At first I only wanted their hand/finger to be on the launching part but after much frustration on their part, I decided to have them include that as an influencing factor in their data results. Students were glad about that.
With overhead ceiling fans, some portable fans, and open windows, students had other factors that could impact their projectile motion distances.
Here are some photos taken on Day1=
Before the first class period working on this, I prepared small supply kits for each of my 16 eighth graders. Their kits included 6 small craft sticks, 3 jumbo craft sticks, 1 plastic spoon, 1 binder clip (these varied in widths due to buying an assortment package from Dollar Tree), 3 small and 1 large rubber bands, 1 pom-pom, and 4 glue dots. Protractors were borrowed from the math teacher so students could be more accurate in determining angles for launch trials.
Yardsticks and rulers were available to help determine distances. Lots of math integration within this activity with students creating their data tables full of details on their trial launches of 3 angles with 3 trials at each angle to look for consistent results and then 1 angle picked with 3 trials with catapult on top of 1 textbook and then either the same angle or a different angle picked with 3 trials with the catapult on top of 2 textbooks. Students were to notice if the height adjustments increased the distance in their projecting.
A couple of students got super frustrated on Day 1 and one male was a bit overzealous but overall students really enjoyed this and loved having this opportunity to experiment. Their dedication and focus to this activity were joys to observe. And the amazing ripple effect is having 6th & 7th graders wanting to be able to do this!!! I was flooded with questions from guys and gals about when they could make a catapult!!!!
Loving this teaching gig! Next post is about crater impact with 7th graders...
From the USA heartland,
Becca S
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