What is Egg Drop?

Build a device that will protect a raw egg—keep it from cracking or breaking—when the device and egg are dropped from the third-floor balcony. The lightest egg drop capsule that successfully protects its egg will be the overall winner! There will also be winners by grade categories and other categories as noted below.

Family entries, adult entries, team entries, and of course, lots and lots of kid entries are welcomed. There are prizes, a trophy for the Grand prize winner – (the survivor which weighs in lightest of all), PLUS the great excitement of science experimentation! Enjoy!

Egg Drop kit pick-up begins on July 1st and completed capsules are due back to the library by July 15th.

Rules on Materials and Construction

Violation of any of the following rules will result in disqualification. If time allows, we will drop disqualified egg drop capsules. They will not be eligible for prizes.

  1. Your egg drop capsule must be made from the supplies in the egg drop kit:
    1. 1 paper bag
    2. 4 rubber bands
    3. 4 plastic straws
    4. 4 craft sticks
    5. 4 ft of string
    6. 2 sheets of newspaper
    7. 2 balloons
    8. 10 cotton balls
    9. 1 cardboard rectangle. 
  2. Your device cannot be motorized.
  3. Your device must drop vertically onto our target area, or close to it. No horizontal flight or gliding is allowed.
  4. Each Egg Drop Capsule must have a well-anchored loop of string or similar on its top from which it will be suspended and dropped.
  5. Each Egg Drop Capsule must allow for easy access for egg placement. Library staff will be inserting eggs into the capsules and must be able to do so without specific instructions.
  6. Judges will load eggs into your device. When loaded, the egg should be visible and easy to remove, to allow for judging of breakage and cracks. Full wrapping of eggs in a substance/material is not allowed if an egg cannot be easily loaded into your egg drop capsule.
  7. The device MUST be dropped off in the Science Center (3rd floor of the library) prior to the competition on Friday, July 15th, from 10:00am to 5:00pm
  8. At 11:00am on Saturday, July 16th we will congregate in front of the library to watch the egg drop!

Competition Categories Include:

A = Individual: Preschool – Grade 3

B = Individual: Grades 4-6

C = Individual: Grades 7-8

D = Individual: High School

E = Individual: Beyond High School/Adult

F = Team: Family

G = Team: Friends 

Additional Categories

  • Most Artistic – Can use markers and decorative elements that do not add weight, as judged by the Egg Drop Judges.
  • Most Exposed Egg – The surviving egg with the most exposed egg surface/fewest contact points with its capsule, as judged by the Teen Advisory Board and Egg Drop Judges.

Judging

  1. An Egg Drop Judge will load an egg into your device and release it. After the drop, the egg will be inspected for cracks and breaks.
  2. Prizes will be awarded. The Egg Drop Judges recognize that ties are possible.  To resolve ties, the devices will be weighed (without the egg), before the start of the competition. If there is a tie, the winning device will be the one that weighs the least for the Most Artistic and Most Exposed Egg.
  3. All unanticipated events during the competition will be resolved by the Egg Drop Judges, in the spirit of the rules given above.

Prizes

The Grand Prize winner will be the lightest egg drop capsule that survives a fall from the 3rd-floor balcony. They will receive a 3D printed trophy.

Individual and Other category winners will receive a 3D printed medal.

Questions? Send them to Liz Palena at lpalena@plainsborolibrary.org with the subject line “Egg Drop Question.”