Fesler Junior High School students were put to the test in science, engineering, math, and even art on Wednesday, May 29 as they created “re-entry” pods for their raw eggs.
Students in Mark Wall’s and Hilary Hayes’ 8th-grade science classes were instructed by “NASA” to work in teams to discover a way to protect their raw egg from breaking as it was dropped from the second story of the school.
If the student’s eggs made it out unharmed, they then had their eggs dropped from the ladder of a Santa Maria Fire truck.
“I had a fun time building my little pod, the one that the egg was in,” said Annais Vega. But when asked if her egg passed the test, “yeah no, mine broke,” she said.
A paper cup, string, plastic bottle, plastic bag material, tape, glue, paper, and straws were the only resources given to students to build their devices, with paper being the only cushioning allowed for the egg drop.
Students’ “re-entry” pods were judged based off of five criteria: slow descent, minimum displacement from launch site, pod name and aesthetic qualities, teamwork, and most importantly, safety (egg could not break).
With summer right around the corner, Hayes believes the egg-drop was great for students, “to review acceleration and velocity and the physics of what’s happening with a fun activity for the end of the year,” she said.
