15 Jun 2021
During the period of remote learning, Year 8 students in the Engineering systems rotation of Mandatory Technology were given a Catapult Challenge. The goal was to build a catapult that can launch a ping pong/cotton balls so that it hits the targets in the game. Students had to find and use popsicle sticks, straws, rubber bands, spoon, tape, scissors and cotton balls. The brief is outlined below. Students tested their catapult by trying to hit as many of the targets as possible in as few shots as possible. In the process, students learnt how force affects the motion of a projectile, as well as the optimum angle for launching a projectile.
Catapult Design
Problem: You are an engineer who specialises in designing cool toys and machines for games. You were recently contacted by the SuperFun Toy Company to help design a machine called a catapult for a game that will launch Ping-Pong balls at a series of targets. To ensure that children and adults alike will love the game, you need to make sure the catapult is both accurate and precise.
Indi Chatfield-Williams did fantastic work in this challenge and submitted photos of her task:
