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JCHS Science

Egg Drop

There are two goals.

  1. Get a feel for how you are going to be graded.
  2. Have fun.

Todays starting question is,

In your lab notebook answer the following: what does it take for a grade to be meaningful?

Table of contents

  1. Standards, Rubrics, and Assessments
  2. Activity - Egg Drop
    1. Introduction
    2. Work time
    3. Test time
    4. Discussion
  3. Reflection - Self Evaluation
  4. References
  5. Prep

Standards, Rubrics, and Assessments

When talking about models you saw how feedback and critisim are an import part of evaluating and improving models. It is exactly the same with learning.

Our goal as your teacher is to provide you with feedback and critsism so that you understand what you know and what you don’t. That way we (the student and teacher BOTH) can chart a course for maximum growth by focusing on gaps of understanding.

You are probably used to written tests, multiple choice, short answer, true/false, etc, BUT that is mostly useful for making sure you understand facts. At this level we are more concerned with how well you can use the concepts so most of your assessments are projects with a written component. How well you do the project AND how well you explain your project are what matter. Your explaination should demonstrate your understanding.

All of this tied together is what we mean by standards. You are evaluated on what you know as demonstrated through the assessments. NOT the number of points you get, or the number of assignments you complete or your behavior in class. In order to succeed though you will have to go through the activities that are not the final assessment, you will have to work with others in class. Just like sports, you won’t do well if you don’t practice and if you are a bad sport.

Time to practice.

Today you are going to design and build a collision safety device for an egg so that it doesn’t break when dropped. Your assessment will be a write up that has two parts, a description of your collision safety device, and a reflection of how well it worked.

To communicate with you our expectations, here is a rubric.

Level Description Reflection
1 Non-specific or no description. Simple summary of what happened.
2 Describes what the device looks like but not enough information to reproduce the device. Level 1 and explain why. Why do you think it broke, or why did it not break.
3 Contains specifics about the device so that a copy could be made from the description. Level 2 and explain how to improve your device for next time.
4 Level 3 and describes the role each part plays in protecting the egg. Level 3 and have a design for next time.

At the end of the activity you will write up your description and reflection, and grade yourself.

Activity - Egg Drop

Introduction

Introduction video

Student activity sheet

Work time

If you want, here is a video that explains what goes into designing a collision safety device.

BUT, it will take 2 of your 20 minutes, you decide…

Test time

  • Start with 1 meter
  • Then 1.5 meters
  • Then 2 meters!?!?

Discussion

Reflection - Self Evaluation

Write in your lab notebook a description of your collision safety device and a summary of how it performed. Once you have written both, evlauate your self using the rubric above.

References

The activity was taken from IIHS.org.

Prep

  • Print the student activity sheet
  • Blank paper - each group gets 10 pages
  • Masking tape - each group gets 1 meter
  • Eggs - 2 per group