Egg Drop Competition

I wanted to do something fun in class this week and also make it a team building activity. At this age, you have such a range of personalities working together. We have the bossypants, the I'll-put-my-feet-up-and-let-you-do-the-work kids, etc. I made participation and teamwork part of their grading rubric. Before we started we discussed team dynamics and the real-world application of working in teams. We introduced the word "compromise".

In the spirit of the season we did the ever-popular egg drop competition. The students brought materials from home that they thought would help make an apparatus to help protect an egg. We also watched a clip on Discovery Education of the Mythbusters and their take on this project (my kids just love those guys!).  The students made a blueprint of their plan and then set their construction into motion.  3/5 teams were successful and the others identified what they would change if they were to do it again. They used shoeboxes, sponges, bags of air; and I think most creatively--rubber bands around a wooden frame.

But most importantly, they had a lot of fun!