Byram 8th graders dropping eggs for science

BYRAM — Friction, gravity, air resistance, inertia and speed along with engineering and problem solving have taken on a real-life application for 8th grade students at the Byram Intermediate School. Students were challenged with the task of designing and constructing a device that would protect an egg dropped from the roof of the Byram Lakes Elementary School.
After PARCC testing on May 3, teams busily went to work designing their egg drop devices. Each team had a fictitious $100 budget with which to purchase supplies from the “Egg Drop Store.” Supplies included toothpicks, yarn, paperclips, straws, pipe cleaners, newspaper, cups, balloons, cotton balls, cardboard, and masking tape. Teams could purchase their supplies and begin the building of their devices only after their preliminary designs and budgets were approved by the site manager (aka teacher).
On Thursday, May 4, all eighth grade students gathered at the drop site and watched with anticipation as each device was dropped from the roof by Mr. Linskey, 8th grade math teacher, and Mr. Fritzky, BIS Principal. Would their egg be deemed safe? Upon each drop, the corresponding team opened their device and inspected the egg to determine its success. Results were verified and recorded by the drop-site manager. After 26 drops, the results were finalized and awards presented to the eligible contestants.
1st Place - Shawn Stewart, Aiden Wiltshire, Ado Brescic
2nd Place - Kayla Cuttito, Hailey Faschan, Emily Daley, Brianna Gaboda
3rd Place - Ashley Kraus, Charlotte Lauridsen, Julia Mondragon, Alexia Lacatena, Molly McKenna
Eggelicious Award: device that is most aesthetically pleasing to the judges - CJ Proulx, Hayley Nicholls, Monica Ramos,Vance Poff
Eggonomical: least expensive yet successful - Henry Marocchi, Trey Kaplan, Isaac Holt, Noah Jacobson, Kaitlyn McGraw
Humpty Dumpty Award: the device with the egg that breaks in the most spectacular fashion - Julianna Gentilucci, Zach Goncalves, Hunter Givone, Olivia Gallagher, Natalia DeJesus