The Egg Drop Engineer Challenge
A timed engineering challenge where teams must quickly design and build a protective capsule using limited supplies to save a raw egg dropped from a height.
- Takes
- 45 min–1 hr
- Your setup
- 5 min prep
- Ages
- Ages 8–16
- Mess
- Some mess
- Cost
- $
- Where
- Outdoors
How to do it
- 1Present the materials and set a strict construction time limit (e.g., 20 minutes).
- 2Teams must collaborate to create a container that minimizes the force transferred to the egg upon impact.
- 3The drop test: drop the eggs from a height (e.g., second-story window, deck, or ladder).
- 4Inspect the results. Discuss which designs failed and why (focusing on material distribution and cushioning).
- 5The team with the surviving egg wins.
What they're practising
- Impact Absorption Theory
- Resource Management
- Hypothesis Testing
- Quick Decision Making