Trebuchet Toss

Student Worksheet:
Design Your Own Trebuchet

You are a team of engineers who have been given the challenge to design your own trebuchet out of everyday items. The trebuchet should be designed to launch a marshmallow so it can land on a pie tin from as far a distance as possible. The trebuchet that can accurately hit the pie tin from the greatest distance is the winner. You may use the materials which have been provided to you, but the rubber bands may not be used to power the arm or slingshot the marshmallow. 

 Planning Stage 
Meet as a team and discuss the problem you need to solve. Then develop and agree on a design for your trebuchet. You'll need to determine what materials you want to use.

Draw your design in the box below, and be sure to indicate the description and number of parts you plan to use. Present your design to the class.

You may choose to revise your teams' plan after you receive feedback from class.

Design: 																																																																																																																																																																																																																																					

  Materials Needed:

Trebuchet Toss

Student Worksheet (continued):

 Construction Phase
Build your trebuchet. Tip: You may want to experiment with the weight of your counterweight, sling length, and the placement of your arm’s pivot point. During construction you may decide you need additional materials or that your design needs to change. This is ok – just make a new sketch and revise your materials list.

 Testing Phase
Each team will test their trebuchet. Your object is to launch a marshmallow as far a distance as possible and land on the pie tin target.  Be sure to watch the tests of the other teams and observe how their different designs worked.

Trebuchet Test Results	
	Projectile Distance 	Distance from  Landed Target	
Test 1			
Test 2			
Test 3			
Average			

 Evaluation Phase 
Evaluate your teams' results, complete the evaluation worksheet, and present your findings to the class.

Use this worksheet to evaluate your team's results in the Trebuchet Toss Lesson:

1.	Did you succeed in creating a trebuchet that could launch a marshmallow to accurately land on a pie tin? If so, what was the maximum distance achieved? If not, why did it fail?

2.	Did you decide to revise your original design or request additional materials while in the construction phase? Why?

Trebuchet Toss

Student Worksheet (continued):

3. Did you negotiate any material trades with other teams? How did that process work for you?

4. If you could have had access to materials that were different than those provided, what would your team have requested? Why?

5. Do you think that engineers have to adapt their original plans during the construction of systems or products? Why might they?

6. If you had to do it all over again, how would your planned design change? Why?

7. What designs or methods did you see other teams try that you thought worked well?

8.	Do you think you would have been able to complete this project easier if you were working alone? Explain…

Trebuchet Toss

Student Worksheet (continued):

9.	How might you measure the maximum height your trebuchet could launch a marshmallow?  Try it!

10.	What drawback and advantages does the trebuchet have in battle?