Catapult Competition

A catapult competition is coming to a location near you! Teams of two to three will create
catapults to be tested in two ways--accuracy and strength. Here are the rules:
Catapults must fit within an imaginary 1 ft x 1 ft x 1 ft box.
Catapults body must be constructed out of only:Popsicle sticks, Wood, Cardboard,

Dowel rods, Pencils, and Styrofoam.

The only adhesives that are allowed are rubber bands, string, and glue (Elmer's glue,
glue stick, super glue, hot glue). NOTE: Screws and fasteners are NOT allowed
Catapults must be fully constructed at KIH
Catapults must be able to propel/shoot an object the size of a golf ball. Any materials
permitted (some ideas: cup, container lid, cardboard, etc.) NOTE: The only purpose of
the projectile holder may be to hold the ball of clay
Teams may not help their catapult shoot. The catapults may be elastic and/or
counterweight powered.
Elastic-powered (Rubber bands or other elastic materials)
Counterweight-powered (Can use any counterweight, but it must stay secured
during launch)
Any materials may be used to hold the counterweight
Teams may have up to 3 people.
Catapult must be durable and capable of firing multiple times.
Teams may only create 1 catapult.

Here are some competition specifics:

1.
2.
3.
4.

The catapults will be launched from a designated spot on the floor/ground and must
stay within the designated launch area.
The catapults may only launch one projectile at a time.
The accuracy component--Each team will be given three shots (no practice shots) to
hit an object 15 feet away.
The strength component--Each team will be given three shots (no practice shots) to
shoot its projectile as far and as straight as possible.

Awards
1. Most innovative
2. Most unique
3. Most decorative
4. Viewer's choice
5. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place for each of the competitions
a. Furthest distance (Herculean Award)
b. Straightest (Jedi Award)
c. Closest to target (Robin Hood Award)
6. Best overall catapult (Superman Award)
Competition Entry
To be eligible for entry into the competition, each team must apply by submitting an
electronic analysis of launched projectile by its catapult and a record of its catapults
development. Specifically, the following need to be completed:
a daily photo journal of the catapults development and construction, including a
sketch or design plan.
a video of the catapult in action (launching a projectile)
a hand-drawn graph of the function that models the projectiles height over time
a function to represent the projectiles height over time
a description of the key features of the graph, including end behavior, extrema,
vertex/vertices, domain, range, and roots/zeros.

counterweight powered

elastic powered

http://eoh.ec.illinois.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Catapult-Rules.pdf