If you walked through the Lower School this month, you likely felt the buzz: students sketching designs, testing prototypes, debating the merits of rubber bands versus cotton balls, and huddling excitedly with partners. The annual Egg Drop Project is back, and with it comes design thinking, collaboration, and plenty of joyful learning.
At Eagle Hill, this isn’t just a classic STEM challenge. As Lower School teacher Jamie MacNutt explains, the project is intentionally crafted to strengthen scientific thinking, partner skills, and executive functioning, and it’s supported by our integrated team of specialists who push into the classroom to provide individualized guidance. Counselors and language specialists help support the entire process; from design to completion.
Building a Foundation: The Scientific Process in Action
In the weeks leading up to the big drop, students spend time revisiting and applying each step of the scientific process in smaller hands-on activities.
Jamie shares, “for the week leading up to the egg drop, we review the scientific process with smaller hands-on activities that they do with a partner or individually; this really reinforces what it means to observe, what it means to ask meaningful questions, create a hypothesis, and it helps to connect some of these ideas to their other classes.”
One of the highlights of the unit is helping students recognize how transferable their reasoning skills are. As Jamie puts it, “a hypothesis in science is similar to a prediction in literature class, or an estimate in math class…we use the information we have to make a smart guess.”
This academic integration is intentional. Through thoughtful planning and repetition, students deepen their understanding of how learning connects across subjects.
They also practice crucial executive functioning skills. “Conducting an experiment challenges students to really plan ahead and stay organized, record data, and show results which are the executive functioning skills we are always working to practice.”
By the time Egg Drop Day arrives, students aren’t just ready, they’re invested in the entire process and understand how each step contributes to the whole.
A Project Designed for Collaboration, Communication, and Creativity
The Egg Drop Project is also a celebration of teamwork: “The egg drop is a project where we’re using our skills in pragmatic language, partner work, and science.”
Because Eagle Hill’s Lower School classrooms are supported by both language specialists and counselors, every group has direct coaching in communication and social-emotional learning. Students practice turn-taking, negotiating ideas, and problem-solving during moments of disagreement: skills as vital as any scientific principle.
This year, teachers added a creative twist: randomized core materials.
While “each group has some construction items that are standard,” teams also draw a special item out of a hat. “Students chose core elements out of a hat, so they have to be creative with the materials they have, whether it’s a yogurt container, a toilet paper tube, or an aluminum can that they’re going to work with.” This requires students to be flexible and creative while they work together to figure out the best way to use their special item. The result? A joyful challenge that sparks innovation, flexible thinking, and resourcefulness: hallmarks of design thinking.
Everyone Gets to Be a Scientist
The egg drop isn’t just for the builders. Students across the Lower School are invited to participate through prediction and data collection.
Jamie explains: “The students who are not building the egg drop are also invited to make some predictions.”
On the day before the event, the vehicles were on display in the Curriculum center, and each math class made predictions about which vehicle would be the most successful. Students added tally marks to a chart and practiced graphing skills. We also displayed the chart during the event so students could see the success in real time. This provided students with background knowledge before the drop.
Skills That Soar Beyond the Project
When the baskets, canisters, tubes, and parachutes finally take flight, students aren’t just watching eggs fall from above. They’re seeing the culmination of weeks of:
- Design thinking
- Problem solving
- Data collection and analysis
- Collaboration and communication
- Executive functioning skills
- SEL and partner skills
- Creative risk-taking and iteration
And, of course, the best part: celebrating each other’s hard work.
The Lower School Egg Drop Project shows our students that learning can be hands-on, joyful, and deeply connected across disciplines. At Eagle Hill, it’s not just about protecting an egg, it’s about giving students the confidence, skills, and creativity to watch their ideas take flight.
