Students Crack Some Eggs for Science : Education: Teens drop 337 eggs off a building in an experiment intended to spur creativity. More than 200 of them reached the ground unbroken.

Everyone knows that if you drop an egg off a three-story building, it breaks. Humpty Dumpty proved that.

Despite the odds against them, students from five physics classes at Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton dropped 337 eggs off the Performing Arts Center roof last week to earn extra-credit points. Surprisingly, 218 of the eggs reached the ground unharmed.

The trick was to design packages that protected the eggs from the impact.

Some students thought that if the packages could provide uniform support and pressure, the eggs would survive.

Others thought that slowing the fall by changing the shape of the package, using parachutes or spiral designs, would save the egg.

“The egg drop allows the students to design something with their hands in creative ways,” said physics teacher Marcia Dixon.

Said Sunny Hills Principal George Giokaris: “It’s a great way to learn and have fun. It brings out the most creative ideas in students.”

Despite the fun, preparing the package proved to be frustrating, according to senior Carrine Palm, who used two halves of a popcorn ball held together with toothpicks. The two eggs were held in the center of the ball with melted marshmallows so they would not roll around.

“It was really discouraging because at first I used rice cakes and they broke easily,” Palm said of the experiments she conducted to ensure her egg would survive the fall.

The rules of the project were simple: The major mass of the package had to be biodegradable, packages had to be original and the egg had to be inserted within 10 minutes of the drop and removed within three minutes of its landing.

“Simple ideas work better than extravagant ones,” junior Sam Harris said. “Most people think complicatedly.”

One of Harris’ ideas was to put the egg in a plain paper lunch bag and fill the bag with cheese popcorn. “It has to be cheese popcorn . . . nothing else works.”

Popcorn seemed to be one of the more popular ideas.

“People have to conduct practice tests just to see what does and doesn’t work,” Harris said.

Said senior Julie Onder: “I never thought I would actually apply physics, I thought I would just put something together. I mean, I’m really learning something.

“Mine survived. Mine was awesome. . . . All I can say is popcorn really works well.”

Some packaging ideas included cones, boxing gloves and cardboard tetrahedrons--four-sided pyramids.

“I submerged two eggs in a loaf of bread, but one broke, so now I have French toast,” junior Andrew Hess joked.

Jim Park, a senior, who designed the lightest, fastest and smallest package that allowed the egg to land safely was the winner.

Some students were confident they had winning packages, but others did not share in the optimism.

“It was a drag,” said junior Monica Sapre, but her sister, Nandita, also a junior, was driven by the “possibility of extra-credit points.”

The overall winner received 20 points, and anyone whose egg survived was awarded 10. Students who attempted the project but were unsuccessful received one point.

Participants could have two packages, Dixon said, which “allows the student to make one for survival and one to be creative.”

Students could use three eggs, which Dixon rented to students at 10 cents per egg just before the drop, thus ensuring that they had not been soaked in vinegar the night before to strengthen their shells. The eggs had to be returned to her, if they survived, for the participants to receive credit.

Dixon reported that 80% usually are successful with at least one of their two drops, but this year the yolk was on her students as only 65% of the eggs were returned unharmed.

“In spite of all the learning that goes on, ‘Physics is Phun’ ” Dixon said, reciting the slogan on her T-shirt. “It was a good day, all the kids enjoyed it.”