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By Five Marigolds
Eggs aren’t just a delicious and healthy part of your diet: they make great science teachers, too! There are so many fun and educational STEM eggsperiments (egg experiments), and today we’re going to share five of our favorites to do with your kids. So grab a few dozen eggs and let’s get started!
Note: all of the experiments below should be conducted with adult supervision.
You’ve likely heard the idiom “walking on eggshells,” often used to describe a tricky situation you need to navigate cautiously. The reality is that eggshells are much stronger than many of us imagine. To put it to the test, we’re going to walk on eggs!
First, lay a blanket or towel under two or three dozen eggs in their cartons. Have your kids help inspect each egg for cracks and point them all same side up.
Help your kids place each foot on a carton of eggs, making sure to distribute their weight evenly.
You will find that the eggs are actually incredibly strong and hold up against the pressure of your test subject's evenly distributed weight! The egg’s unique shape gives it great strength, despite its perceived fragility. In fact, eggs are strongest at the top and bottom, which is why they don't break when you apply pressure evenly on both ends.
However, eggs do not hold up well against unevenly distributed pressure, which is why they are easy to crack on the side of a glass or on the counter when you make your breakfast. This is why a hen can sit on her eggs without breaking them, but a baby chick can peck its way through the shell!
Next, we’re going to demonstrate the effects of sugars and acids on your teeth using eggs. The hard shell of an egg protects the soft parts inside, including the egg white and yolk, just like the hard enamel on your teeth protects the soft and tender pulp on the inside. Moreover, both eggshells and teeth are made of calcium—a hard white substance that also makes up our bones.
To begin, fill a few glasses with various liquids, including soda, grape juice, and water. Add an egg to each glass and let sit for 24 hours.
Ask your kids to examine the eggshells and describe what they notice. As expected, eggs that were submerged in water should have remained unchanged. Grape juice will have the most surprising results - the egg should turn black!
Depending on the ingredients in the beverages you chose, most of the eggshells will now be stained, just like your teeth might be after you drink that soda or juice. To take this experiment to the next level, have your kids use a toothbrush and toothpaste to see if the stains can be removed.
Now that we’ve tested the protective qualities of eggshells, let’s find out what happens to an egg without its protective outer shell. Is it possible to remove an eggshell without breaking the egg itself? Find out how to make a “naked” bouncy egg with this fun experiment. All you need is vinegar!
Have your kids carefully fill two glasses with vinegar, then gently drop an egg in each glass and let them sit for 24-48 hours. Have your kids check in from time to time: they'll notice that the eggs will appear to fizz and bubble, until finally, the shells dissolve completely!
Discard the vinegar and inspect the results with the kids. What is left is a transparent, “bouncy” egg.
Eggshells are primarily made up of calcium carbonate, and when you soak the them in vinegar, which is acidic, you start a chemical reaction that dissolves the shell itself. You can also try pushing your finger into the membrane to test its flexibility. Next, experiment with dropping it from various heights to test the limits of its bounciness and strength, then save your naked egg for the next eggsperiment!
Now that we have naked eggs, we’re going to take the science one step further by witnessing osmosis.
Have the kids fill a glass of water with red food coloring, drop one of the naked eggs into the glass, and wait. After 24 hours, ask them what changed: the membrane and the inside of the egg have turned red!
Next, have the kids fill a glass with tonic water, drop a naked egg in, and wait. Because tonic water is clear, there are no observable differences to the naked egg after 24 hours. But there's more to this than meets the eye...
With the protective shell removed, all that remains on the outside of the naked egg is a semi-permeable membrane, meaning certain substances can easily pass through its protective barrier. The inside of the egg has a lower water concentration, so over time the membrane of the egg allows water to seep into the egg—this process is called osmosis, and the kids can see it in action by cutting the egg in half to reveal the red water on the inside. Now that the egg has absorbed some water, it has also increased in size!
Now take a flashlight and shine a light on your tonic water egg. Ask the kids if they see any changes: the egg has absorbed the tonic water, which has properties that make it glow under a black light. Through the power of osmosis, we now have a glowing egg!
Did you know that you can suck an egg into a bottle without touching it? Our last experiment uses air pressure to do just that.
First, hard boil and peel an egg, then have your kids set it on the opening of a standard glass milk bottle or a science lab beaker with a wide mouth— just be sure to select a bottle that is made of glass and approximately 1.25" wide at the opening. You'll find that the egg is too large to squeeze through the neck, but we’re about to change that.
Next, light a match (or four) and toss them into the bottle, then quickly place the egg back on the opening of the bottle.
Within moments, the warmth from the matches begins to cool, and the resulting air pressure will cause the egg to squeeze through the neck and into the bottle! This happens right when the egg is placed on top of the bottle openings, creating a seal. Once the matches stop burning, the air inside the bottle cools, lowering the air pressure inside and pulling in the egg.
As you can see, eggs really are remarkable! If you tried one (or all five!) of these experiments, let us know what you learned in the comments below.
Soooooo.... how do we get the hard boiled egg out of the jar after it's sucked in?
Hi Sarah. We do not recommend eating the egg after completing that particular science experiment. Sometimes we sacrifice for science, but we would love to hear which one is your family's favorite!
Do the eggs have to be hard boiled or left as is?
Great question, Melissa! These eggsperiments can be done using raw eggs, unless the instructions say otherwise as is with the Egg in a Bottle eggsperiment. We can't wait to hear how it goes!
We had a blast doing these egg experiments- especially now during the whole Corona virus 19 going on! We thank you for teaching us something new and for all the fun while doing it*👍🤘😊❤
Hi Angie! We're so glad to hear that you found the experiments fun! We hope to have some other fun activities again soon!
Just wanted to comment regarding Pamela’s concern with the plastic. Chances are there are people in your town who could desperately use your Nellies egg cartons! Examples are, schools, daycares, nursing homes, and believe it or not other small chicken farmers. Post on your local pages (Nextdoor, Facebook etc). We have a good friend who loves to use nellies egg cartons to deliver her eggs to the food pantry. Since she is donating her eggs for free not having to buy cartons is a great money saver for her. We also use them as paint containers for our kids. The uses are endless and because they wash up so nicely they can be reused again and again!
We love these ideas, Christina. Thank you for sharing!
Love your product and the experiments above. Will be trying these with my grand-children. Thank you for a great product
HI Lynne! Thanks for reaching out! We look forward to hearing how the experiments turn out!
Great Fun and good experiments.
Hi Candy! We're so glad to hear that you enjoyed them! Thanks for the feedback!
I love your eggs, you can tell the difference in the yolk and the color. I buy them as much as I can.
Hello Hadassah. Thank you for reaching out. Our hens enjoy their free range lifestyle tremendously. We're delighted to hear that you are enjoying the eggs!
Hello, I just wanted you to know I will not be buying your eggs anymore. The major plastic around the eggs is not recyclable. Please use card board egg cartons. HELP THE PLANET
Thank you so much for caring for our planet, Pamela. Did you know that we chose our cartons based on research showing that they have a lower carbon footprint than paper pulp cartons? We invite you to read more about the study and our sustainability efforts here: https://www.nelliesfreerange.com/blog/are-paper-or-recycled-plastic-cartons-better-for-the-environment.
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