On February 1, our eighth grade class competed in our third physics challenge so far this year. We have just begun our study in gravity, which to me, has become quite fascinating. Our challenge was to construct a container to prevent a raw medium to large size egg from breaking. The drop of the egg was about fifteen feet from the top of the school balcony in the gymnasium. The grading on this project was based on a successful drop and the ability to follow the rules:

Rule 1: The container had to remain intact. No parts of it could fall or break off during flight or impact.

Rule 2: The container had to have a mass less than 277 grams without the egg in it, and had to fit into a cube twelve inches on each side.

Rule 3: The cost of the materials could not exceed $2

Rule 4: Parachutes were in fact illegal!

Rule 5: Any types of common household material could be used.

Rule 6: The container had to have a three inch string attached to it to hold the container from, before dropping it.

Rule 7: The container had to be designed to allow the egg to be placed in and out of it.

Rule 8: The egg could not break.

These were the eight simple rules to passing this project. I was guaranteed that if our egg is broken other than in the drop, there had to be a good explanation, otherwise, you fail this challenge.