Physics Meets Engineering at ISG Jubail Middle School

What can a single egg teach us about physics? For ISG Jubail’s middle school students, the answer came through a three-day engineering challenge alongside their teacher, Dr. Anindita Ghatak.

Working in 10 teams, students designed structures to protect a fragile egg during high-impact drops. The challenge gave them a chance to put their understanding of contact forces into practice as they tested ideas, adjusted their designs and learned through trial and error.

The excitement built as students prepared their creations for the final test. Structures were dropped from a 15-foot height in the gym and tested on the first floor inside the building. Each team approached the challenge differently, with designs ranging from protective cages to structures designed to slow the fall and absorb impact. One team even incorporated a chemical reaction into its design to help absorb energy.

The best part came when students opened their containers after each drop to discover whether their eggs had survived. For those who found an uncracked shell inside, the excitement was unmistakable.

Through this hands-on experience, our middle school students saw physics come alive. They experienced how curiosity, collaboration and persistence can turn a concept learned in class into a real-world engineering challenge.