Education:Science Projects:
An Egg-sample of Nature's Strength

The egg-straordinary design of the egg allows it to support a lot of weight without cracking.

I have been so egg-cited about this next egg-speriment. Most people call me egg-centric but I am just your r-egg-ular, everyday scientist trying to find new and eggs-traordinary ways to introduce people to science and egg-speriments.

What you need

• 4 eggs
• 4 egg holders, or cut out a section of an egg carton large enough to hold four eggs
• Lots of heavy books
• Newspaper
• A nice sunny day

What you do

1. Go outside.
2. Lay down the newspaper.
3. Put the four eggs in their holders.
4. Place the four eggs in a square on top of the newspaper.
5. Gently place a book on the eggs to see if they break. Do they? No.
6. Add another book...and another... and another...

See how many books you can add before the eggs break.

Why this happens

Eggs are shaped like a dome. The eggshells can support the weight because the weight doesn't press down on any single point; instead it travels down along the curved side to the widest part of the dome. How can this structure help protect the growing chick inside? Chicks are born with one tooth, called an egg tooth, which falls off a few days after hatching. This egg tooth helps the chick break free from its protective home.

Which joke comes first?

Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the Shell® station.

Knock-knock.
Who's there?
Hammond.
Hammond who?
Hammond Eggs!

Catch Dr. Zoolittle in an entertaining show in the San Diego Zoo's Children's Zoo daily during the summer and every weekend and school holiday.

For more egg-speriments