NES students take the egg drop challenge

By Santasia Baldridge and Kori Richardson, Netzaberg Elementary School fifth-grade studentsFebruary 19, 2015

Full STEAM ahead
Students at Netzaberg Elementary School use everyday products to create a structure that could deliver an egg from a roof to the ground unbroken, Jan. 29. The project was part of the STEAM learning concept which uses applied science, technology, engi... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

ESCHENBACH, Germany -- How do you prevent an egg from cracking when dropped from the roof? That's what students from Netzaberg Elementary School had to figure out, Jan. 29.

The project was based on a school concept known as STEAM, which stands for science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics. All these things combined are used in real life and benefit student learning.

You no longer have to read out of text books to get answers for these projects. Instead, you can make things and learn from other projects.

"Students learn better when they are active and fully engaged in a goal," said fifth-grade teacher, Tonya Weight, who helped plan the project.

Students worked in small groups to make a system that would protect an egg from cracking or breaking when dropped. The goal was to have the egg drop from the roof of the school and survive the fall with no cracks or breaks. Plus, the system had to be carried with only two hands.

Once teams were done building their egg drop projects, they had to explain what they did. Then, they tested out their creations. Weight and the STEAM committee developed the idea and worked hard to make it possible for all grades to participate.

Weight said she would love to be able to take credit for the idea herself, but she can't. It started off as a Christmas glass ball drop and turned into an egg drop. This was all coordinated by the school's STEAM Committee and second-grade teacher Lovie Hall.

The main purpose of STEAM projects is to have fun while working, which is what the students appeared to be doing. Also STEAM allows students to use their problem-solving skills and find solutions to the problems they may face.

In the future, Weight would like to do some of the following projects: build a miniature race car to demonstrate and explain Newton's laws of motion; construct catapults; or develop an item that could be placed in the in the local forest to assist animals in survival.

Many students are anxiously waiting for Weight's future projects.

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