Thursday, March 24, 2011

Egg Drop- Iteration #1

Today we completed the Egg Drop Project, and our egg had a bad day.

My group achieved 17 achievements (subject to change)


Originally we planned to use saltwater in a can to act as a shock absorber. However, we were told that idea was not allowed and was far to heavy anyways. We achieved many build and brainstorm achievements:
     -Create a sketch of one possible solution. Include labels.
      -Create a sketch of another possible solution. Include labels.
       -Create a sketch of a third possible solution. Include labels.
    -Generate a list of materials required for build day.
      -Your materials fit inside a printer paper box
         -Your materials fit inside a shoe box
 -Your materials weigh less than 500 grams.
  -Your materials weigh less than 300 grams.
   -Your materials weigh less than 200 grams.
    -Your materials weigh less than 150 grams.
      -Your materials weigh less than 100 grams.

However, we didnt manage to earn so many of the drop day achievements...
-You hit the butcher paper!
-You hit inside the third ring!
-You hit inside the second ring!
 -Help set up the bullseye
  
yeah...only two...HOWEVER I managed to complete these two as well:
-Come up with a clever name for an achievement
 -Suggest a redesign for the activity

Redesign suggestion: An issue i saw was that the eggs were dropped on different surfaces. Some landed on the grass, some on the cement. I believe the activity could be bettered by making all the participants drop their eggs onto the cement. ALSO i believe that an achievement for hangtime could be added to encourage an actual parachute design, instead of simple shock-absorbing contraptions. This would make students think more about mathematics including surface area of parachute and egg "lander" weight.

Some GOOD designs (not ours!): Good designs were the ones that had rigidity but still had some movement involved, because if they were too rigid (like ours) all the concussive force would go straight to the egg and bust it. some designs allowed for a "bounce" kind of reaction at impact, like a bag filled with newspaper and an egg in the middle, also a box with an egg suspended with elastics inside. Our design did not allow for any movement, and therefore ours broke.

2 comments:

  1. Great idea to add an achievement related to hang time.

    Thank you for sharing your insight not only on your design but also on strong designs from the class.

    Please post the sketches you made to earn those achievements (as well as the list you mention)!

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  2. Great photo by the way.

    Speaking of photos, do you have a photo of your solution?

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