Lessons learned with catapults

Hundreds of years ago, catapults were important siege tools used to topple cities and build empires.

Last week, in a grassy field behind Lincoln Middle School, scaled-down versions of these ancient weapons were used by eighth graders to shoot golfballs at a target.

Three weeks of hard work in Stacey Nelson’s eighth-grade honor’s science class culminated in a friendly competition amongst students to see who could launch a ball 10 meters into a 1-meter target, as well as launch their balls the furthest. All eighth-grade science students were required to build catapults in their classes, but Nelson said the honors course features a more rigorous curriculum and requires students to build their catapults to higher construction parameters.

Nelson said students were tasked with choosing a design and building their catapult.

The student with the most accurate launch was Devin Bobbitt, who hit the target with a near-dead center hit. Chatney Tirrell’s shot was the furthest ball launched, traveling approximately 35 meters, nearly 115 feet.

The lesson focuses on mechanical advantage of simple and compound machines, as well as elastic potential energy and the impact of friction on machines.

“The most important take away lesson for the students is the troubleshooting or trial and error nature of science and how they may apply that type of problem solving to their everyday lives,” Nelson said.

 

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