Catapult Project

Physics students of North High School have to do the Catapult project for their first trimester. According to Mr. Scott Sturm, who teaches both Physics and Physical Science, says that students have to do this project because it gives them more knowledge on how Projectile motion works in physics. Projectile motion is about free fall with an initial horizontal velocity. The topic the students are studying is Two-Dimensional Motions and Vectors. He says that students get to investigate Projectile Motion. Catapult project, according to Mr. Sturm, has been in the Physics department curriculum for three years. Catapult is a device used to throw or hurl a projectile a great distance without the aid of explosive devices. More importantly, Mr. Sturm says that the objective of the catapult project is to allow students to remove from their seats, so that they can learn by exploring and competing with other students.
What‘s most important of the catapult project, is that student get to work with each other, instead of working alone. In Mr. Sturm’ first hour Physics class, students Enyong Tan, Seng, Vang, and Dillon Olsterag [who are all seniors] all partnered to work on the catapult project. Veng says that he likes the project because it’s cool. He says that he gets “to make catapult.” As for Tan, he likes the project, because “he gets to have a feeling of being in the war field,” because he actually gets to shoot marshmallows from a catapult.”
The more interesting things about the project, is that students get to complete with other students about how far their catapults will reach. Students get to shoot marshmallow from the made catapult. During the competition’s day in Mr. Sturm’s first hour class, some students asked what the record was. Mr. Sturm said that since he has been doing this project, a group has exceeded more than 30 meters. His first hour class did not break the record. Tan, Veng, and Olsterag didn’t exceed, too. They did not exceed more than fourteen meters. They were between two meters for every turn round they shot the marshmallow from the catapult.
Each group had to shoot their marshmallow from the catapult six consecutive times. The first three trials, they used the smaller marshmallow, and then the last three consecutive trials, they used the bigger marshmallow to shoot.
Some of the materials students used to make their catapults were: wood, cardboard, paper, Popsicle sticks, plastic cups, fabric used for a sling, glue, dental floss (waxed or plain), string, rubber band, etc.