Students simulate Mars to Earth landing with egg drop
Peabody Elementary School fifth grade students in Mrs. Preheim's class are learning about the mysteries of Earth and Mars.
They launched landers Oct. 18 with a raw egg as a rover inside. The students were given an assignment over the weekend to build a lander with their parents. The lander was supposed to successfully carry an egg from a drop of 50 feet in the air down to a target that was four feet in diameter. This would simulate a lander traveling to Mars and dropping to the planet safely. The lander could not weigh more than 150 grams and it could not expand more than eight inches. Students could not use pre-made containers. They had to create their own landing device with the assistance of their parents.
Elementary students, parents, grandparents, and school personnel came to witness the exciting egg drop. Gilbert Loewen provided the boom truck for the egg drop where eight of 22 survived.
Landers were designed in many different ways. Materials consisted of cardboard, Styrofoam, sponges, packing peanuts, paper, foam, balloons, straws, and or cotton balls. Through this experiment the ideas of Newton's three laws of motion were reinforced.
Students will continue to explore how construction, materials, and weight affected the outcome of the drop.
