Lesson Structure

When students go through this lesson in each section, the objectives they will learn are:

• Warm-up – Discover how insects launch themselves using stored energy.
• Imagine – Explore how different trebuchet designs use potential energy for launching.
• Create – Build trebuchet arms to launch projectiles from hand.
• Build – Construct a counterweight trebuchet to launch payloads with slings.
• Reflect – Reflect on the design process in building a trebuchet.
• Challenges – Collaborate with peers to extend trebuchet design and further learning.

After this lesson students will be able to:

• Describe ways that insects store and use potential energy to launch themselves.
• Analyze how different types of trebuchets use forces to throw objects.
• Explore the effects of elastic energy on the objects being launched.
• Apply knowledge about the exchange of energy through the construction of a trebuchet.
• Demonstrate the potential and elastic energy of the straws, and the final kinetic energy of the ball in motion.