Launching Students to Success
by Holly Duncan
February 11, 2008
Launching students to success. Two different teachers in two different towns shared with me how they teach their students the concept of projectile motion – construction of catapults! Archer City’s Bill Crowley had students build catapults in his physics class. Students go through the engineering process of brainstorming ideas, building models and then actual construct of their final product. Mr. Crowley’s students produced catapults that were quite large and could launch larger objects. Students used surgical tubing to propel the objects. While in a neighboring town, Holliday’s Dr. James Leeth has his student’s follow strict design requirements on materials and size. Dr. Leeth recycles all the materials each year and only has to add a minimum amount of new lumber to the student’s supplies. Borrowing the football team’s tape measure is just one of the preparations that Dr. Leeth must make to measure the distance the smaller catapults can launch their projectiles. Different designs produce different results but the same result in student fun and success. Ingenuity in engineering makes learning science intriguing in Region 9’s schools.
