Great Egg Drop

January 31, 2010 by
Filed under: Problem-Solving 

A purposeful problem-solving team activity that comes with a thrilling climax

At A Glance

Groups are provided with identical resources to build a ‘vehicle’ for an egg to travel from a tall height to the ground, hoping that it will prevent the egg from breaking upon impact.

What You Need

  • One egg (not hard-boiled) per team
  • 20 plastic straws per team
  • 1 metre (3-4’) of masking tape per team
  • Paper and pens (optional)
  • A large plastic sheet
  • 1 -2 hours

What To Do

Like many group activities, you are encouraged to really ham the presentation of this exercise to the max! Develop whatever scenario you care to think of, but be committed and make it fun.

For example, introduce yourself as a famous astro-physicist, and explain that you are seeking the best way for humans to land onto the surface of Mars. You plan to divide your group into competing teams of engineers, who will be charged with the responsibility of building a space-craft that will not only transport humans safely to Mars, but more importantly, help them land in one piece. Whatever…you are now ready to present the task.

Each ‘team’ will be given identical resources – an egg, a set of straws, and a short strip of masking tape. The challenge is to build the strongest vehicle for an egg to safely travel a distance of 3 metres (10’). Why? Because, this is a prototype of the very spacecraft that will carry humans to Mars, of course! However, the distance will be gravity-fed, i.e., it will be dropped from a height, and land with a thud on the ground (that’s why you need the plastic sheet – it’s a landing platform).

Announce that each team’s vehicle will be judged on engineering quality, efficiency of resource use, aesthetics, and naturally, on the survival of the egg. Feel free to add other forms of criteria too. Once all of the questions have been answered, and you have distributed the materials, declare that their time has begun. Allow at least 45 minutes for each team to prepare their craft.

Finally, the program reaches a huge climax when each team returns and, under a veil of secrecy, submits their vehicle for testing. Leading with shouts of “10, 9, 8, 7…” and so on, you drop each vehicle from a height – one at a time (standing on a table works pretty well) –  and await the results.

Typically, the egg will erupt with a fit of yellow and white splatter. Even a tiny flow of yolk will be sufficient for the crowd to go wild. Sunny-side up, anyone?

Variations

  • Add a variety of materials to those above, such as balloons, rubber bands, cotton wool, etc.
  • Ask each group, as part of their overall objective, to prepare a short presentation to accompany the launch of their ‘vehicle.’ Paper and pens can be used to design a ‘marketing campaign.’ Points are further awarded for creativity, originality and believability of their spiel.

Taken from ‘Count Me In: Large Group Activities That Work’

If you know of a cool variation to this activity, please add a comment…

Tags: , , , ,

Comments

2 Comments on Great Egg Drop

  • chels on Sun, 5th Sep 2010 9:22 pm

hee hee….love this activity, at a team building event i was at that ran this activity, half way through building the craft, the “government” came around and told us that we were no longer allowed to use anything that was the colour pink, and took away our balloons and some straws. we virtually had to dismantle the whole thing and start again…. added some pressure to the whole situation and made it really interesting.

… that’s a great idea Allan. I’ve done something similar, for example, where I indicated that points would be awarded for the most efficient use of resources. That is, the “government/boss/NASA, etc” would look favourably upon those vehicle that used the least amount of materials – however not at the expenses of a working craft!

Hi, please share something of value to others here...





  • Who am I?

    I love to lead ice-breakers, group games and team-building

    Hi, I'm Mark Collard.

    This blog shares some of the most successful group games, team-building activities & programming tips I know.

    --| FREE ACTIVITY eBOOK |--

    ice-breakers, group games and team-building

    Enter your name and email address in the form below to receive a FREE 30 page ebook which features ten of the BEST ice-breakers & group games I know!

    Email Address
    First Name
    Confirm Email
    Where Did You
    Hear About
    This eBook?













    Share: Tell others about this site...




    @markcollard