Reflection
After the Science Expo had finished, our design was successful. It survived the heat in
the BBQ at 200 C for 2 minutes and the cold in dry ice at -73 C for 1 minute. Our design
also survived the fall from the top of our school which is about 2 stories. It weighted 231
grams making us 5th in the whole grade. We did well but we could've made it lighter. We
used too much materials which added a lot of weight. We used 4 layers of fiber glass
insulation on every side on the design (all 6 sides), and 6 layers on top of the egg. There
was a piece of sponge to support the lower half of the egg. We also wrapped 2 layers of
aluminum foil around our design. We also used a lot of aluminum tape which further
increased the weight. However, this is all because we thought we were going to drop it
from about 3 storeys above the ground, so that’s how high we tested the design, from 6
meters above the ground, and but when doing the science expo, our design was dropped
a lot lower than 6 meters, it was like 4.5 meters. The papers also said that the design is
going to be put in the BBQ for 4 minutes, and in liquid nitrogen which is about -200 C. But
the condition subjected to the egg did not even come close to the written description. If
we knew that we will be dropping the egg from that low, we could have taken off some
layers of protection. We estimated how many layers of protection we need for 5 meters
and it was below 200 grams, which would place us 4th place. Also, we thought the
teachers are heating the design for 4 minutes, but when doing the science expo, they only
cooked for 2 minute. If we knew that, we could have taken off a layer of aluminum foil
protection, and decreased the usage of aluminum tape, which we estimated will lighten
our design to about 180 grams. That being said, if we knew the exact information about
the science expo, our design would be about 180 grams, which would put us in the top 3
spot, but too bad we didn't it.
There were many challenges we had to overcome. We needed to find a way so that the
materials holding together the aluminum won’t burn. We used duct tape but it melted
after 4 minutes. Our solution was to use aluminum tape. Another challenge was to make
the egg survive the drop. We first used few layers of insulation and then increased the
number of layers each time the egg broke until the egg survives
We learned a lot from this experience. We found out that fiber glass insulation is an awesome
insulator and it doesn’t melt or burn at 200 C. We also learned that fiber glass insulation is
dangerous because it has very small fibers of glass that can irritate skins and lungs. Another
thing we learned from doing this challenge is that aluminum foil and aluminum tape are
excellent reflectors of heat. These things we learnt were very important and can be applied to
our everyday lives. Although fiberglass is a good insulator, it needs to be handled with care and
protection. Also, aluminum can be used to reflect heat effectively which is great to protect heat
sensitive materials. Anyways, we were very successful, but we could've been even more
successful. Our design didn't melt nor burn in 200 degrees, egg was still raw, it didn't freeze in
-73 degrees of dry ice, and it survived the impact from the top of the school.
By someone who might be Jerry or Arthur