5. The Great Egg Drop Challenge

5 The Great Egg Drop Challenge There was a table on the other side of the roof with a bunch of junk on it: pieces of cloth, bubble wrap, feathers, string, straws, tape, cotton balls, rubber bands, toilet paper tubes, plastic bags, Popsicle sticks, cardboard boxes, some Styrofoam, and a big box of Honey Sugar Bongos. Oh, and there were also two cartons of

eggs. That was weird. "Why is all this stuff up here?" asked Ryan. "We're going to do a science project," said the Snowman. "I call it The Great Egg Drop Challenge." "We're going to eat egg drop soup?" Ryan asked. "Yum!" "No," said the Snowman. "We're going to drop eggs off the roof!" He was rubbing his hands together again, a sure sign that he's crazy. "Why is dropping eggs off the roof a science project?" asked Andrea. "Well," said the Snowman, "if you drop an egg off the roof onto the sidewalk below, what do you think will happen?" "The egg will break," we all replied. Duh! "Right!" said the Snowman. "The sidewalk is much harder than the egg's shell. So we need to think of a way to

prevent the egg from breaking at the end of its fall." "How can we do that?" asked Alexia. "There are lots of ways," said the Snowman. "Each of you is going to design a package using the things on this table to protect your egg from a fall. We'll record the results. Then we'll discuss which packages worked, which ones didn't, and why. That way you'll learn about gravity, velocity, inertia, and acceleration." I didn't know what any of that stuff

meant. But it didn't matter, because throwing anything off a roof is cool. We all got to work figuring out ways to protect our eggs. Emily wrapped a bunch of rubber bands around her egg. "When my egg hits the sidewalk, it will bounce," she said, "but it won't break." Ryan put his egg in a little cardboard box and filled the box with feathers. "The feathers will cushion my egg," he said, "so it won't break when it hits the sidewalk." Michael put his egg inside a plastic bag and surrounded the egg with foam peanuts. "My egg will move inside the bag when it hits the sidewalk," he said, "but not enough to hit the hard surface and break." Andrea made a little parachute out of some cloth and string. Then she put her egg in a basket that hung below the parachute. "If I can make my egg fall more slowly," she

said, "it won't crack when it hits the ground." Neil wrapped his egg in bubble wrap and cotton balls. Alexia put her egg inside a piece of Styrofoam and taped it shut. I put my egg inside the box of Honey Sugar Bongos. That's my favorite cereal. The cereal has so much sugar on it, you might as well pour sugar right from a sugar bowl into your mouth. "You all have such good ideas!" said the Snowman. "I can see how some of you could become great scientists someday." "Is there a prize for the student whose egg doesn't break?" asked Little Miss I-Always-Want-to-Win-Something.

"Yes," said the Snowman. "You get to bring your egg home with you." "What if all the eggs break?" asked Emily. "Then lunch will be scrambled eggs today," said the Snowman. "Are you ready?" "Ready!" we all shouted. "Ten... nine... eight..." The Snowman started counting down. "You're going to learn about Newton's First and Second Laws...."