Catapults (Stephen Curry Machines)

The goal of this ETP is to engage students with a hands-on engineering design challenge. Students will spend time designing, testing, and redesigning small-scale catapults. They will make two catapults: a prototype (what this lesson covers) and a final design (not included in this lesson). The catapult will need to make a wadded up piece of 8.5 by 11 inch paper roughly 1.5 inches in diameter into a 2 foot tall trash can that is 6 feet away; this will be referred to as “making a free throw”. The secondary design goal is to see who can make a free-throw from the furthest distance. To complete the primary and secondary tasks, students will be in small groups and will need to take various measurements throughout the process (distance, speed, time, acceleration, mass, and force). They will then use these variables to create a machine that performs optimally. One of the benefits of this project is that students will practice using seven out of the eight science and engineering practices. Finally, students will present their projects to the class in a brief presentation using PowerPoint.