W.B.O. Intermediate School students design, build catapult

Fifth graders at William B. Orenic Intermediate School recently experienced the engineering design process in their science classes by designing, building and testing small catapults.

After designing their machines using materials such as popsicle sticks, clothespins and rubber bands, students built their catapults and tested them in a series of challenges that included catapulting a candy pumpkin to topple a tower of cups, dunk it into a bucket, hit a target, and make it fly through a hoop and sail over a stack of books.

There is serious science behind the project. The simple machine works like a lever, with energy stored in the rubber bands. Force is the effort students use to launch the load. Gravity also plays a role in the use of the catapult.

W.B.O. science teacher Christine Pinter said the students first brainstormed their vision for the catapult, then planned it out, built it and tested it by completing the challenges. Along the way, students often found the need to redesign their catapults for better results, alter their distance from a target, or alter the amount of force behind the launch. Students then reflected on their designs and why certain ones did the tasks best.