This year we chose a physical science focus. Catapults was the vehicle for teaching; force, levers, loads, fulcrums and more. The activity was designed to incorporate common core practices as well as the upcoming Next Generation Science Standards.
This was a different style of teaching than our students had
previously done. It was less directed by
us and almost completely run by the Science Ambassadors.
We began the lesson with a brief introduction
and discussion related to:
- The history of catapults
- Force
- Fulcrums
- Levers and different lever types
- Where we can find levers in real world application including inside their own bodies
- 2. The science ambassadors worked with the students to create catapults from milk cartons. The students tested these with mini marshmallows then went back to redesign and work to improve the performance. After many tests and redesigns the students would almost always improve on their designs. They were prompted with questions like:
- What improvements did you make?
Did you change the force?- Did you change the lever?
- Did you change the fulcrum?
3. After a period of time the students worked with
a partner to create their own catapult from materials brought by us. We followed a similar style with the design/test/redesign/retest lesson.
4.During the activity the students had a goal to
reach. If they reached their goal they
were rewarded.
5. Prior to our arrival we had their teachers front load them with some background on catapults. We also created a lesson on fulcrums, force and levers that we sent prior to our arrival.
6.The culminating part of the day came when we
fired our huge trebuchet made by the science teachers at OHS. The result was over 180 pounds of counterweight
launching soccer balls over great distances. 
This was a highly engaging lesson for all involved. It was exciting to see our students grow as they practiced this with different groups throughout the year.
T
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