The Engineering Process- preforming a series of steps in order to solve a problem.Fulcrum- the point on which a lever rests or is supported.Force- push or pull on an object that causes it to stop, change directions or start moving.Examples of potential energy: water behind a dam, a child at the top of a slide, water at the top of a waterfall, a raised weight.Potential Energy- Energy that is “stored” because of the position and/or arrangement of the object.Examples of kinetic energy- running, walking, a car driving, a ball rolling down a hill.Kinetic Energy- Energy that an object has from being in motion.Understanding the Science behind Popsicle Stick Catapults Vocabulary: Items to shoot (marshmallows, pompoms, small candy etc.).Double sided tape, sticky dots or something similar.Plastic spoon (you can use this instead of a bottle lid).Bottle lid (soda pop or milk caps work great).To use the engineering process to understand the difference between kinetic and potential energy. Popsicle Stick Catapult Lesson Plan Objective:
The 6 and 3 year old had fun launching objects. Our 10 and 12 year old got very into the engineering process and really started to understand the science behind why it works. This lead to a great discussion on potential energy.
We made the original catapult (described below) then we made slight variations and tested how it changed the results. They will all change the results slightly. There are multiple ways that you can make and tweak the popsicle stick catapult. This is a great activity to teach the engineering process. LOL! We started out making predictions about which object would fly the furthest. The boys enjoyed the process of making the catapult, and let’s be honest, what kid doesn’t love shooting little objects all over the house. Experiment with different distances, and even different amounts of popsicle sticks in the stack, to see what works best.Popsicle Stick Catapult was a super fun activity. When the stacked popsicle sticks are farther from the elastic on the spoon, the objects tend to be shot straight up in the air. The closer they are to the elastic, the farther the projectile will go. You can also change the angle of the catapult by moving the stacked popsicle sticks closer to the elastic on the spoon. If your spoon is flexible enough, pull it right down to the table before releasing it to get more speed. Try pulling the spoon down at different angles. Then gravity plays a part, bringing the load back down. Releasing the arm changes the potential energy to kinetic energy, sending the load flying. Pulling down the arm of the catapult is force, which creates potential energy. An object stays at rest until an external force is applied. How levers work can be explained using Newton’s Laws of Motion. You push the arm (plastic spoon) over the fulcrum (popsicle sticks) to launch the load (tin foil balls, or whatever you choose). These popsicle stick catapults are a simple machine called a lever. You definitely want heavier duty rubber bands for this experiment. We first tried using rainbow loom elastics, but they were too loose. If you don’t have asparagus elastics, thicker elastics, like size #64 rubber bands, will work the best. We used the elastics that were around our asparagus bunches, and they worked perfectly. Make a prediction about which object you think will fly the farthest! Which elastics are best for a popsicle stick catapult? Try paper balls, marshmallows, eraser tops, bottle caps, or pom poms. But you can send any object flying with these catapults (within reason!!), which makes them so much fun. Objects with a bit of weight to them, like a ball of tin foil, are the perfect projectile. What type of projectiles work best in popsicle stick catapults?
#Popsicle stick catapult full
The full printable instructions are at the end of this post, but here’s a list of products on Amazon that are similar to the supplies we used: If you use these links to buy something we may earn a small commission which helps us run this website. Looking for more fun ideas? Here’s some of our favourites:
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