the egg cool and contract after the egg is laid. It accounts for the crater you often see at the end of a hard-cooked egg. Upon impact the heavier spherical yolk continues moving towards the ground. The compression of the airspace acts like an air bag for the eggs' valuable contents. Building an artificial cushioning device will also help absorb the impact of landing. The largest end of the egg has an area of air trapped between the egg's two membranes. This air space forms when the contents of the egg cool and contract after the egg is laid. It accounts for the crater you often see at the end of a hard-cooked egg. Upon impact the heavier spherical yolk continues moving towards the ground. The compression of the airspace acts like an air bag for the eggs' valuable contents. Building an artificial cushioning device will also help absorb the impact of landing.
• Orient the egg so that it lands on the strongest part of the shell. The arch structure at either end of the egg is stronger than its sides. Pressure is distributed down (or up) the arches so that less pressure acts on any one point. Orienting the arch downwards will increase the egg's survival.

The Challenge: On August 22, 1994, David Donoghue threw an egg out of a helicopter onto a golf course in the UK, from a height of 213 meters (700 feet). He now has the record for the longest egg drop without breaking in the world (all without an outside structure for added protection!).

Teacher Tip: You can relate the activity to the challenge NASA scientists had in building a lander for the Mars Exploration Rover. Physically, it had to withstand both the heat of entry into the Martian atmosphere and the impact of landing. Strategically, they also had to figure out a way that the rover could right itself no matter how it landed. Students love to see how the structure they've built often resembles the one conceived by NASA scientists.

Demonstrate curiosity and show inventiveness.

Brainstorm in a team to generate ideas.

Use problem-solving strategies in building simple structures.

Per Class: large plastic sheet/tarp/vinyl tablecloth ladder (optional)

Per Group of 2–3 students: 1 extra-large egg 1 bag of materials (may include cardboard cup, string, tape, balloons, straws, etc.) 2 sheets of scrap paper and 2 pencils

Key Questions

• What was successful/unsuccessful in your design?
• What makes an egg a good ‘subject’ for the drop experiments?

Preparation:

• Scout out accessible locations around the school for the egg drop at different heights.
• Make enough bags of materials for student groups.

Exploration:

• Challenge the students (in teams of 2–3) to build a structure in 40 minutes that will prevent an egg from breaking when dropped from a high place. Brainstorm ways to increase the likelihood of safely landing their eggs.
• Each group gets a bag of materials, 2 pencils, and 2 sheets of scrap paper.
• The students cannot assemble anything for the first 10 minutes. This time is to be used to brainstorm and to draw a mockup of their structure on the scrap paper provided.
• When the 10 minutes is up, circulate around the class to ensure that the students have thoughtfully mocked up their landers.
• Place the eggs in individual egg holders and hand out to the teams. Remind students that they cannot use the egg holder as part of their design.
• Drop the eggs from a launch point into the drop zone, which is protected by a plastic sheet, ensuring that each lander is dropped from the same distance.
• Once dropped, the students check out the egg to see if it has broken or if there are any cracks.
• The team whose egg survives the highest drop wins.

Teacher tips 

• The teacher should be the one to launch the eggs to ensure fairness and to reduce the risk of injury (if dropping from a high distance).
• Many of the supplies in this activity can be collected and reused!
• How would you modify your design to make it better? Present your revised mock-up to the class.
• Assign prices to each craft item and give students a budget. Students come to the “store” with their designs and the teacher hands out the materials they’ve requested.
• Show the students the Mars Exploration Rover landing video .

About the sticker

Artist: Jeff Kulak

Jeff is a senior graphic designer at Science World. His illustration work has been published in the Walrus, The National Post, Reader’s Digest and Chickadee Magazine. He loves to make music, ride bikes, and spend time in the forest.

Comet Crisp

T-Rex and Baby

Artist: Michelle Yong

Michelle is a designer with a focus on creating joyful digital experiences! She enjoys exploring the potential forms that an idea can express itself in and helping then take shape.

Buddy the T-Rex

Science Buddies

Artist: Ty Dale

From Canada, Ty was born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1993. From his chaotic workspace he draws in several different illustrative styles with thick outlines, bold colours and quirky-child like drawings. Ty distils the world around him into its basic geometry, prompting us to look at the mundane in a different way.

Western Dinosaur

Time-Travel T-Rex

Related Resources

Parachute design and drop, in this make and take, students exploit the force of drag to make a parachute that will drop as slowly…, eggstraordinary eggsperiments, there are many easy and fun experiments that can be done with eggs, encompassing a number of different scientific principles., gum-drop structures, in this activity, students create delectable models of building structures with gumdrops and toothpicks, and examine their strength and…, discovering a way for people to take flight is undoubtedly one of the most awe-inspiring feats of human ingenuity…, lunatic landers, in this twist on the classic egg drop activity, students are assigned the task of designing a personed spacecraft to land…, building and testing earthquake-proof structures, in this activity, students try to build structures that will withstand a richter 8 shaking. materials may be used alone or…, related school offerings.

Tinkering Space: The WorkSafeBC Gallery (Grades K-12)

Eureka! Gallery (Grades K-12)

We believe that now, more than ever, the world needs people who care about science. help us fund the future and next generation of problem solvers, wonder seekers, world changers and nerds..

Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago

Providing unique experiences designed to spark scientific inquiry and creativity since 1933.

Museum hours Open today from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Museum hours Open tomorrow from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

5700 s. dusable lake shore drive chicago, il 60637.

Plan a visit

Science at Home

Keep learning in place and at your pace with science activities and topics you can access anytime.

• Subscribe to Science at Home

Get your payload safely to the surface! Design and build a lander that protects a raw egg that’s dropped from up high.

• Raw egg, or other payload that needs protecting
• Container, like a cardboard tube, cup, box, etc.
• External protection materials, like balloons, rubber bands, craft sticks, straws, etc.
• Internal padding, like fabric, packing materials, paper, etc. 
• Pen or pencil

Design a landing craft that protects your egg passenger when it's dropped from up high. Use the engineering design cycle for this experiment: design your landing craft, test it to see if it works, change your design to make it better, and re-test to get new results. 

• Collect your materials. You’ll need a container, some internal padding and external protection to safely land your craft. There's no "right" set of materials, so be creative and try lots of things to see what works best!
• Draw your design ideas on paper. What does your lander look like? What materials will you use? Try using just one container, one type of internal padding and one type of external padding at first.
• Build your landing device and put your egg inside. Test it out by dropping your device from up high. If the egg doesn’t crack, your design is a success! If the egg cracks, make changes to your design and re-test it.

What's happening?

Gravity is a force of attraction — it pulls on a mass, which is how much “stuff” something is made of. Earth’s gravity pulls on you and keeps you on the ground; it also holds the atmosphere and the moon in place. When you drop your landing craft, gravity pulls it to the ground.

The internal padding that surrounds your egg cushions the payload inside the container, like airbags in a car that protect passengers in an accident. The external protection on the outside of the container protects the egg by absorbing the impact felt when the landing craft hits the ground.

For a little less mess, use a hard-boiled egg (you’ll still see the cracks). You can also cover the landing surface with a garbage bag, or put the raw egg in a sealed plastic bag before putting it in the landing craft.

Once you’re successful, try dropping the egg from a higher height or increasing your payload to two eggs. Try landing your craft on different types of surfaces like grass, pavement or water. How does the surface affect your landing? How might this change your vehicle design?

Have a friendly competition: who can get their egg to the surface the fastest? The slowest? From the farthest distance? With the fewest bounces?

Recommended reading

Aerospace Engineering and the Principles of Flight by Anne Rooney

Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty