A Fun Experiment
孙 会苗 | Posted on December 11th, 2008 in 语文. 
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Packaging the egg
After hearing Ron Song say that he wanted to do an experiment that involved throwing eggs from the second story, I immediately envisioned a ground littered with yellow cracked eggs. More than a little suspicious about the idea, I asked, “You sure this will work?” To my surprise, he replied back confidently, “It’ll work.” And so we tried it. First, we split up the experiment into two trials, the first using cooked eggs, the other using raw. Then, we gave the students some time to decide what materials they would need. Finally, they decided on cotton, some string, bottles, paper, etc.
As they began preparing for the first trial using cooked eggs, the students were all extremely excited, and their energy bubbled up in the classroom like a boiling pot threatening to overflow.
After about ten minutes, all the groups were eager to get started, so we went out of the classroom. Some students threw their eggs down with care, and others even ran down the stairway to catch the eggs with nets. The students’ concentration really showed how innocent and pure these children’s hearts are. In the end, only two groups’ eggs remained intact, while all the others were broken.
The second trial was with raw eggs. Our rule was: if the eggs shattered, then all four members of the group would not be allowed to eat eggs the next day. When some students retorted hotly, “Why all four members?” but I merely replied, “Well since you all clearly want to eat eggs tomorrow, I’d advise you to think of a way for them not to break.” And so the students began to work with a vengeance. Ten minutes later, we were ready to begin. As the first group’s egg began its descent to the ground, almost all of the students rushed downstairs, waiting impatiently to see if it would break or not. Wow, it didn‘t crack! They snatched the egg up, jumped in the air, and ran to show me. And then came the second group… and the third… and the fourth… didn’t crack, didn’t crack, didn‘t crack! Gleeful shouts filled the air and shook my eardrums. Watching them bask in the joy of their success, I myself felt happy and content.
Ready to throw!
Wow, strange...
It didn't break, bravo!
Victorious result
Modified
Wei Ji Ma says:
Added on December 15th, 2008 at %I:%M %pVery interesting! What methods worked and didn’t work? Is there a reason why it was more successful with raw eggs, or was this just because on the second day the techniques were improved?
Was there any science behind it, and if so, were students told about it?
cheng tao says:
Added on December 22nd, 2008 at %I:%M %pThere were mountains of egg-related exp when I was in school, most of which were very funny and impressive