Snowball Catapult
Materials: whatever we could find!
Task: Build a device (catapult) that would hurl a "snowball" (styrofoam ball, taped paper ball, cotton ball) - the team that could hurl their snowball the farthest was considered the winners.
Learning points: what is the difference between a slingshot and a catapult - will one "snowball" act differently than another - why do some teams have trouble with their snowball hitting the ceiling, while other teams don't - can you to some degree control the force and direction of the "snowball" - what are benefits to holding your catapult as opposed to having it on the ground . . . .these were just a few questions we contemplated!
Task: Build a device (catapult) that would hurl a "snowball" (styrofoam ball, taped paper ball, cotton ball) - the team that could hurl their snowball the farthest was considered the winners.
Learning points: what is the difference between a slingshot and a catapult - will one "snowball" act differently than another - why do some teams have trouble with their snowball hitting the ceiling, while other teams don't - can you to some degree control the force and direction of the "snowball" - what are benefits to holding your catapult as opposed to having it on the ground . . . .these were just a few questions we contemplated!
First Design
(they had no examples prior to building)
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Rebuild
Students watched a few videos and were allowed 10 minutes to look up examples of catapults
before beginning their redesign!
before beginning their redesign!
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