Besides arts and crafts, my kids and I love a good science experiment as well. I subscribe to the Steve Spangler Experiment of the Week newsletter, and this week’s experiment was walking on eggs. I repeat, WALKING ON EGGS. How cool is that? Since my kids are only 6 and 3, instead of walking we settled for what would happen if we stood on eggs. Along with teaching them about the scientific theory, it was just loads of fun. I would highly recommend having someone help you if you are doing this with more than one child, have a towel under the eggs, and a sink nearby in case of egg breakage (raw eggs do carry the risk of salmonella, so please be careful and practice safe hand and feet washing after the experiment).
The basic guidelines I followed for the experiment:
- Inspect all of the eggs to make sure there are no breaks or fractures in any of the eggshells. Make any replacements that might be necessary.
- It’s important to make sure all of the eggs are oriented the same way in the cartons too. One end of the egg is more “pointy” while the other end is more round. Just make sure that all of the eggs are oriented in the same direction. By doing this, your foot will have a more level surface on which to stand.
- Remove your shoes and socks .
- Find a friend to assist you as you step up onto the first carton of eggs. The key is to make your foot as flat as possible in order to distribute your weight evenly across the tops of the eggs. If the ball of your foot is large, you might try positioning it between two rows of eggs instead of resting it on the top of an egg.
- When your foot is properly positioned, slowly shift all of your weight onto the egg-leg as you position your other foot on top of the second carton of eggs.
At the start of our experiment, here’s what we set out to find: What would happen if you stand on eggs?
Hypothesis from the six year old (yes, that is his writing and spelling)
Hypothesis from the three year old
Our eggs! Here they are starting out before the experiment, safely tucked in their carton.
Six year old stands on them and is super impressed that none of them broke.
Yes, it was not a trick of the camera, he is actually standing on raw eggs.
Three year old tries it out too.
We learned that he could actually stand on one foot without breaking any eggs as well.
And after the experiment, the eggs still safe and sound in their cartons!
My six year old really wanted to break an egg, so we decided to see what happens if you stand on just one egg
Smushed!
Although my six year old did smush the egg, we found out that a single egg in the carton actually withstood the weight of the three year old. He could not break the single egg, no matter how hard he stepped on it. Those egg cartons are quite good reinforcement!
I think the following two pictures speak for themselves:
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