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![]() This helps you aim the cotton ball forward. Pushing your six sticks the other direction creates a greater angle between the launching stick and the base. This results in a cotton ball aimed more upward than forward. Moving the stack of six sticks closer to the launching cup makes the launching stick lie flatter. In the case of your catapult, the cotton ball probably flew higher and farther. Bending farther means more energy gets stored in the stick, and when you let go, all this stored energy is converted into energy of motion, so the cotton ball flies through the air at a higher speed. Maybe you felt you needed to exert more force or work harder to bend the stick farther. Pushing the stick down farther takes more effort from you. LOL We started out making predictions about which object would fly the furthest. The boys enjoyed the process of making the catapult, and let’s be honest, what kid doesn’t love shooting little objects all over the house. Most of this energy transfers to the cotton ball, which shoots through the air. Popsicle Stick Catapult was a super fun activity. When you let go, this energy is released and converted to energy of motion. When you bend your stick, you load your launching stick up with energy. Use a heavier projectile instead of a mini marshmallow.Do you get similar results each time? Is what you observe what you expected? Can you explain why?ĭid you see your cotton ball fly higher and farther when you pushed you launching stick farther down?.How does the length of the rubber band affect how far the mini marshmallows fly? How does the thickness of the rubber band affect how far the mini marshmallows fly? How does the length of the skewer (lever) affect the projectile distance? Shorten or lengthen the skewer the spoon is attached to.Therefore, the more you pull back, the farther the mini marshmallow will go. When the spoon is released and propels forward, the potential energy converts to kinetic energy due to its motion. The more you pull back the spoon, the more potential energy is stored. You can hand your kids rubber bands and ask them to stretch it and explain how the pulling sensation they feel is potential energy. You store energy in the rubber band when you stretch it. The marshmallow catapult stores potential energy until you release the spoon. Remember to only change one variable at a time. Try different size and shape marshmallows to find out which travel the furthest. You just need craft or popsicle sticks, elastic bands, tape and a milk bottle top. You can read about the scientific explanations and learn how to make different popsicle stick catapults here.įor younger kids, I like to focus on explaining potential and kinetic energy. The traditional popsicle stick catapult is very easy to make. Just like the popsicle stick catapult, the marshmallow catapult is a good demonstration of Newton’s Laws of Motion. For older kids, you can also go into how to determine the angles and height of the tetrahedron. You can introduce or review the vocabularies base, corner, edge, vertex, and even talk about the faces of the tetrahedron. This marshmallow catapult is a great opportunity to teach your kid about triangles and tetrahedrons. How To Make A Spoon Catapult Out Of Popsicle Sticks (Crafts Sticks)By: KoenDesigner: Koen Mangeslchots (Me)Level: MediumMaterials: 18 Popsicle sticks, 1 fake. You can also stiffen up the marshmallows before constructing the catapult by leaving them out of the bag. Leaving the catapult overnight should do the trick. After all, it’s being held together by soft, fluffy marshmallows! For younger kids, I recommend waiting to play with the catapult until the marshmallows stiffen up. One thing you might notice is that you need to be gentle with the marshmallow catapult. Place a mini marshmallow on the spoon, pull back the spoon, and launch the marshmallow in the air!.Feed the spoon through the rubber band and insert the other end of the skewer stick into one of the marshmallows of the base.Place the rubber band over the tip of the tetrahedron so that it loops around all 3 skewers.Tape a skewer stick to the back of the plastic spoon. ![]() From a tetrahedron by using one more marshmallow as the vertex (tip) of the tetrahedron and 3 more skewers as the lateral edges.This will be the base of your tetrahedron. Form a triangle with the marshmallows as the corners and skewer sticks as the edges.Anything that fits on the spoon will do as the projectile.) Mini marshmallows (or Cheerios or pom poms.How to Build a Marshmallow Catapult Materials: After all, all we have been doing with marshmallows is eating them after heating them in the microwave or toasting them in the oven But the marshmallow catapult really works! And you can build it within a matter of minutes. However, have you ever built a catapult out of marshmallows that can also launch marshmallows? You may have made catapults out of popsicle sticks before that can launch mini marshmallows in the air. ![]()
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