Egg Drop Project

Overview Of Lesson:

Description Of
Learners:

Learning objectives:

As an introduction to gravity, students will use their creativity and experiment with
science.
About 15 students each 6th-8th grade who are each paired with a college mentor; know
that gravity makes things fall, but do not know much about gravity or physics overall.
Environment: Open field with lots of space, tall parking garage
After doing the project, students should be able to explain acceleration, impact, and
speed and why it connects to gravity, in relation to the egg drop project as well as the
real world.
*Students will be able to identify gravity as a force and explain to their mentor how it
is a force.
*Students will be able to identify that speed affects impact and be able to examine this
by evaluating their egg after the drop.
*Students will be able to identify that impact is what causes the egg to break and they
will be able to explain to their mentor why their egg did or did not break.

Standards:

Required Materials:

Eggs, Plastic bags, Peanut butter, bubble wrap, paper, paper towel, packing peanuts,
feathers, popsicle sticks and glue, straws, Styrofoam cups, balloons,, and cotton.

Assessment:
References/Reference
Material:
Websites Used:

6.2.2 Recognize that gravity is a force that keeps celestial bodies in regular
and predictable motion, holds objects to earths surface and is responsible for
tides.

http://www.doe.in.gov/standards/science

Procedures:

7.1.5 Describe and investigate how forces between objectssuch as

magnetic, electrical or gravitational forcescan act at a distance or by means
of direct contact between objects.

Begin by showing video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeNBef3IQEI)

which explains experiment. (~5 min)
Let each student and their mentor brainstorm ideas on how they want to go
about the project. (~5 min)
Start building- Memorial Mall grass (~20 min)
Assess themselves by dropping egg creation off of the McCutcheon Parking
Garage Second floor (~10 min)
After the egg drop each student will discuss with his or her mentor what he or
she learned, and ask any questions that he or she might still have. (~5 min)
Egg dropping (if it breaks or doesnt break)
an open ended discussion about how acceleration, impact, and speed connects
to gravity and the egg drop project or real world.

See below:

http://eggdropproject.org/
http://weirdsciencekids.com/EggDropExperiment.html

Journals
1. Nikirk, M. (2012). Teaching STEM to Millennial Students. Tech Directions, 71(7), 13-15.
Summary: In this article Martin Nikirk describes some of the best methods to teach millennial students. He suggests
using graphics at the beginning of the lesson so that the students have a visual representation of what they are about
to explore and learn. Among the other strategies that Nikirk suggests is using teamwork to help the students
achieve something greater than they could individually.
In our lesson we started with videos which give a visual representation of the material, which follows Nikirks
first strategy in his article. We also employ the mentors and allow them to work with the students in order to help
the students create something effective of which they can be proud.
2. Degenhart, S., Wingenbach, G., & Dooley, K. (2007). Middle school students attitudes toward pursuing careers
in science, technology, engineering, and math. NACTA Journal.
Summary: The professors at Texas A&M University discuss the attitudes of students towards seeking a career in a
STEM field. The participants who were studied were paired with National Science Foundation (NSF) fellows for
one year. The findings pointed towards students having an increase in confidence of their ability to have a career in
a STEM discipline. Interactions with their NSF fellow are the reason behind the increase in confidence.
Since we are working with College Mentors For Kids, the findings from this study showed that it is crucial to
have the students and the mentors interacting and working together. These interactions will also hopefully help the
students want to continue to learn STEM related subjects.