Objective: To build chemistry, teamwork, and creative thinking.  It is useful to ask debrief/reflection questions afterwards.  Props: 8 plastic straws for each group, 1.5 m of masking tape for each group, 1 egg for each group, 2 papers of newspapers for each group, 1 pencil and 1 blank paper for each group [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KN9T5uj8as[/embed] Step by step instructions
  1. Before explaining anything else, form groups of 4 (depending how many students there are – 3 is an ideal size, but if you have more than 30 students or so then groups of 4 are more practical).
  2. Once they are in groups of 3 or 4, tell them that these will be through groups for the activity. They can sit in their groups while you explain the following:
  • In groups the students will construct a package that will keep an egg from breaking when it falls from a few meters.
  • The student groups will all have the same materials (mentioned above).
Note:  the trick here is to give them a limited enough number of materials that it is a challenge, but not too few that they will definitely fail.
  • Groups will only be given one egg. If it breaks that group will be disqualified, and also they will be responsible for cleaning up the mess
Note: if a group does break an egg for reasons beyond their control, use your judgement to decide whether to give them a new one. This rule is mostly meant to dissuade groups from being rowdy.
  • Groups will have 15-20 minutes to construct their device. Encourage them to brainstorm ideas before beginning construction (they can use pencil and blank paper to draw the construction).
Note: You can tell them that they can build more than one construction, one that wrap the egg and the other one in the ground where the wrapped egg can fall.
  1. Once the activity has been explained, ask if there are any questions. Now distribute the materials to each group, and let them know when they can begin and how many minutes do they have (feel free to make this more dramatic with a countdown at the end).
Note: Educators should keep an eye on the groups and answer any questions, but they cannot give hints! It is also important that you don’t hover over them – to prevent this, feel free to form an educator group and participate! You’re supposed to be having fun as well! Plus it will be extra funny if the educator team’s egg breaks J
  1. Once 20 minutes have passed, ask all the groups to stop building (also give them time checks throughout the activity). Get the groups to one by one drop the eggs from a chosen height (could be outside off a balcony, or standing on a chair). Have the rest of the students sit and watch. Once all the eggs have been dropped, see which ones broke.
Note: One educator will drop the egg for all the groups.
  1. If any eggs broke, get the groups to clean up the mess.
Debrief Afterwards debrief the activity as a big group. Ask the students:
  • How did you decide on your ideas?
  • What designs worked and what didn’t?
  • Is there anything that they would do differently next time?
  • What did you learn from this activity?
  • Do you think working as a group was better than if you’d done it alone?
  • How did the time pressure affect your design?
  • How did your attitude or ideas contribute to your group?
Feel free to include any other questions that are suitable and provocative, and you don’t need to use all of the above (especially ones from the resource section of this document!) Note: If the students are hesitant to respond, let them know that there is no right or wrong answer. Try to pick different students to answer every time.