The Egg and I
SUBJECT AREAS
Language Arts, Fine Arts, Mathematics, Science
GRADE
K trough 12
OBJECTIVE
Students will collect as much information as possible about their egg and record the information in a systematic way..
MATERIALS
- 1 egg for each team
- paper
- pencils
- magnifying lens
- dish
- paper towels
- two cup liquid measure or wide graduated cylinder
- large spoon
- one bright light
- one paper towel tube
- scale
- a few hard cooked eggs
- rubber balls
- gentle incline (plywood about 12" x 18")
- three or four books
Procedure
- Depending on the grade level of the student determine which of the following observations the students should make.
- Prepare a description of the egg your team was given that will enable you to distinguish your egg from everyone else's egg. Note special ridges, shape, size, etc.
- Describe the shape of the egg from the top and the side. Diagram the shape of the egg.
- Measure the egg. Tell how you measured the length and the width. Estimate how many squares on a piece of graph paper the egg will cover. Place the egg on the graph paper, trace around the egg, count the number of squares covered. Determine the area covered based on size of squares covered times the dimension of the squares.
- Measure the volume of the egg. Use a graduated cylinder if possible. Fill it with a preset amount of water and record the amount. Gently lower the egg and record the new level of water. Subtract the original amount from the new amount and you will have the volume of the egg.
- Candle the egg. Tell whether the egg is raw or cooked. Diagram what you see. After candling the raw egg, candle a hard cooked egg. What do you see? Diagram what you see.
- Spin the egg to find whether the egg is raw or cooked. Note: raw eggs wobble if spun because the insides do not spin with the shell. It takes longer for the insides to spin within the shell. Spin a hard cooked egg. Record your observations for both eggs--how it spins and how it behaves when you touch it as it spins.
- Check the shell for bumps. If you find any, place a paper over the egg, and use the side of your pencil to shade over them to record the pattern. Mark your papers with the location of the bumps. Use a magnifying glass to look at the bumps and comment on what they look like. Can you find any patterns to the bumps?
- Roll your egg. Compare how the egg rolls down a gentle incline to how a rubber ball or marble rolls. Is there a difference? Compare rolling end to end and on its side. Prop your board on a few books and put cushioning paper towels or soft cloth as the lower end. Record your observation.
- Write a descriptive paragraph about your egg so that everyone can find your egg when it is placed in a group.
- Find your egg after all of the eggs have been placed in a basket.
- Measure the volume of the egg without breaking the shell.