Crash Test Eggs

I’ve got another easy EGG themed STEM Challenge for you today! It’s a bit of a twist on the traditional egg drop experiment.

The challenge is to build a car using K’Nex tor another construction toy to save an egg passenger. This is a brilliant egg experiment great for any time of year, but especially Easter!

Egg STEM Challenge

Design and build a car using only K’Nex with safety features that will protect an egg from breaking if it crashes into a solid object.

Materials

Egg –  boiled is less messy

K’Nex/LEGO/other construction materials

Elastic bands

Cotton Wool

Bubble Wrap

Test track area

Instructions for Crash Test Eggs

Design a car to hold the egg so it doesn’t crack on impact with a solid object.

Think about how to protect the egg. 

• Build a protective cage.
• Add protective materials: bubble wrap, cotton wool etc
• Try an air bag – balloon
• Could you add some suspension?

Can you think of anything else? Would changing the type and size of wheel help?

My children came up with the design above which worked really well. The egg is set nicely back into the car so the front absorbs most of the impact, the egg is also held tightly in place, meaning it doesn’t move very much.

Crash Test Eggs Extension Ideas

Try a different method of protecting the egg and design a test to investigate which method of protecting the eggs works the best.

Does your solution still work if you release the car down a ramp?

How can you make your comparisons a fair test?

More Egg STEM Challenges

If you enjoyed this activity we’ve got lots more fun Easter STEM Challenges to try.

I’ve also got lots of brilliant egg experiments too!