WeekWithoutWalls: The Egg-cellent Egg-stacle Course 3.10

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Photos: photo 1: Aleah and Emilie strategize; photos 2, 3, 5: the first obstacle, Under the Table Mountain: photos 4, 6, 10: the fifth obstacle, Gliding Down Egg-citing Rapids; photos 7, 11, 12: the final obstacle, returning the egg to its nest; photos 8, 13: beginning the third obstacle, Soaring Above the Chasm of Doom; photo 9: the fourth obstacle: Through Abel's Tunnel of Love.

Week Without Walls, day 3: The Egg-cellent Egg-stacle Course.

This egg obstacle course was inspired by a similar Odyssey of the Mind activity. Teams were to transport a raw egg through a series of six obstacles, according to the following rules:

1. You have five minutes to complete as many obstacles as possible.

2. You will be provided materials to move your egg through the course.

3. You may not touch the egg.

4. Each team member may select from the items given. Items can be used only once.

5. A different team member must move the egg for each obstacle.

6. If the egg breaks or cracks, the team must stop at that point.

7. You will receive 10 points for each obstacle successfully completed.

The 6 obstacles included:

Obstacle 1: Crawl Under Table Mountain: carry the egg beneath a table

Obstacle 2: Paddle along the River of Spilled Drinks: slide the egg across a tabletop

Obstacle 3: Soar above the Chasm of DOOM: transport the egg between two tables, in our case a distance of several meters

Obstacle 4: Drift through the Tunnel of L O V E: pass the egg through a 2" diameter length of pvc conduit

Obstacle 5: Glide down Egg-citing Rapids: the egg slides down an incline; we used a picnic table bench

Obstacle 6: And, finally, the tired egg jumps back into bed: from the end of the obstacle 5, the egg is moved to a basket on the ground

Teams were provided a tool kit, which tool to be used only once, so pre-planning, strategizing and communication were very important. The tool kits included: a piece of string, two craft sticks, a piece of tape, one envelope, one sheet of paper, one spoon, two straws, and one tissue.

The results of the challenge were impressive, particularly having never participated in something like this before, performed publicly, with a time constraint. Nerves were frayed. Four of eight teams completed the obstacle well-under the five minute time limit. One team lost the egg on the final transition to the sixth obstacle. Two members inadvertently touched their egg, disqualifying them. A one team dropped their egg in the transition between the first and second obstacle.

Most agreed that the challenge was fun, that their performance would improve with practice, and that they would like to try it, with a new challenge, again.