The Egg Drop Project |
THE EGG DROP PROJECTThe Egg Drop Project started out as an experiment at Pasadena's Jet Propulsion Lab in the 1950s. The objective was to land a fragile object, an egg, when dropped from a great height. As time would reveal this experiment was a precursor to landing extremely expensive remote controlled rovers on Mar's surface to collect data. The experiment took place at the Rose Bowl Stadium as capsules carrying raw eggs were dropped from a helicopter 1500 feet above the stadium's turf. The Egg Drop Project had been born!
In 1984, teacher Steve Revington viewed a PBS documentary which showed a same-day egg capsule drop activity being completed. Steve decided he'd give it a go and challenged his grade eight science students to take on the same task. There were some that made it, some that didn't, but one fact became very clear - the learning potential that this project offered was immense. Egg Drops have been a popular activity but the curriculum connections and the possibilities of applied learning this activity possessed helped Revington to pioneer a new approach to learning. Over the next thirty years The Egg Drop Project snowballed, collecting new ideas, new processes of presenting science and technology until it reached its' present day form. The Egg Drop Project was "a launching pad" for a new model of learning which Revington termed "Authentic Learning". This site provides an in depth template of Steve Revington's Egg Drop Project using his authentic learning model.
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