The science of brain protection
Ihope all of the students and educators had a great week off and were able to recharge and rejuvenate!
It sounds like many of you were able to get out and enjoy some great winter sports. Living in Southeastern Alberta, we are very fortunate as we have so much to offer right here in our own backyard. If you were one of the lucky ones and were able to get tickets for some downhill skiing, I hope you remembered to put on your helmet. I had a bit of an “argument” with someone in my household on how important it is to wear this vital piece of ski gear. In order to better understand, we’d better investigate further. Let’s get started!
Remember to ask an adult before doing this experiment.
Materials
• Two raw eggs
• Two plastic containers of equal size
• Tape
• Other materials that you may recycle such as bubble wrap, packing peanuts, shredded paper
• Newspaper
Procedure
• Place one egg in container that fits into the other plastic container.
• Tape the container up/put the lid on it and make sure it is secure (will not fall out). Add a strip or two of tape just to be certain.
• Now you need to use your imagination. Pack the second container with recyclable materials. You’re building an area to protect the second egg. Place styrofoam, shredded newspaper.
• Make an indentation in the packing materials and carefully
place the second egg in there.
• Place the lid on top or seal it up with tape.
• Find a place to do your experiment. Just to be safe, cover the floor with old newspaper in case we make a mess!
• Stand as tall as you can on your tiptoes, stretch your arms above your head and gently
release the container, allowing it to fall to the ground.
• Repeat with second container.
• Open first container and observe.
• Remove the lid from second container and observe.
What is going on?
In this experiment you tested the effectiveness of a homemade helmet to protect your head/brain. In the container with the recyclable packing materials, you essentially designed a helmet. Your head or skull is represented by the egg shell and your brain is the inside or the yolk and white of the egg. You should have been able to observe that the container without any of the packing materials had a “scrambled egg” after it hit the ground with no protection. Hopefully in the other container with packing materials, the egg was protected and didn’t break.
I hope you understand how this experiment shows you how a helmet protects your brain should you have an accident. It is not pretty what could happen to your brain when it gets hit so hard. Even when skiing you could have an accident and hit your head injuring your brain.
Remember if your school is interested in doing science fair this year, do not forget to connect with us at Praxis – we are here to help you – even virtually during the pandemic. Please keep reading here weekly for more helpful ideas and even science fair tips.
Patty Rooks, Senior Scientific Consultant PRAXIS, “Connecting Science To The Community”. Contact Praxis at praxis@praxismh.ca, www.praxismh.ca, Tweet or follow us @ PraxisMedHat, or friend us on Facebook. Address: #12 826 11 Street S. E., Medicine Hat, Alberta, T1A 1T7 Phone: 403.527.5365, email: praxis@ praxismh.ca.