science class

Today we talked about engineering, about forces in motion, acceleration, deceleration, gravity and outer space. Both kids worked together on the proverbial "egg drop project."

Their task was to create some sort of contraption that would cradle and protect an egg if we dropped it from the roof of our house. (And no - we didn't actually climb up there, but we did use a ladder that is higher than our house.)


The first device was a joint venture - a capsule with short straws for landing gear, and a foam frisbee landing pad. It did manage to survive the biggest drop - six steps up the ladder, and my hand stretched up past the roof. But when we moved the fail-safe landing pad - the whole thing smashed to bits - including the egg.

The next two attempts were more challenging - no landing pad was allowed and each kid had to work alone.

Prototype #2 was Kooka's invention: pipe cleaners and a parachute, with long jointed straws as landing gear. Her engineering skills were quite good, and she even had detailed flight instructions for how it was to be dropped. She was thrilled - but not at all surprised when her egg made it safely from even the highest step.

Punk was next. He chose to do a little research in his space book, and based his creation on a space rover. He also added some straw tubes on top - something to do with "air flow." He made it to the 2nd drop - 4th step on the ladder, before his entire invention exploded - yet miraculously - his egg stayed intact. He decided not to press his luck and conceded defeat to his little sister.

Needless to say, I did not have a go. I really like watching things smash open - and have a hunch, I would have sabotaged my own project.