For a fun fall science project, Knoch Intermediate Elementary School students are Punkin' Chunkin'! Punkin' chunkin' competitions exist throughout the United States in the autumn. Mrs. Staples's 4th-grade students designed and built prototypes of pumpkin catapults to launch mini pumpkins and gourds while exploring the phenomenon of force and energy. The students had to measure and record the results of launching the pumpkins to discover the effect of force on the motion of the pumpkin and to predict the future motion of the pumpkin. The students designed, tested, and revised the catapults based on the measurement while discovering ways to convert energy from one form into another and learning that gravitational force is directed down.
Cool stuff, KIES!
