Description
Students will design and build a catapult. Students will learn about mangonels and trebuchets. Using the design process, students will build a catapult, test it, evaluate it according to the criteria and constraints, compare it with other design solutions, and improve their own design solutions. Students will learn about the mangonel which uses tension to power the launch and the trebuchet which uses a counterweight and gravity to launch the projectile. Students will love this engaging STEM activity and they will love learning about these two mechanisms for launching a projectile.
Students will learn about planning an investigation and identifying independent, dependent, and control variables. Students will evaluate design solutions to see if they meet the criteria and constraints.
This unit includes:
- A slide show on trebuchets and mangonels
- Information on planning an investigation
- Information on criteria and constraints
- Strategic note-taking guide
- Follow-up pages
This is a great, engaging engineering unit perfect for upper elementary or middle school science.