EGG SQUASH

This is one of my most succesful Investigations/puzzles/problem solving tasks I produced and used over many years

The main aim is to protect a raw egg. Specif materials are given to "teams" they can use them abuse them, cut, rip, chew or even ignore them, but for FAIRNESS every team has the SAME materials.
This encourages Independent work, team work, prblem solving. It works well with motion studies: air bags, crumple zones etc.

The egg with it's protection is placed (by the students) onto the platform...The tricky news..you need to build a simple platform out of 2 bits of wood and 3 dowel rods..pretty easy really, mine has lasted 20 years but shows it.
The creation is placed on the base, you gently lower the top wooden board on top (sandwich like) and begin to drop a mass (I used a 2kg mass) from higher & higher..until the egg is "SQuashed" you must be able to see/feel the egg after each drop.

Over the years I have had spectacular successes & failures...lots of news paper on floor is useful.
Best ever result a 2kg drop from over 2.5m and the egg survived!..the crumple zone produced was superb.


Ideas the students had..air bag (balloon above egg/ below egg, egg INSIDE balloon and pumped up...great fun!
tubes made from paper/card, padding from ,aterials, hammocks using string etc etc

I spent the first lesson or 2 letting the students just make anything..next lesson...TESTED one by one infront of the class..then if you wish discuss the "Winner" & why?...then repeat expt if you wish for the next couple of lessons.

Before hand I usually did the "squash the egg with yiour hand" (in a clear plastic bag) yes I know you know they are strong but have you actually got the students to do it? got other staff..big bloke staff..crying because they can't...NO rings or fingernails just grip...then after they have tried and failed just drop iton the table to prove it is an egg!