STEM Challenge - Project Storm the Castle - Build a Catapult

Looking for a flexible, multi-day activity that gets your students “doing science?” Every STEM Challenge offers a hands-on, inquiry-based, student-led project designed to allow them to step into the roles of researchers and engineers.

STEM Challenge projects are ideal for use at any time throughout the school year, between units, before breaks, or during afternoons when testing weeks occur.

For teachers, there are presentations and step-by-step guides to facilitate pacing and lesson plans that align with standards. Students utilize the included notebooks to guide them through activities (both individually and in small groups), challenge them to learn new information, and reflect on and apply the information they have learned. 

The Challenge:

Catapults have been launching projectiles for more than two thousand years and reached their castle-smashing peak in the Middle Ages. The local Medieval Faire is having their annual “Storm the Castle” competition again this year, and your team is excited to build and enter a catapult.

The goal of the competition is to build a catapult that will cause the most destruction to a fictitious castle wall. Your team will research how catapults work and how force and mass effect destruction.

The contest director will provide you with a list of materials and their costs. You must remain within a fixed budget and test the mass of three different projectiles before deciding on the one you will use in the contest.

The battle begins now. Storm the castle!

What’s in a STEM Challenge?

• a video explaining the engineering challenge and setting the context for the project
• a BIG Question to guide the inquiry
• teacher presentation in PPT (Google-compatible) and Keynote
• a teacher's guide on what the teacher and students should be doing along the way
• student notebook offers
  • questions to provide the students with a framework for their inquiry throughout the entire project
  • opportunities to absorb new information and reflect on ways to use it to complete the challenge

• Using the LAUNCH process, students brainstorm with their peers and reflect on failures and opportunities, with the prospect of sharing their ideas with the world. This holds students accountable, and they will put forth the best effort, knowing that other students could critique the project.
• Each STEM Challenge contains a list of suggested supplies for its project. We were very cautious about choosing inexpensive items, and the supply list is dynamic, allowing for adjustments to individual situations. Suggested supplies include: 
  • Cardboard or poster board
  • Glue
  • Toilet paper/paper towel tubes
  • Pipe cleaners
  • Scissors
  • Paper
  • Craft sticks
  • Plastic spoon
  • Tape
  • Paperclips
  • Tiny rubber bands
  • Toothpicks
  • Brads
  • Bendable straws
  • Clothes pins

Supports Next Generation Science Standards:

MS-PS2-2

Plan an investigation to provide evidence that the change in an object’s motion depends on the sum of the forces on the object and the mass of the object.

MS-ETS1-2

Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

MS-ETS1-3

Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success.

MS-ETS1-4

Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.