Here are some pictures of our final design:
Some other designs we considered using were a parashute, wrapping our egg in padding, using just balloons to support our egg, and even making a bouncy ball around the egg. Some of the reasons we chose our design over these listed ones were availability of supplies and originality. When we looked for more balloons we couldn't find any place on the island that sold balloons with helium in them so we were limited to the two we had in class. Rafe knew about these bouncy ball sets you can buy but we couldn't find a palce that sold these. The reason we didn't try a parachute or padding is because we knew that half of the designs would be these, and we wanted ours to be different.
The reasons we chose the design we used is because it was easy to make, reliable, couldn't fall apart, and was original.
Pros: Original design, not used by any other group, not that big or bulky, easy to move around, the helium in the balloons made it light compared to designs of similar size. Can take out and replace the egg without destroying the design. Can eat afterwords
Cons: The popcorn we used as padding for our design could rot if we kept it out long enough, so we neede to use the design pretty soon after making it. The balloons can lose their helium over time, turning them from being useful stabilization defices to useless dead weight. The whole problem with our design seems to be its durability.
I think the egg drop challenge was a good activity to do because unlike glider challenge, it has a very clear goal and people can easily tell whether they had a good design or not, so the whole activity is much more satisfying. I also liked the achievement system because they offer clear goals that people can work to achieve. This challenge also offered more room for creative thinking when compared to some of the other challenges we have done in this class. I would recommend doing this challenge next year.
