Students investigate how physics can reduce harm by designing, testing, and revising an egg container that survives a high-impact fall with community-accessible materials. Through drop trials, sensor-supported data collection, and comparisons to car crash safety redesigns, they apply Newton’s Laws, the impulse-momentum theorem, and energy conservation to a real packaging challenge. Working in teams, they document sketches, prototypes, test results, and reflections to build toward a public showcase with slides, videos, and live demonstrations for families and physics partners.

Students apply Newton’s Laws of Motion, the impulse-momentum theorem, and energy conservation to design, test, and refine an egg container that reduces impact forces during a high drop. They collect and interpret drop-test and sensor data, explain how increasing collision time lowers force, and connect their findings to car crash safety features such as crumple zones and airbags. Working in teams, students use critique, revision, and video reflection to improve their designs, make shared decisions, and communicate their reasoning through slides, live demonstrations, and a public showcase.

Students will create a team design portfolio that includes sketch photos, prototype notes, sensor and drop-test data, revision plans, and final images documenting how they applied Newton’s Laws, impulse-momentum, and energy conservation. Throughout the project, teams will also produce short video reflections after each test and a slide deck with images of early sketches, prototype stages, data charts, and the final drop from a 2nd-story location. By the end, each group will present a finished egg-protection container, a short live demo or recorded drop-test video, and open house slides for the Crash Lab Showcase and Egg Drop Expo.

Start with “Newton’s Rescue Mission,” where teams receive a fragile-object packaging challenge and watch a short video of car crash tests to connect egg protection to real vehicle safety design. Then give each group a limited set of community-accessible materials and 15 minutes to sketch and build a quick first-drop prototype before testing it in a fast class drop trial. After the drops, students capture slow-motion video, notice what changed the stopping time and force on impact, and generate questions about Newton’s Laws, impulse-momentum, and energy conservation. Close with a brief gallery walk of broken and successful designs so teams can identify patterns and set goals for what they want to improve.

Host a Crash Lab Showcase at open house where each team presents a short slide deck and video documenting sketches, prototype trials, sensor data, revision decisions, and final images of the egg drop from a 2nd-story location. During the event, groups run a brief live demo or replay a test clip, then explain how Newton’s Laws, impulse-momentum, energy conservation, and car safety redesigns influenced their final container. Set up the room as an Egg Drop Expo with display stations, colorful data charts, and design portfolios so families, peers, and college physics partners can ask questions and compare solutions. Invite visitors to vote on the most effective and best-explained design, using both survival of the egg and quality of physics reasoning as criteria.