Cool Science- Lesson 7 – Chicken eggs - did you know?

All of us know that if you drop an egg it breaks very easy, but in the other hand when you press the egg along its axis then it is not so easy to break it. 

We can also ask the question why are an egg shaped the way they are?

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Did you know?: 

· All eggs are made of calcium carbonate. 

Calcium Carbonate is the carbonic salt of calcium (CaCO3). Calcium carbonate is used therapeutically as a phosphate buffer in hemodialysis, as an antacid in gastric hyperacidity for temporary relief of indigestion and heartburn, and as a calcium supplement for preventing and treating osteoporosis. (NCI04)

· That a chicken egg can support up to 45 kg and an Ostrich egg can support up to 453 kg. 

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· It is shaped oval in order to assist the Mother birds, when it rolls out of the nest then it will not roll of too far and she will be able to bring it to the nest again easily.

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 · Eggs are not as strong on the sides because if it was the same strength than the top sides then the small chick will not be able to break out of the egg shell. 

Lets do an experiment – (Parents ensure to assist the kids) 

· 4 Raw chicken eggs 

· 1 roll of masking tape 

· Scissors 

· 4 – 6 books of equal size 

How to do it 

1. Take all four eggs and break them equality in half 

2. Wash and dry the half shells 

3. Take one strip of masking tape around the open end of the empty shell 

4. Use the scissors to trim the jagged edges 

5. Place the four rounded half shells on a table in a rectangle approximately the same size as the books you have selected. 

6. Now guess for how many books will you be able to load onto the shells? 

7. Very carefully add one book after the other book and test if you guessed the right number of books 

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What’s happening? 

It was amazing to witness at the same time how strong empty egg shells are. 

To make the experiment more interesting you can use different eggs shells to test their strength.

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