Egg Drop Experiments

An egg drop experiment is a classic science activity that kids love. There are many ways to set up an egg drop experiment. Read on to see my suggestions plus a list of how others set theirs up.

The overall goal of an egg drop experiment is to drop an egg from a predetermined height and hope it doesn’t break. The egg is placed in or attached to something to help it make it to the ground safely. You could wrap the egg with something, place it inside a container, or attach helicopters, parachutes, or rockets to it. Several middle school and high school Science Olympiad events have involved some sort of egg drop. Many science classes issue an egg drop challenge each year. You can try it with your kids, too!

How to Set Up the Egg Drop Experiment

Involve your child in the design process. Decide what you will be changing in your experiment. Will you be testing different designs or materials? Will you be changing the drop height?

Talk about eggs. What happens when you drop an egg? It breaks. Can you drop an egg without it breaking?

**Wash your hands after dealing with eggs. Some eggs have Salmonella bacteria on or in them.**

Here are 4 main ways {they could also be combined}:

Wrap the egg in one or more materials.
Place the egg in a protective container.
Attach something to the egg to slow down the decent {parachute, helicopter, balloon, etc.}.
Place material on the ground to cushion the fall.

Can you think of any other ways?

Our Egg Drop Experiment

We chose to test materials that will cushion the fall of the egg. I talked to Aiden about what materials he thought might work. We settled on bubble wrap, a towel, and a pile of grass. To compare, we also dropped the egg into a plastic container.

We dropped our eggs from 3 different heights: 2 feet, 5 feet, and 10 feet. We recorded our results in a data table.

Aiden was trying to break the eggs. He dropped the egg first onto a pile of grass from 2 feet up. He was upset it didn’t break. The egg also did not break from 5 feet or 10 feet when dropped onto the pile of grass. Our ground was really soft, so I wasn’t sure the egg would break with any soft material on top of it. I had Aiden drop the egg into a plastic container {a hard surface} to compare. Then, we placed the other materials on top of the plastic container.

The egg didn’t break when dropped onto the towel from any of the 3 heights.

The egg survived being dropped from 2 feet onto the bubble wrap. When dropped from 5 feet onto the bubble wrap, the egg bounced and then hit the top of the container. This broke the egg. The same thing happened when we dropped the egg from 10 feet – bounced, hit the top, and broke. I think the eggs would have survived had they not hit the container. It was interesting how high the eggs bounced when dropped onto the bubble wrap.

What materials would you use to cushion your egg’s fall?

Egg Drop Experiments from Others

There are many variations on egg drop experiments. Check out these ideas below and try some out for yourself!

Science Sparks learned about gravity and air resistance by dropping eggs in different containers – a parachute, a balloon basket, and nothing.

Planet Smarty Pants issued an engineering challenge to protect an egg when dropped from different heights. Check out all of the designs using materials from the recycling bin and see which one worked best.

Lemon Lime Adventures proposed an egg drop project in which the children were to create something (a contraption) to protect the eggs when dropped. The children journaled about what materials they would use before building their contraptions.

Life Lesson Plans set out a variety materials for an egg drop experiment and let the kids create an egg safety vehicle. They dropped their eggs and watched them break. After discussing design problems and solutions, they tried again. I love how connections were made to real life in relation to car seats, too.

No Time for Flashcards built parachutes to protect their eggs in this fun egg toss activity. Check out their materials and discussion on why the egg did or did not break each time it was dropped.

Parent Teach Play conducted their egg drop experiment in the bath tub. They tested 9 different packaging materials and recorded the results.

Buggy and Buddy participated in an egg drop challenge in which they designed containers to protect the eggs. Then, they dropped the eggs onto grass and onto concrete. (Find out if it makes a difference.) Buggy and Buddy also has a planning printable that you can download to help you plan out your designs in advance.

Have you ever done an egg drop experiment? I’d love to hear about it. Leave a link or share a picture on the Inspiration Laboratories Facebook page or tag me on Instagram.

This post was originally published on April 8, 2014.