Engineer It! at home

Launch, Fling, Fly

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Background Knowledge

Can you design a contraption that launches a pom pom all the way across the room?

Suggested Materials: 

  • Rubberbands (4 small, 2 large)
  • Spoon (non-metal)
  • Popsicle sticks (6)
  • Binder clips (2)
  • Pom pom or cotton ball

STEM Concepts: Rubberbands store up energy, called potential energy, when they’re stretched out. When they SNAP! that stored energy turns into kinetic energy, the energy of motion.

Extensions: How far can you make your pom pom travel? Are there other materials that you could use to help it go farther? What happens if you launch a ping pong ball or other object?

THE ENGINEERING DESIGN PROCESS

Define the Challenge: Design a tool that will launch a pom pom across the room. Your Design: With the materials you have, what would you like to try? What sort of tool would be helpful?

Plan Your Design: With the materials you have, what would you like to try? What sort of tool would be helpful?

Create a Prototype: A prototype is like a first try – see if you can build what you imagined.

Test Your Creation: Does your launcher work? How far did the pom pom go? Try measuring the distance that the pom pom flew. If it didn’t do what you expected, what happened?

Improve Your Design: What else do you want to try? What could help your pom pom fly further?