Students Learn a Lesson in Egg-sperimental Physics : Science: Participants in high school’s project study ways of shielding falling bodies from the law of splat by dropping cushioned eggs from a gym roof.

Christy Fair learned an immutable law of physics last week: An egg dropped from a gym roof minus a proper encasement equals yolk all over the pavement.

“My project just wasn’t sturdy enough,” said a disappointed Fair, a junior and one of about 100 science students at Torrance’s Bishop Montgomery High School who participated in the school’s second annual egg-drop contest. “It should have been able to handle more shock. Now, it’s breakfast.”

The challenge from physics teacher Colin Quinton was relatively simple: Individually or in teams, students must construct a container using only drinking straws and glue that will enable an egg to withstand a 35-foot drop.

If the egg survived, the project was awarded an A. If, however, it went splat, a C-minus was forthcoming. Of the 50 projects that went hurtling toward earth--amid such student heckling as “Get out the frying pan!” and “Omelet!”--26 passed the test.

Maura Georges and Carrie Aguilar, both juniors, earned not only a superior grade, but also the $50 first-place prize. Their sparsely constructed rectangular project, which kept its fragile passenger perfectly intact, weighed in at just 32 grams (just over an ounce)--a new school record.

“I was surprised we won,” Georges said. “We tried it last Sunday off the roof. The egg cracked the first time, but then we made some adjustments and it worked.”

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That lesson of trial and error was exactly what Quinton hoped the students would derive from the project. To foster their problem-solving abilities, Quinton intentionally left the students in the dark on how to approach the task.

“I know it sounds kind of cold,” said Quinton, who also holds an annual paper airplane flying contest, “but that’s the process of approaching a science problem. You have to use trial and error until you get a solution.”

Like Georges, many students said they tinkered with their homemade egg carriers until they could keep their cargo safe when dropped from the roofs of their homes.

Not all the students reported that they agonized over conquering a difficult scientific problem. Senior Matt Zimmerman was confident his project would make it--which it did--but he admits he had some help.

“I attribute my success to a little luck,” Zimmerman said. “And that my dad and my brother are engineers.”

Other students perhaps wished they had the benefit of a professional. Before the drop, Chanda Mofu, another senior, had a feeling his egg would be in trouble.

“It’s going to be ugly,” Mofu said. “My project is one big mistake of physics.”

He was right. His egg splattered as it hit the pavement.

Many of the student designs seemed to come out of sci-fi thrillers. Some looked like insects, others like interstellar flying machines, and some resembled various geometric figures. Because of its purple straws and boxy design, one student team called their creation “Barbie’s Beach Hut.” (Their egg made it.)

“The kids get real excited about the contest,” Quinton said. “It enables the students to have success in a subject that normally is difficult for them. It gives them a chance to express themselves.”

The contest also generated some goodwill toward a subject often not noted for its excitement.

“I’m interested in physics now,” said senior Nelly Weglarz. “And believe me, I never was before.”

The day’s curious scientific endeavor also seemed to exact a strange magnetic pull on passersby. Many stood transfixed as the projects were thrown one by one off the gym roof.

Said sophomore Angela Johnson: “I just wanted to see some eggs break.”