This past Wednesday marked BPY’s 18th Discovery Learning Day (DLD), a unique program where students delve into the world of engineering and design in a hands-on and collaborative experience. Elementary and middle school students took on the roles of packaging engineers—discussing, designing and building the most perfect package to protect an egg dropped from the school’s roof. During science classes prior to the day of DLD, students delved into the physics of falling objects, uncovering how force, acceleration, mass and drag all play crucial roles in the ultimate test of whether an impact force will be minimal enough to NOT crack an egg! To up the challenge in middle school, the sixth-eighth grade students utilized Vernier graphing analysis software to track the trajectory of their falling package from video, which allowed them to generate graphs and tables conveying accurate velocities of their falling package. The student’s learning experience was further enhanced by guest visits from BD Medical Technology Company and Rutgers School of Packaging Engineers. Not only did these professionals further elaborate on the engineering process and science behind packaging, but just as importantly they elucidated for the students the significance and real world applications of packaging design today. While we would like to be able to say that no eggs were harmed in the process of the DLD experience, that would just be a flat out lie!