Thornapple Kellogg — Thornapple Kellogg High School physics students buzzed with “egg-citment” as they prepared to face off against one another and staff members for the annual egg drop.
Teacher Alex Robinson said students participate in the lab every year, but this year they recruited teams from the district’s central office, technology department and student services to test their engineering skills.
Each group of students and staff were tasked to hatch a plan for building a carrier, which could hold an egg, protect it while falling from various heights, and utilize momentum and force concepts.
“The egg and the device must hit the ground together, so it can’t ‘land’ on a conveniently placed pillow,” Robinson instructed his students. “Also, I will be doing the dropping, and I will drop them any way I want.”
Participants were not “yoking” around with their designs, and the competition was steep. One of the staff members played the song “We Are the Champions” on their phone before the competition even started.
Before dropping the devices off the lifted platform, Robinson and fellow teacher Julia Curtis weighed and assessed each group’s device to make sure it didn’t use any illegal materials such as food, putties, sand, lunch boxes or animals — alive or dead.
“Every year we have to ban a new material that allows the device to work too well,” Robinson explained.
The Drop
There were six testing levels at varying heights starting at 10 feet. Additional points were awarded for each successful drop past the first level. Some eggs did not survive their landing, but several groups’ devices succeeded in protecting their eggs.
Sophomore Emerson Pratt’s group used paper, plastic straws and plastic bags to protect their egg, and said they were “kind of shocked” that it survived.
Another group identified the keys to egg survival when building their devices.
“Styrofoam, wrap it up a lot and a bunch of padding to support the egg,” sophomore Brody Biermaker said. “Most breakable things are wrapped in padding, so I thought maybe it could work.”
For the second, third and fourth drop, Robinson raised the platform higher and ended up almost to the ceiling, about 20 feet high. After the final test, shells and eggs splattered after being spiked to the ground.
The Swing
The final two surviving teams brought their egg carriers outside to test their strength against English teacher Cary Saxton and her baseball bat.
Students Lucas Eggers and Maguire Simmons faced off against the tech team’s egg carrier, named the S.S. Chassie, made of plastic foam and cardboard and designed by senior Kenzie Jarvie, technology student assistant.
“It was all her,” technology Director Angie Ruger said. “We got her the materials and she designed the whole thing.”
Both team’s carriers proved to be no match for Saxton’s “egg-cellent” swing and neither egg survived.
The central office team reflected on how they could have improved their carrier design, after getting disqualified in the first round.
“As a team, we could have not put the whole thing on Megan (Wonders, director of curriculum, instruction and assessment),” Assistant Superintendent Mark Provost said. “I’ve got some ideas for next year. We’re going to bring the heat.”
Read more from Thornapple Kellogg:
• Wonder Walks explore nature around school
•‘If they like being at school, they’re going to learn more’
