Web cocoon - an activity

Purpose. To involve each group exploring how they worked as a team and what roles each person assumed - leader, mediator, and so on.

Procedure. 

Tell the group that the object is to protect the egg from breaking.

Divide the group into smaller groups of 4-5 people.

Give each group 14 drinking straws, a raw egg and about 1 metre of masking or parcel tape.

Set the task of building a cocoon (any shape or size) around the egg so that it is protected from breaking when dropped from various heights.

Set a time limit of 25 minutes to complete the task

When the time is up, place a bin liner on the floor and ask each group in turn to drop their egg from various heights (start from knee and progress to shoulder height, to standing on a chair, etc).

The winner is the egg that is dropped from the highest point and survives. (A good design is straws built into a triangular structure with the egg suspended by tape in the middle).

Materials needed:

Drinking straws

Raw eggs

Tape

Contributing agency/originator: Southern Educational Library Board Community Relations Resource Pack.