Oxford fourth graders take 'egg drop' field trip
OXFORD – Oxford fourth graders went on a field trip Thursday morning in order to put several different 'egg drop' designs to the test, dropping 10 eggs out of an airplane at 250-feet––and not a single shell was cracked.
The egg drop experiment asked students to construct a four-inch by four-inch design that will protect an egg from breaking after being dropped from a high point, using materials such as straws, popcorn, packing peanuts, bubble wraps, and "...whatever we can get our hands on," said Oxford fourth grade math teacher Clayton Kappauf.
The egg drop experiment runs in conjunction with a yearly initiative of Kappauf's where he asks each of his students to answer 1,000 math questions on an app called SumDog before the end of the school year in an effort to win the class a national championship.
Kappauf said some of the students finish their SumDog questions early, and instead of being unoccupied, they're instead asked to construct an egg drop design.
"So when they get done answering all the math questions, we have them watch a YouTube video on egg drop experiments and we try to brainstorm and show them all the different supplies we have and then they make an egg drop," said Kappauf.
Kappauf first tested the students' egg drop designs by dropping them off the roof of Oxford Academy Primary School, when all but two eggs broke during the experiment.
"We took a look at which designs were successful and which ones weren't, tried to talk about some of the structures and why it worked, why it didn't work, then we came back in that night and we build a new design."
On Thursday, Kappauf and 59 Oxford fourth grade students went to John Weidman's farm, located at 120 Race Road in Oxford. Weidman is a licensed pilot and has a runway on his farm.
For the last three years, Weidman has talked to the Oxford students about things like how terminal velocity will affect their eggs' descent before flying his plane up to 250-feet and dropping the egg designs.
There were zero egg casualties, thanks to the craftsmanship of the Oxford students.
Pictured: 59 Oxford fourth graders visited John Weidman’s farm on Thursday to test their egg drop designs, designed to protect an egg from a fall as much as 250-feet. All 10 of the Oxford fourth graders’ egg drop designs were successful in this mission. (Photo courtesy of Kathryn Rutz, Oxford Academy)
The egg drop experiment asked students to construct a four-inch by four-inch design that will protect an egg from breaking after being dropped from a high point, using materials such as straws, popcorn, packing peanuts, bubble wraps, and "...whatever we can get our hands on," said Oxford fourth grade math teacher Clayton Kappauf.
The egg drop experiment runs in conjunction with a yearly initiative of Kappauf's where he asks each of his students to answer 1,000 math questions on an app called SumDog before the end of the school year in an effort to win the class a national championship.
Kappauf said some of the students finish their SumDog questions early, and instead of being unoccupied, they're instead asked to construct an egg drop design.
"So when they get done answering all the math questions, we have them watch a YouTube video on egg drop experiments and we try to brainstorm and show them all the different supplies we have and then they make an egg drop," said Kappauf.
Kappauf first tested the students' egg drop designs by dropping them off the roof of Oxford Academy Primary School, when all but two eggs broke during the experiment.
"We took a look at which designs were successful and which ones weren't, tried to talk about some of the structures and why it worked, why it didn't work, then we came back in that night and we build a new design."
On Thursday, Kappauf and 59 Oxford fourth grade students went to John Weidman's farm, located at 120 Race Road in Oxford. Weidman is a licensed pilot and has a runway on his farm.
For the last three years, Weidman has talked to the Oxford students about things like how terminal velocity will affect their eggs' descent before flying his plane up to 250-feet and dropping the egg designs.
There were zero egg casualties, thanks to the craftsmanship of the Oxford students.
Pictured: 59 Oxford fourth graders visited John Weidman’s farm on Thursday to test their egg drop designs, designed to protect an egg from a fall as much as 250-feet. All 10 of the Oxford fourth graders’ egg drop designs were successful in this mission. (Photo courtesy of Kathryn Rutz, Oxford Academy)
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