STEAM Program
This year sees a new elective available at St Mary’s! The STEAM program combines themes of science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics. Students are beginning the year by learning the skills required in STEAM, as well as exploring the design process. Year 9 student Ruth Reilly wrote the following recount about the safe arrival of their eggstronauts! ...
Have you ever wondered if you could drop an egg from a high place without it breaking? That’s exactly what we set out to do in our STEAM class with the Egg Drop Challenge! This fun and messy experiment tested our creativity, engineering skills, and knowledge of physics.
Hi,my name is Ruth Reilly and I’m a year 9 STEAM student. I participated in this challenge with my two peers, Olivia and Daphne. The criteria was simple. We had to make an egg lander that was no more than 20 cm in height and width, had to weigh less than 100 grams (not including egg) and most importantly, use original and innovative ideas to structure a finished and successful prototype.
For this investigation, we used more lightweight yet protective materials to keep our eggstronaut safe. This included: masking tape, plastic straws (thin), popsicle sticks, cellophane, cups, egg cartons, hot glue, cardboard, foam, bubble wrap, rubbish bin liners, cotton balls, string and others that I can’t remember because I don't have an eggcellent memory.
Week 1: Alongside my team members, we brainstormed the first prototype design. We started off with only a cup, an egg carton holder, cotton balls, tape and a cellophane parachute. This…did not end too well for Eggy. When testing out the prototype, we realised that the cellophane was too fragile and easily rippable. The parachute was too small to generate enough air resistance, causing the base to descend rapidly. Although Eggy survived, we realized there were ways to improve and modify our design by increasing air resistance, slowing the descent, and ensuring a softer, safer landing.
Week 2: A new week and we were shining with excitement. Olivia and Daphne were throwing ideas faster than a Formula 1 car eggceleration. Among the myriad of innovative and unconventional design propositions, one particular concept emerged as the unequivocal pinnacle of aerodynamic ingenuity—an eggcellent feat of engineering brilliance. We decided to base our current design off a paraglider. We ditched our harness pack and began drawing new blueprints. Instead of a square cut parachute, we elongated and narrowed our design, drawing inspiration from our reference, the glider, which allowed it to capture more air resistance and effectively reduce the rate of descent. Next, we designed bumpers to mitigate the impact force and protect the egg upon landing. Cars have a crumple zone at the front of their hood. This makes head-on crashes have less impact on its passengers as the bumpers have a layer of material that will crumple and absorb the energy from the collision. After a few tests with a ping pong ball and other materials, it was time…for Eggy…to fly.We watched as other groups went. All successful in landing their eggs safely. The pressure was heating up like fried omelettes. It was now our turn to drop. Me and Olivia walked up the stairway as Daphne stayed down below to check the egg. We get to the top…8 metres off the ground…1…2…3 and LAUNCH! There Eggy went…slow. Daphne runs to open our lander and check our eggstronaut…HE’S ALIVE! Eggy had survived the fall as our parachute and bumpers had worked perfectly in sync to create a soft and safe landing for its passenger. As all landers succeeded, we had finally finished our final prototype. May Eggy have a safe exploration.
This Egg Drop Challenge was a fun and hands-on way to learn about physics, engineering, and problem-solving, proving that even a simple egg can teach us valuable STEAM lessons! Thank you!
Rebecca Scollen
Domain Leader - Science