An egg-ceptional year of building structures to hold a raw egg has come to an end. During the 2024-2025 school year a whopping 688 students in eight Coast elementary schools watched with anticipation as their structure was dropped from a height of about 18 metres.
To a chant of “drop the egg… drop the egg,” students from Cedar Grove, Davis Bay, Gibsons, Halfmoon Bay, Kinnickinik, Langdale, Roberts Creek, and West Sechelt could not hold back their excitement as they watched eagerly to see fire fighters drop their egg from a fire ladder truck. There were loud hoots and hollers when the students found out their egg survived and groans when the structure hit the ground with a big SPLAT! What egg-straordinary excitement – and learning – about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
“It was often hard to decide who was having the most fun, the students, teachers, firefighters or volunteers,” said John Leech, president of Technology Festival Association of BC (TFABC). “TFABC hosted the egg drop for the first time in the 2023 – 2024 school year, with 351 students engaged in the drop. We are very pleased to see the event grow in the second year to 688 students, almost double the number.”
The teachers’ object is to have students learn about gravity, mass, wind resistance, design concepts and other elements of STEM. The egg drop fits nicely within the school curriculum. Students were challenged by teachers to build a structure out of compostable materials into which students placed a raw egg. The structure with the egg took many forms, from a box-like structure (students were not permitted to use a fully constructed box) or something that looked more like a spaceship.
TFABC had a small group of volunteers who helped organize the event and served as judges to determine whether a student’s egg survived or not. The presence of the Sechelt and Gibsons Fire and Rescue ladder trucks and many fire fighters at each location made the experience all the more thrilling. TFABC volunteers, together with the help of a few parents at a couple of schools, rolled up their sleeves to deliver an egg-citing experience for students.
Volunteers Rod McColl, Sam Di Giandomenico, Carol Ioncaric, Carell Bell, Joe Bell, Kim Lennox, Becci Phillips, and Jennifer Christenson echo the thoughts of Doug Rae, “We all had a lot of fun. Observing the students as their structure was placed in a large bin, hauled up to the top of the ladder and then wait anxiously to see what will happen to their egg was a highlight. And then the drop,” said Rae. “At times we experienced a bit of hyped chaos as students worked with our judges to frantically unveil their structure to expose the egg.”
All students received a special certificate which indicated whether their egg survived or not. Going forward TFABC plans to add a trophy for the school with the greatest percentage of eggs that survived and a contribution of funds to the winning school to help with STEM activities. A video of the egg drop will be prepared and the not-for-profit association will develop a web site to help showcase the growing number of activities that they bring to the Sunshine Coast.
The eggs were donated by IGA Gibsons, IGA Wilson Creek and Clayton’s Heritage Market. All the TFABC work on the egg drop was over the top with excitement because of the fire fighters from Sechelt, Roberts Creek and Gibsons. Events such as the egg drop need financial support too, and local businesses embraced the event, including Rotary Clubs of Gibsons and Sechelt; Home Hardware, Gibsons; Howe Sound Pulp & Paper; Grant Marshall, Sutton West Coast Realty; James & McIntyre CPA; Sunshine Coast GM; and two anonymous donors. Another egg-straordinary year, with plans to engage a few more students in 2025 – 2026 school year.
