Unit/Lesson Plan Title: Egg Drop
Primary Subject
Integrated Subjects
Grade Level(s)
Length of Unit
Research Sources
Science: Force and Motion PBL activity
Unit Summary
Students will design a vehicle in order to safely transport an egg to the ground from the
height of at least 15 feet.
Key Vocabulary
force, gravity
5th
3 days
NC Essential Standards For 5.P.1.1 Explain how factors such as gravity, friction, and change in mass affect the motion
Science
of objects.
5.P.1.4 Predict the effect of a given force or a change in mass on the motion of an object.
Common Core Standards for
Mathematics
Common Core Standards for
ELA & Literacy
Essential Questions
What forces will I need to overcome in order to get the egg to the ground safely?(Teacher)
What Materials are available? Where are we going to drop it?
Materials & Resources
iMovie, cotton balls, packing peanuts, sheets of foam paper, sheets of bubble wrap,
sheets of cardstock, tissues, paper towels, balloons, straws, paper clips, quart size bags,
string, tape, student list of materials to bring from home
Safety Requirements
SafritDaniel
Saturday, September 7, 2013 9:58:28 AM ET
Activities/Procedures
• Essential Question(Student generated): What materials are available?
• Explore/Engage: Give students time to explore and brainstorm how materials could be used.
• Explain: Students will use iPads to research the best ways to use materials.
• Elaborate (Inquiry): Skydiving, mailing fragile materials
• Evaluate: Students will write in science journal explaining how the materials would be used and a blue print will
be created.
•
•
•
•
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Essential Question(Student generated): Where are we going to drop it?
Explore/Engage: Show students where the egg will be dropped.
Explain: Show students what will happen when you drop an egg from a height of 15 feet with no contraption to
protect it.
Elaborate (Inquiry): Students will consider the factors that will affect the egg besides gravity.
Evaluate: Students will create a checklist of what a successful project will need.
Day 1: Teacher will show iMovie Trailer to introduce PBL on Egg Drop.
The students are trying to help Willy Wonka fix his machine shoot for his chocolate eggs. They need to design a device
that will protect the chocolate eggs from breaking when dropped from 15 feet.
The students will brainstorm ideas of what materials to use to make their device to protect their egg. The students will
also be able to bring additional materials from home to help construct their device.
Day 2:
Directions:
1. The following materials will be available to students:
cotton balls, packing peanuts, sheets of foam paper, sheets of bubble wrap, sheets of cardstock, tissues, paper towels,
balloons, straws, paper clips, quart size bags, string, tape
2. Use some or all the materials to create a vehicle that will hold an egg. The vehicle should support the egg on its
journey to the ground.
Required parts:
List of forces they will need to account for.
Design of their vehicle.
Explanation of how their vehicle works and how it will overcome some of the forces.
List of materials that were used vs. not used.
Final vehicle.
The vehicle for the egg should be constructed on Day 2. The students can test their vehicle by using a golf ball for the
egg. They can drop their vehicle from a desk to test the results.
Day 3: The teacher will drop the students’ vehicles from a height of 15 feet.
The students will record the successes and failures of their vehicle and reflect on any changes that could have been
made to make their vehicle more successful.
SafritDaniel
Saturday, September 7, 2013 9:58:28 AM ET
Accommodations for
Differentiated Instruction
The students will be working in groups that contain students with various ability levels.
Cross Curricular
Integration
Assessments
Created by
Email
Sources for Materials
SafritDaniel
What Materials are available?
Students will write in science journal explaining how the materials would be used and a
blue print will be created.
PBL Rubric
Where are we going to drop it?
Students will create a checklist of what a successful project will need.
PBL Rubric
Cynthia Graber grabercl@rss.k12.nc.us
Daniel Safrit safritdc@rss.k12.nc.us
PBL Video Introduction
Burton, T., Depp, J., Highmore, F., Kelly, D., Bonham-Carter, H., Taylor, N., Dahl, R., ...
Village Roadshow Pictures. (2005). Charlie and the chocolate factory: Burbank, CA:
Warner Home Video.
Saturday, September 7, 2013 9:58:28 AM ET