Eggs

EGG SCIENCE

	Steve Spangler’s Naked Eggs and Flying Potatoes (Greenleaf, 2010) is a collection of great science experiments, among them at least four with eggs. Cool for everybody; recommended for ages 9 and up.
	From the San Francisco Exploratorium’s Science of Cooking series, Eggs has illustrated information on egg science, recipes and activities, science experiments, and a (virtual) trip to an organic egg farm.
	Science Sparks has a list of ten interesting egg experiments, with instructions and explanations. For example, make a bouncing egg and a floating egg, find out how strong an eggshell really is (very), and watch air pressure operate to suck an egg into a bottle.
	Chemistry and calcium! See Translucent Egg for an experiment involving calcium carbonate, acetic acid, and an egg.
	Incubation and Embryology from the University of Illinois Extension has an excellent collection of detailed resources on chickens, chick embryology, and eggs. Included are instructions for building a simple cardboard-box incubator and a coffee-can egg candler.
	Also from the University of Illinois Extension, activities for younger students include a series of downloadable worksheets in which kids can label and identify the parts of an egg and a chicken, determine which egg is fertile, size and grade eggs, measure incubation temperatures, and more.
	Chickscope has a detailed account of the 21-day chick developmental process. Included for each day are diagrams, photographs, explanations, and related math and science projects.
	Sources for incubators, eggs, and chick supplies include My Pet Chicken, Stromberg’s Chicks and Game Birds, and the Carolina Biological Supply Company.
	Which came first: the chicken or the egg? See what science says with this great animated explanation from Gizmodo.
	Chicken or Egg? Science Decides! is a great evolutionary explanation on YouTube.
	From the San Francisco Exploratorium, learn about osmosis with Naked Eggs!
	From AAAS, The Big Egg Mystery is: how can a bird sit on its eggs without breaking them? Included are discussion questions, a link to the PBS Kids video “An Egg is Quiet,” and printable student worksheets.
	Is it really hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk?
	From the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, see these illustrated instructions for making an exciting Egg Bungee.
	Eggs to Dye For has an explanation of the chemistry of egg dyeing, plus an egg color activity.
	The early Earth smelled like rotten eggs. Really! Read about it here.

DROPPING EGGS

	In Mini Grey’s Egg Drop (Alfred A. Knopf, 2009), the star character is an egg who wants to fly. Now. Without waiting to hatch. (“The Egg was young./It didn’t listen./If only it had waited.”) So, in the teeth of all advice, the egg climbs to the top of a tower and jumps. When the inevitable happens, and the broken egg can’t be fixed (not even with nails, tomato soup, or band-aids), it ends up on a breakfast plate, sunny-side-up. It’s hilarious, but some kids may not think so. For ages 5-8.
	The Egg Drop – a great experiment that illustrates the concept of inertia – is simple and thrilling. (A standard event here every Thanksgiving.) You’ll need a glass of water, a cardboard tube, a pie pan, and an egg.
	Can you save an egg from death? Try building a device that will keep your egg intact when it’s dropped from a height of ten feet. (Balloons? A parachute? Bubble wrap?) For a few ideas, see How can you keep a falling egg from breaking? from Science on the Brain.