Remember science in middle school when students were asked to take an egg, preferably not hard boiled, and place it into a shoebox lined with soft materials and tested their designs to see if the egg would remain safe even when dropping them from school windows into the parking lot. Well suppose after learning about Physics concepts of Impulse, Impact and Change in Momentum, high school students were given 50 straws, three meters of masking tape, a pair of scissors, a raw egg and one class period (less than an hour) to make an "egg-ceptional" design to encase an egg and protect it from breaking after a three story fall on to a concrete sidewalk. It's not the fall but the sudden stop at the end that scrambles the contents. This isn't your middle school egg drop project anymore!

Students from Emmett O'Brien's Physics classes were challenged to do just that! Their instructor, Mr. Diachenko, set the bar high, "egg-pecting" an 80% success rate. "We discussed how design changes in automobiles, such as crumple zones, collapsing steering columns, seat belts, air bags and changes in highway designs with safety barrels and breakaway guardrails, improved the survival rate of passengers involved in an accident. The concept that if the time (cushion) was increased, the impact would be reduced," he said. The students were challenged to do the same, with minimal supplies. No paper or box parts or any other materials were allowed! It was a hands on project that put theory into action.