Need help with egg project...

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Need some ideas with son's project.

He has to pack an uncooked egg in a 7"x7" box...he can pack it in anything,and even make a parachute for the box.The packaged egg will be dropped from 25 ft...the object is to keep the egg from breaking.

His idea is to pack the egg in cotton,and add a parachute to the box.

Anyone have any other suggestions? What about something to coat the egg with?

I think the idea is to be as original as possible... Just curious,not sure I'll show him any responses,as he needs to figure it out himself....but,I'd like to see any responses.

-- Johna (in central TX) (marcnjohna@aol.com), March 27, 2002

Answers

I think therer is something called Sodium Silica that you can get from a pharmacist. I remember someone telling me that you can dip an egg into and it soaks into the shell and makes it very hard. Good luck!

-- LaDena,Tx9 (littledena77458@yahoo.com), March 27, 2002.

Isn't the whole idea in coming up with aproject for our children, such as the survivable egg, is to encourage independent thought? Posting a question like this on a message board seems kinda like cheating.

-- Tis I (really_tis_i@yahoo.com), March 27, 2002.

Hi Johna, If you can get an egg from a local farmer(home raised) they have harder shellls, so do brown eggs. Place the egg in a cut down styrofoam carton (just enough to hold the egg)....Wrap this in bubble paper. Then pack in box with styrofoam peanuts. It shouldn't break Good luck Hatcheries ship eggs in the mail all the time, contact one of them

-- Barbara (vozarbi@sensible-net.com), March 27, 2002.

So cheating...cooperaive learning. The best ideas sometimes come from someone else. In that case we all cheat when we come here and share ideas. I think it is appropriate. Julie

-- julie (jbritt@ceva.net), March 27, 2002.

Seems,to me, that a mentor asking for information is different from a participant asking for information.

-- BC (desertdweller44@yahoo.com), March 27, 2002.


My son did this last year for school. He wrapped a thick piece of foam around it and wrapped it with duct tape. Passed with flying colors.

-- Pat (hiddentreasuresfarm@hotmail.com), March 27, 2002.

Hi Johna -

Every so often, I ship a dozen eggs to a friend of mine in TX. The ones I send her are what I call my "Super Jumbos". Most weigh close to 3 oz each! (my poor girls! ouch!) I pack them in a styrofoam egg carton and put pieces of bubble wrap between each egg, then because they are too big to allow the carton to be closed properly, I use 2 rubber band to hold the cover down. Then I wrap the entire carton in bubble wrap and place it in the middle of the shipping carton makng sure it is sitting inthe middle of "peanuts" (styrofoam packing material). Tape the box up and off to the PO we go. She has always gotten te eggs in good shape - only one broken one!!!!

Your son might use this same proccess - wrap the egg up in multi layers of bubble wrap (I swear by the stuff! shipped some home-made wineeeeeerrr I mean "vinegar" an jams this past December and out of 4 packages - 15 mason jars - only one jar of jam broke! :-) Then nestle it in a well packed nest of shipping peanuts.

Good luck on his project!



-- dottie - in E. Shore MD (mother-ducker@webtv.net), March 27, 2002.


In model rocketry, there is a competition called "egg lofting", where a egg is launched in a rocket and recovered. If you break the egg, you lose. The usual way the egg survives is to be wrapped in many thin layers of foam rubber until it is about 2.5" in diameter, then sealed in packing tape. Good luck with the project.

-- Paul D. (pd-personal@msn.com), March 27, 2002.

I have always thought that if I did that I would suspend the egg in jello inside of a plastic peanut butter jar. You could wrap it with bubble wrap, then put it into the jar and then pour very very thick jello over the whole thing. Trick would be to keep it cold! You know like those jello treats that you make for kids that can easily be picked up with your fingers. Thick but still squishy!

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), March 27, 2002.

The problem with any "liquid" like jello and pudding is that the egg might settle to the bottom before it gets launched.

I'm wondering how popped popcorn would work. I would wrap the egg in bubblewrap or cotton or some soft material, then loosely pack it in the midst of the popcorn. Popcorn is often suggested as a cheap substitute for the styrofoam bubbles when packing things for mailing or moving.

As for cheating, I remember many times in school when I was frustrated about not having the resources for answers to my questions on projects, while many other kids had all kinds of help from family and friends. They passed with flying colours and got kudos for "their" ideas, while those of us out in the country had to make do with what little we had. A couple of those kids had teachers for parents, and having that kind of help was not considered "cheating", so I don't see where asking for ideas here should be. Besides, parents should be more involved in the kids' projects. The trick is to guide the kid, not take take the project over. Certainly encourage your child to try to find the solution on his/her own before solving it for them. Ask the kid questions along the way, so when the teacher asks, the kid is prepared with answers.

-Chelsea

-- Chelsea (rmbehr@istar.ca), March 27, 2002.



Can you hard boil it ?? Did they say not too ?? Go with the bubble wrap. Cheating ?? I don't know about that one. I think it is great that parents are interested enought to help with school projects. I loved to help my girls with their projects and still today with the grandchildren. Let the final idea be their's though. Even if you don't think it is a good one or it won't work well. Good Luck !!! to you and the Egg !!

-- Helena (windyacs@npacc.net), March 27, 2002.

Yes,the final ideas will be his own,I do not believe in helping him cheat.I just wanted some input from others on creative ideas for this project.As I stated above,he will figure this out by himself....even if his idea isn't the greatest,it will be his idea.

Thanks for all the input....and I never would have thought of jello or popcorn!! Some of the ideas submitted are very ingenious!!!

-- Johna (in central TX) (marcnjohna@aol.com), March 27, 2002.


How about a Duck egg those have thick shells!! Have Fun Denise

-- Denise K. (Rabbitmom2@webbworks.com), March 27, 2002.

I would suggest a box within the larger box, which is how I've packaged china for shipping. First wrap the egg in, say, bubble wrap, then place in small box, which is then wrapped in more bubble wrap and placed in the 7"X7" box.

-- Elizabeth in E TX (kimprice@peoplescom.net), March 27, 2002.

Tis I, I'm with you, and I'll also go so far as to say that it is unfair for the parents to help at all (unless it is to get supplies or prevent a dangerous situation). No wonder kids aren't able to learn for themselves--even the teachers encourage parental help. So much for learning on your own....

I remember in school myself during science fairs seeing all of these really neat things and knowing that the other kids did not do them without serious help from their parents, but they got the awards. I feel that if these projects are so important, then they need to be done on school time under controlled conditions (no talking, copying, etc.), so they can be graded properly. I'd have been ashamed to take credit for something my parents actually did....

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), March 27, 2002.



I did this is high school in physics class. I have to admit that I think I had an unfair advantage in using a fresh, thick-chelled banty egg, rather than a storr-bought egg, but what I did was wrap the the egg in polyester fiberfill and then bubble wrap (small bubbles) and then masking tape. Then I placed the wrapped egg into a styrofoam cup and then topped the cup with a second cup, upside-down. Then I taped a styrofoam cup to every surface of the little "capsule", so it looked kind of like the ever lasting gobstopper in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Our teacher climbed to the top of one of the flood light towers in the football stadium (about 50' up) and dropped the thing, and the egg was fine!

What a fun project, Johna! Hope your son has as much fun with it as I did.

-- Andrea Gauland, Big Flats NY (andreagee@aol.com), March 27, 2002.


I don't think open discussion of options and ideas is cheating in any way shape or form. Do you think scientist only work with their own thoughts? They don't.

The jello idea sounds cool, make it double strength [or even triple] pour in 1/2 a jar let it setup then put in the egg and pour in some more, you could scoop out a small spoonfull of the first layer so the egg could stand up in the middle. That would be very different too.

-- Thumper/inOKC (slrldr@yahoo.com), March 28, 2002.


I Love the jello idea! The one above me is right! Scientists don't sit in a cubicle all alone! They talk, write share and study each others work an dreally all take turns building on them.

like someone else said, the trick is to guide the child to the discoveries, without realy giving them to him! Let him bounce his ideas off you. Talk back and forth to help HIM see if it is a logical solution. Throw out various ideas (absurd ones sometimes) so he can think them through to make a choiuce of which would be better.

You can also teach him to break the project down. Folks here had ideas about the eggs: which type have arder shells, does size matter, can you harden the shell? Then packing materials: Soft cotton, popcorn, bubble wrap etc. Holding it all together: tape, boxing, etc? THEN put the most logical together...

The process is more important then the final product!

-- Novina in ND (homespun@stellarnet.com), March 28, 2002.


If I confused anyone, I'm sorry. My main objection is not cooperative learning per se, it is when you take credit for someone else's idea that is wrong especially when it is supposed to be done through your own work and research.

Many kids don't have computers at home--I know some parents who don't believe in having them at home or can't afford them, or can't afford internet access. Their parents may work at night, or science may not be their forte. Contrast that with children whose parents are computer geeks or teachers or scientists, or whatever, or who have computer access. Big difference in what's going to come from each child.

We can't take away all differences (nor should we), but if the effort is tied to an individual's grade, then those "helps" should be removed where possible and minimized when not possible, otherwise you cannot grade the child fairly.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), March 28, 2002.


OK,update on the project....We sat down to get it done and I broke it down in phases.I asked questions for each phase,ie...what type of egg has a hard shell? He used and Americana(sp?) egg. For the packing he decided to wrap the egg in cotton,then bubblewrap.This he taped up.There was some room left in the box,so I asked him what do we have in the house that works like syrofoam peanuts(we didn't have any of those).He decided to use the popcorn(I have to admit I gave him a hint...I was popping some at the time).Project worked out great!!!

The principal did the egg drop,and his survived. He also was congratulated on using popcorn,no one else had ever used it.

So,thanks for the great ideas....and no,I don't think I helped him cheat.He came up with it,and did the actual project himself.

-- Johna (in central TX) (marcnjohna@aol.com), March 30, 2002.


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