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The 21st-Century Egg Drop

Seventh-graders tested the classic egg drop—but with a modern-day twist.
Those near Smith Courtyard during the morning last week may have mistaken the lawn for a NASA testing site. While there were no rocket ships being launched into space, the stakes were still lofty as our STEM class students were competing to see whose egg would survive the highest drop from a drone.

Mrs. Amanda Hayslett, Library Assistant, staffed the weigh-in station inside the library while out on the patio Mr. Chris Twombley, Network Systems Administrator, monitored the drone camera and settings. Mr. Will Glass, Librarian, controlled the drone, and the students took turns running onto the lawn to attach their egg-protected carriers to the drone for take-off.  

The egg carriers were lifted and dropped by the drone 50, 100, 150, and even 200 feet in the air to test the protection capability of the student-created cases.

“Instead of determining whether or not all the eggs will survive a drop from one fixed height—such as from a balcony—we were able to see the tallest height that each egg in its carrier could survive,” says Glass, who teaches the STEM class.

This experiment charged Glass’ students to design a carrier to protect a fragile item that would endure a steady increase of physical impacts. Students then researched the topic as well as existing contraptions in order to gain inspiration for their own designs.

“Performing research and being creative are two important aspects of problem solving that have been stressed in all of the projects undertaken by each STEM student,” Mr. Glass says.

As this was officially the first drone egg drop at GPS, Glass provided students with only necessary parameters in order to maximize their creativity for their constructed carriers. The length and width of the designed carrier could not be wider than an iPad nor weigh more than an iPad with an average-sized case (approximately one pound). In addition, materials for the protective carrier were not allowed to be purchased; instead they had to be scavenged. Most importantly, students were not allowed to directly copy a previous design.

The majority of the class constructed their box-like containers using styrofoam, cardboard, paper, tape, glue, and string. A couple of unique designs included an egg suspended by string in a sewing hoop and a box covered in balloons.

The predetermined initial height from which the drone would drop an egg carrier was nearly eight feet, but that number quickly increased as the eggs remained uncracked even at 50 and 100 feet. During the first day of testing, one student’s egg case survived 150 feet; while testing 200 feet, the wind drifted the egg carrier onto the roof of the Davenport Middle School.

“We did discuss the effects the environment could potentially have on the drone with regards to the experiment, specifically the wind and how it hastens battery drain,” Glass says. “Most of the limitations I gave the girls for constructing their boxes were due to the capabilities of the drone and the remote control device used to hold and release the carriers.”

Glass had seen the project performed before and thought it presented a great opportunity for incorporating the science component of the egg drop with the resource of the drones.

“The drone possesses of a sort of ‘cool’ factor, and being able to incorporate it into this assignment kept the girls completely engrossed and enthused throughout the entire project,” Glass says.

A video of the egg-drop testing can be viewed here.
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