Which padding keeps a dropped egg from cracking?
- 🧍 Drop from standing: never climb
- 🧼 Wash your hands after
- 🚫 Test food is not for eating
- 🧽 A bit messy
My hypothesis
If I change the padding packed around the egg, then how many drops the egg comes through without a crack will ______, because ______.
You fill in the blanks. Think about how quickly the egg has to stop when the cup hits the floor, and what each padding does in that moment. A guess is a good because: the test finds out.
Change, measure, keep the same
CHANGE
the padding packed around the egg: Crumpled paper, Cotton balls, Bubble wrap
MEASURE
how many drops the egg comes through without a crack, in drops
KEEP THE SAME
- the same size of cup, with a second cup taped on as a lid
- the same amount of padding, packed full
- dropping from the same 1 m mark onto the same hard floor
Scientists call the thing you change the independent variable and the thing you measure the dependent variable. The things you keep the same are the controls: if one of them changed too, you wouldn't know which change made the difference. Try each of the 3 levels 3 times.
What you need
- Eggs: a dozen raw eggs
- Plastic bags: zip bags, one for each egg
- Paper cups: 6, the same size
- Paper: 4 sheets, crumpled
- Cotton balls
- Bubble wrap
- Masking tape, to mark lines
- A sponge or cloth, for wiping up
- 🩹 Tape
Steps
- Put each raw egg in its own zip bag, pressed flat round it, so a crack stays tidy.
- Fill the bottom of three cups with padding: crumpled paper, cotton balls or bubble wrap.
- Nestle a bagged egg in each, pack the same padding all round it, and tape a cup on top as a lid.
- Put a masking tape mark on the wall 1 m above a hard floor.
- Stand on the floor and drop the crumpled paper cup from the mark. Never climb on anything.
- Peel back the lid and check the egg: if it's whole, close it and drop it again.
- Write down how many drops it came through whole, and stop at 10 if it never cracks.
- Do the same with the cotton ball cup and the bubble wrap cup.
- Do the whole test two more times, with a new egg wherever one cracked.
- Wash your hands after touching raw egg, and throw the dropped eggs away.
- Find the mean for each padding and draw a bar graph.
Every step is one you can do yourself, with a grown-up nearby. Write each number down straight away, in the table below, so nothing is lost.
Your results table
Name ______________________ Fair day ____________
Question: Which padding keeps a dropped egg from cracking?
I changed: Padding I measured: how many drops the egg comes through without a crack (drops)
| Padding | Try 1 (drops) | Try 2 (drops) | Try 3 (drops) | Mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crumpled paper | ||||
| Cotton balls | ||||
| Bubble wrap |
MY GRAPH (a bar graph: padding along the bottom, drops up the side)
What I noticed: ______________________________________________
From 4th grade, add the tries for each level and divide by how many there were: that's the mean, and it goes in the last column. Then draw a bar graph, one bar for each thing you tried.
Name ______________________ Fair day ____________
Question: Which padding keeps a dropped egg from cracking?
If I change the padding packed around the egg, then how many drops the egg comes through without a crack will ________________, because _____________________________________________
| I CHANGE | I MEASURE | I KEEP THE SAME |
|---|---|---|
| Padding: Crumpled paper, Cotton balls, Bubble wrap | how many drops the egg comes through without a crack (drops) |
|
What I think will happen, in my own words:
Name ______________________ Fair day ____________
Question: Which padding keeps a dropped egg from cracking?
| Date | What I did | What I saw | What I think |
|---|---|---|---|
Name ______________________ Fair day ____________
Question: Which padding keeps a dropped egg from cracking?
| Date | What I did | What I saw | What I think |
|---|---|---|---|
Name ______________________ Fair day ____________
Question: Which padding keeps a dropped egg from cracking?
| Date | What I did | What I saw | What I think |
|---|---|---|---|
Name ______________________ Fair day ____________
Question: Which padding keeps a dropped egg from cracking?
My hypothesis was ☐ right ☐ partly right ☐ not right.
I know because my numbers show:
What surprised me, or what might have gone wrong (7th and up):
Next time I would test:
Idea: Change a second thing: test each padding packed loosely and packed tight, and draw a bar for all six.
Why it works
A falling egg speeds up, and stopping all at once is what cracks it. Padding squashes as the cup lands, so the egg slows down over a longer moment and the push on its shell is smaller. Padding with lots of air trapped in it, that squashes and springs back, usually protects best.
Going further (7th and up): Change a second thing: test each padding packed loosely and packed tight, and draw a bar for all six.
Board layout
- ❓ Question (10 × 8 in): Which padding keeps a dropped egg from cracking?
- 💭 Hypothesis (10 × 9 in): If I change the padding packed around the egg, then how many drops the egg comes through without a crack will ______, because ______.
- 🧺 Materials (10 × 12 in): 8 things: see your list.
- 🪜 Steps (22 × 9 in): 11 steps, three tries at each level.
- 📊 Results (22 × 16 in): Your table (Padding down the side, tries across) and your bar graph.
- ✅ Conclusion (10 × 14 in): My hypothesis was right / partly right / not right. I know because…
Materials to list: Eggs; Plastic bags; Paper cups; Paper; Cotton balls; Bubble wrap; Masking tape, to mark lines; A sponge or cloth, for wiping up.
Bring photos or drawings of your test. Nothing wet, hot, powered or alive on the table.
This project at your grade
| 1st–3rd grade | Tries: three at each level (one is fine at a first fair). The table: levels and tries, numbers or pictures. The graph: a picture, or a simple bar graph. The conclusion: what happened, in their words. |
|---|---|
| 4th–6th grade | Tries: three at each level. The table: units in the header and a mean column. The graph: a bar graph, or a line for a number that grows. The conclusion: right, partly or not, and the numbers that show it. |
| 7th grade and up | Tries: three or more at each level. The table: a mean for every level of both tests. The graph: a graph with two lines or two sets of bars. The conclusion: the numbers, what might have gone wrong, and a next question. Second variable: test each padding packed loosely and packed tight, and draw a bar for all six. |
From 4th grade up, the table gets a mean column. See every project for 3rd grade, or print a blank results table.
What a judge will ask
- What did you change, and what did you measure? I changed the padding packed around the egg and measured how many drops the egg comes through without a crack, in drops.
- What did you keep the same, and why does that matter? I kept the same size of cup, with a second cup taped on as a lid and the same amount of padding, packed full the same, so the only difference was the padding packed around the egg.
- How many times did you test it? 3 times at each of my 3 levels.
- If you did it again, what would you change or test next? I'd test each padding packed loosely and packed tight, and draw a bar for all six.
Make it yours
Keep this project on this device and Peabody counts down to your fair day, with a plan for each day. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Try next
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🔨 From the Workshop: this project grows from a Workshop build, with picture steps of its own.
👨👩👧 For grown-ups and teachers: how much to help, the safety rules, and running a school fair. Science fair v0.16.1 · Checked .