The Year 8 Academy of Maths and Science cohort recently had the incredible opportunity to participate in the 2023 Year 8 AMS Catapult Challenge, where students learnt about the formidable power of one of history’s greatest weapons: the catapult!
Teams were given time to design and construct their catapults using materials such as pieces of dowel, various rubber bands, spoons and hot glue. They also had the opportunity to trial and test the mechanics of their creations. This allowed students to consider statistical probabilities of where a projectile would land with varying amounts of force applied to the pull back of their catapults. After testing, students made improvements.
By making informed and economic design choices, students successfully constructed their prototypes to achieve the most accurate, energy-efficient, and powerful catapults. This challenge enhanced students’ understanding of forces, including kinetic energy and elastic potential energy. It also allowed students to apply their knowledge of geometry, to ensure they constructed their catapults to achieve an optimum parabolic path; this consideration achieved maximum projectile travel distances.
With masterfully crafted catapults at the ready, the competition began! There was extraordinary focus as students aimed to score points across a diverse range of categories. These categories included furthest distance, most accurate, best team name, innovation, economics, design flair and importantly team work.
All in all, the Catapult Challenge was not only an educational activity but also a fun and exciting way to immerse students in maths and science, as well as strengthen students’ interpersonal relationships.
– Sienna Earwicker, Alexander Earwicker, Zara Fergus | Year 8 AMS
