Catapults built by the tenth grade physics classes in order to test Newton’s Law of Motion prove their efficiency and demonstrate their knowledge of kinematics.  

After sketching and investigating, each pair has to build a strong catapult specifically made out of quick sticks, a spoon, and rubber bands, in order to be able to throw a standard size marshmallow 6 meters away.

“Students will be applying Newton’s Law of Motion for this assignment. Based on the National Science Standard, students are required to apply their learning instead of taking notes and being tested on them,” Joshua Brown, tenth grade physics teacher.

Creativity and deep-thinking were some tools used by tenth graders in this assignment. Interesting ideas such as pasting the catapult with marshmallow as glue, and using rubber bands to make the catapult steady made this assignment fun and competitive. The building of this catapult wasn’t easy many of the tenth graders had lots of obstacles on their journey, yet no matter the competition and making a unique catapult at the end all of them looked pretty much alike.

“I have high expectations for our catapult; we’ve come up with a unique way of pasting and making it steady. This way it won’t collapse after or during testing. Yet I’ve seen many other competitors’ catapults a bit weak… good luck for them,” TCS sophomore Elisa Martinez expressed.

After testing in the hallway and the outdoor theater, a couple of conclusions and ways to improve were made. Many successful catapults launched their marshmallows in a range of 4 -18 meters, yet some presented technical difficulties. After studying and looking carefully at the results, students concluded to improve their catapults by adding more rubber bands helping it be stronger for the launching.

“My catapult was successful! In general all the catapults in my class succeeded, the best catapult was Alejandro Yepez’ and the worst was Elisa Martinez and Antonio Berdugo’s,” TCS sophomore Sofia Velasquez said.

Throughout this assignment students had fun and put a great effort in making successful their catapults. Since the beginning the idea of building and testing impacted the students, on how they could learn so much by actually applying physics and learning in an assignment; this encouraged them to work hard and make their catapult the best one.

“I think that this assignment is very didactic, enjoyable and particular in a good way. It permits us, physic students, to learn and apply kinematics with our own methods in an awesome assignment,” TCS sophomore Juanita Tobon stated.