What You Need:

• 1 egg
• Plain vinegar
• Plastic wrap
• Paper
• Pencil

What You Do:

1. Start by helping your child make a hard-boiled egg. This involves boiling water, so offer help as needed. No one wants to get burned while doing a fun science project!
2. Once the egg has been boiled, have your child measure 2 cups of plain vinegar into a jar or container. Place the hardboiled egg in the container and cover with plastic wrap.
3. Help her find a place that's dark and quiet, and tell her to let the egg rest there for a week.
4. While she’s waiting to see what happens, encourage her to create a chart to document the changes the egg goes through daily. Along with creating her chart, she can write a short paragraph about what she thinks might happen – also called a hypothesis! Help her place the chart in a location where she can easily update her notes daily.
5. Along with creating a chart, your child can learn more about eggs by doing some research on the Internet or at your local library. Encourage her to learn more about what the shells of eggs are made of and what purpose the shells of eggs serve.
6. Once a week is up, invite your child to remove the egg and see what has changed! The shell of an egg is made of calcium, and calcium dissolves in vinegar. All that should be left is the membrane around the egg!
7. Invite your child to take her rubbery egg to the bathroom or kitchen sink and see what happens when she drops her egg!
8. When she’s finished with her experiment, she can document what happened on her chart, including a paragraph summarizing the experiment and her own scientific conclusions.