An Egg-Citing Project!

Week 4 of the Connect: Engineering program

How are we already at week 4? This week was jam packed with a big activity – an egg drop challenge! While the activity took lots of engineering and brain power, the kids had a ton of fun designing their “egg nest.”

Instead of doing a warm up activity, we went straight into the egg drop challenge, so the kids had enough time to engineer their craft. Right from the beginning, the kids knew exactly how they wanted to structure their nest, so no time was wasted! The nest needed to be able to fit a whole uncooked egg, and survive a drop of about 15ft, without any cracks or damage – so it was definitely a more challenging task!

We gave the kids a variety of supplies to create their "egg nest,” which included sponges, cotton balls, paper plates, tape, paper straws, elastics, and pipe cleaners. They were also given an option of adding a parachute to their nest if they chose. While we were working hard to get the nests done, we snacked on some oranges and goldfish crackers, and chatted away about the best way to eat eggs, Japanese Anime, and some pretty funny knock-knock jokes. Nonetheless, all the kids were so focused on getting their nest done and perfected, that the conversation level was a bit lower.

In the end, everyone's nest looked extremely different. Some kids put sponges in between the plates to hold the egg, and others triple layered cotton balls and sponges onto the plates around the egg. The most exciting part was when the kids got to drop the eggs themselves, and then check out the damage. 

All in all, I had such a blast with the kids this week, and I’m super excited for next week’s challenge, which is popsicle stick catapults!

October 18th, 2022

-Amy, BigsNBC Program Coordinator