Standing on Eggs – Fun Gemperle Farms Science Activities for Kids.
A fun and strange eggs related activity to do in your spare time.
Can you stand on Eggs? Do you think you can walk on eggs without cracking them?
How strong is an egg shell? Is nature’s design of the incredible edible egg is so unbelievably perfect that the shell is strong enough to withstand the weight of a body? Why would this happen? This simple experiment will answer a few of these questions for you.
Before you start, have all your experimenters predict what will happen. Jot down a few thoughts to the questions above.
What you need:
2 – 1 dozen eggs cartons filled with Gemperle eggs
A sheet of plastic or a large trash bag to protect your floor or better yet go outside where you can hose down any mess you make.
Let’s get going …….
1. Start by trying to squeeze an egg with your hand (make sure to take off any rings) — you probably can’t even break it with an adult grasp. Now if there is a small hairline crack in the egg it can break — so make sure you do this over a big bowl, just in case you have an egg explosion.
2. Remember to make your predictions on what will happen when you stand on the eggs as well as your thoughts on “why” it happens.
3. Spread out some plastic on your floor —-so if one does break you won’t have a mess all over the floor.
4. Take off your shoes — this experiment only works when you are bare foot.
5. Inspect your eggs to be sure there are no hairline cracks. Replace if needed. Also make sure all the eggs are in the carton the same direction (pointy side down).
6. OK , now lets try. The key to not breaking the eggs is to make your foot as flat as possible and try to make your weight even on the eggs. You may want to hold a friend’s hand when you do this. When your foot feels flat and secure on top of the eggs, slowly shift all of your weight onto the eggs and then place your other foot on top of the second carton of eggs.
Now you should have all your weight on the eggs — and the incredible egg is still holding up — brilliant!
What’s the secret to the egg’s strength?
It’s the shape of the egg. The egg’s shape gives it amazing strength. The curved of the shell helps to distribute pressure evenly all over the shell. However, if you tap an egg against a bowl it breaks immediately because it is not even force. Think about when a chicken sits on an egg — it does not break because of the even force of the hen’s body; but when a baby chick is ready to hatch out the egg, its pecking beak easily cracks the egg shell. We can see these wonders of nature all around us if we observe closely.
Also, we have to give a bit of credit to the lowly egg carton that helped keep our weight evenly distributed on the egg. If you really want to try something fun …. try dropping your whole closed cartoon of eggs. I bet they don’t break.
Have fun experimenting. And for more Gemperle Farms science activities, experiments and crafts go to our Gemperle Family Farms Youtube page or the kids corner of our Gemperle Farms website .
