There are two things my children love: science and food! So today we’ve brought them together with some eggciting eggsperiments and an eggcellent snack!
This month sees many great bloggers come together for the 31 Days of ABCs. Each day you’ll find a craft, recipe, activity, book, app, or advice. Today we’re (unsurprisingly) hosting the letter ‘E’.
Back in January the children learned how to separate an egg without an egg separator. This was a fun lesson for them. How do you do it?
Crack an egg onto a plate. Squeeze an empty plastic drink bottle, and place the opening next to the yolk. Let the air back into the bottle, and the force of the vacuum will suck up the yolk into the bottle. To expel the yolk to where you need it, just squeeze the bottle and the yolk will slide right out again!
This was quite fascinating for all of us, and if the children are gentle, they can practice over and over again! And it’s the perfect experiment to do if you break any eggs while walking on them!…
The second eggsperiment we’ve done is walking on eggs. The children were afraid to do this because they thought the eggs would break. Certainly eggs are easily broken when dropped or when cracking them on the side of the bowl, so why wouldn’t they break under the weight of a body?
The first step we took was to use the cardboard egg cartons so we could easily cut down the ‘pyramid’ part s of the carton that protrude up between the eggs. You don’t want these sticking through your foot, it wouldn’t make for easy balancing, and the plastic containers would be too sharp on the feet once cut down. Luckily, we love egg carton crafts so we always have a few spare egg cartons around.
The second step is to place all of the eggs in the carton with the same side down. We chose to place the ‘pointier’ side of the eggs facing down so as to give more of a flatter surface for standing.
The third step is to gently stand on the eggs with you foot flat, not heel-to-toe like you are walking. This way the weight of your body is more evenly distributed over the egg shells. Repeat with your other foot. If you have enough eggs, go for a little walk!
Daddy helped steady the children as they gained their balance for their first foot. As you can see, we started off with 4 cartons of eggs, but we did lose a couple when Kallista lost her balance at the end of her walk. This was Tristan on his first attempt. The eggs squeaked and sounded fragile, but they all survived his walk!
Why didn’t the eggs break when they were walked on? If you walk with a flat foot the pressure is evenly distributed, and the shape of the eggs is such that they can withstand a lot of pressure, just like an arched bridge. This means that when a bird incubates its eggs, they won’t break. However, when a chick is ready to hatch, it’s easy for it to break out by chipping at just one spot.
Now that we’ve been using raw eggs, let’s try a couple of cooking eggsperiments with them. First hard-boil a couple (it’s always good to have a back-up!) of eggs and let them cool down to the same temperature as your raw eggs.
The next eggsperiment is to determine if you can discover if an egg is raw or cooked. All you need to do is spin your eggs! But maybe not so close to the edge of the table…
The cooked egg will spin steady and swift. The raw egg will be more wobbly and won’t spin as fast because of the air pocket in the egg that keeps moving and throws the centre of gravity off.
Now that we have four times the number of eggs we usually keep on hand (or should that be underfoot?), how will we be able to tell if they are still good to eat? It’s time for our final eggsperiment of the day. All you need is a bowl of cold water.
Gently place your egg in the water. If the egg floats, throw it out. If it sinks, it’s ok to use. If it sinks but stands on one end, use it quick!
Why does this work? Over time some of the liquid from the egg will evaporate due to osmosis, and air will fill this space, thus making the egg less dense and able to float.
One fun food my children enjoy eating are devilled eggs, I think we’ll be making a few of these this week! You can find our recipe here.
After purchasing all of our eggs, we’ll be cooking and baking up a storm this week! We’ve already had a Spanish omelet. Do you have any suggestions on what else we should make? Extra points for dishes beginning with E!
Come be a part of the fun and link up your alphabet learning posts! And check back often as each day a new letter will be revealed. All of the information is organised over at All Done Monkey if you’d like all the details.
Super Science Team says
What great experiments! Thanks for sharing. We love to see folks spreading the STEM bug to their little ones! 🙂
Crystal McClean says
We do love science, but we’ve fallen out of practice. However, I have a few science experiments on the kitchen counter to do over the next week and get back to it 🙂
Elaine says
OH wow, I never knew that the eggs won’t break walking on them! This — I HAVE to try with my kids. Hmmm … is there an age limit? (I might try myself. LOL!)
Crystal McClean says
There definitely ISN’T an age limit – I DARE you to try it, and extra points if you send a photo! 😉
Have a great weekend!
Samantha @ Stir the Wonder says
What fun experiments! Thanks for linking up to the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop! We hope you stop by again next week!
Crystal McClean says
Thank you 🙂 I think we’ll be doing them again in the future. Have a great week!
Monique says
What a great experiment, my kids would love that. Thanks for linking up at the Bloggers Brags Pinterest Party.
Crystal McClean says
Give any of them a try. They’re so quick to set up 🙂 Have a great week, and I hope to see you again.
Emma Edwards (Adventures of Adam) says
Don’t know if I would be brave enough to try walking on eggs! Can’t wait to try it out.
Crystal McClean says
I’d love to hear what you think of it 🙂
Sarah@bakingwithmom says
What great egg ideas! 😉 My children would enjoy trying the egg walking. Actually, that would make a great object lesson for Sunday School opening. Thanks for linking up to the Click and Chat Party!
Crystal McClean says
That sounds like fun! Doing it in a group would up the level of anticipation 🙂 Have a great week.
Sharon says
Wonderful experiments. As a former science teacher I love seeing children have fun with science. I’ve pinned this to my Science Fun board! Thanks for Linking up to Mummy Mondays #team MM
Crystal McClean says
Thank you so much for sharing and the encouragement :=) I’d love to hear any tips you have for doing science at home!
Have a fantastic week!
Emma says
My daughter would be amazed by the walking on eggs experiment! Such “egg-cellent” ideas – sorry, couldn’t resist! 😉
Crystal McClean says
My son was leary about doing it, and the eggs do like to creak, but that just adds to the wonder! You should definitely ‘scramble’ up some eggs in the name of science!
Leanna @ Alldonemonkey says
What fun eggsperiments! I would have never thought of walking on eggs! My boys will have fun with that one. And as for dishes you could make – we love quichE! (Okay, that “e” doesn’t really count since it’s at the end, but I thought I’d try!)
Crystal McClean says
I’ve never made a quichE! Oh, that silent E is all-important when you’re learning to read, so you definitely get points for that 🙂
Jessica @ConveyAwareness says
I love your eggsperiment with the egg cartons and walking. Pinned. =)
Crystal McClean says
Thank you, Jessica 🙂 Have a great week!