Projectile Motion



SWANNACK Date Assigned: ____________________

Date Due: ____________________

Projectile Motion

The Catapult Lab

Objective: To apply the laws of Physics and the equations for projectile motion to design a catapult that can accurately launch a marshmallow and hit a designated target. To compare experimental data to theoretical data and understand differences between the two.

Materials and Methods:

In this lab you will be building marshmallow catapults. Your catapult will need to be able to launch a marshmallow in the range of __________ m. Your catapult must be able to launch a marshmallow (large variety – approximately 4 cm X 4cm X 4 cm) at any angle between 0 and 90 degrees.

At the end of this unit you will use a combination of your experimental data with a class-developed model to accurately hit a designated target. On testing day you will be given the distance to the target and you will then have 10 minutes to make adjustments to your catapult. Therefore, you must design and test your catapult so that on testing day you can make whatever adjustments are needed.

All catapults should be composed of scrap materials found that you provide - I will provide the marshmallows. The appearance of the catapult will not be judged, but you should pay careful attention to design elements that affect the ability of your catapult to adjust to new distances.

You need turn in only one report per group. However, you will be completing a peer evaluation for every member in your group, so be sure that each team member is contributing in a meaningful way. You will have ______ class periods to design the catapult (keep this in mind, because you will need to build the catapult at home). During the competition day, you will have 10 minutes to set up your catapult so that it can fire a marshmallow at the required distance.

You will be graded on the following items:

1) Statement of Objective 08 pts.

2) Design Plan 20 pts.

3) Data Collection / Data Table 22 pts.

4) Data Analysis 20 pts.

5) Conclusion 20 pts.

6) Organization and presentation of report 10 pts.

7) Participation ***

***Team members will fill out a participation rubric for all of the members in the team. This rubric will help Coach Swannack assess each team member’s contribution and percent of the team’s overall grade.***

Your Design Plan Must Include:

1) A list of materials used (should be bulleted)

2) A diagram of your catapult. The diagram should have all dimensions labeled (including units) and should be neatly drawn. Your diagram should be drawn on plain white paper and should fill most of a single page.

Your Data Analysis Must Include:

1) Data table that includes time of flight(s), distance flown in horizontal direction, and angle of launch. You must test at least 2 different distances using 3 replicate trials for each distance (That means a total of 6 shots, 3 from each distance)

2) How did changing the distance affect the characteristics of your trajectory?

Organization and Presentation:

1) Report should be neatly typed or written and sections should be well marked.

2) Mistakes must be either erased or whited out.

3) All answers are presented in complete sentences excluding the list of materials which may be bulleted.

Conclusion:

Your conclusion should include an overview of your findings and describe any sources of error that might be present. Give some examples of real life projectiles whose landing spots must be carefully predicted.

Possible material suggestions:

1) rubber bands

2) nails / screws

3) meter stick

4) wood supports (tongue depressors)

Rubric for Catapult Laboratory Report

|Outcomes |Below |Average |Above |

| |Average | |Average |

|Statement of Objective: States why the student is doing the|0 |1-6 |7-8 |

|investigation and what the goals are. Should be clear and | | | |

|concise. |No objective stated|Objective is unclear, incomplete, or not related to|Objective clearly stated and in line |

| | |the purpose of the lab |with the goal of the lab |

|Design Plan: Complete description of the catapult and |0 |1-15 |16-20 |

|diagram with all parts labeled and clearly drawn. | | | |

| |No plan turned in |Plan includes 2 or more of the following: sloppy |Design plan complete with one minor |

| | |work, incorrect paper used, lines not straight, not|flaw or no flaws |

| | |all measurements recorded, plan does not match | |

| | |actual catapult, or other examples of poor work | |

|Data Table: All data taken should be listed in this |0 |1-7 |8-10 |

|section. All data must have units and data tables should | | | |

|be clearly labeled. Must include: time of flight, launch |No data table |Data table is incomplete, inaccurate, or sloppy |Data table is complete, contains |

|angle, and distance in x-direction. |included | |accurate data, and is well organized |

|Accuracy: Projectile hit target on testing day. |0 |1-8 |10-12 |

| | | |Hit target 4-6 times |

| |Did not hit target |Hit target 1-3 times | |

|Data Analysis: Correct equations have been used, |0 |1-15 |16-20 |

|calculations are correct and appropriate units are used. | | | |

|See laboratory sheet for additional requirements. |No data analysis |2 or more of the following errors are present: Data|Data analysis is complete with one |

| |section |analysis is incomplete, work is not fully shown, |minor flaw or no flaws |

| | |calculations are incorrect, or work is sloppy | |

|Conclusion: |0 |1-15 |16-20 |

|Conclusion should be well-thought out and describe any | | | |

|possible sources of error or success in the design and |No conclusion |2 or more of the following: It is unclear, it does |Conclusion contains one minor error /|

|testing of the catapault. Examples of real-life |present |not describe what actually happened, it does not |no errors |

|projectiles should be included. | |contain possible sources of error, no examples of | |

| | |real-life projectiles | |

|Organization and presentation: Report is neatly typed or |0 |1-7 |8-10 |

|written, sections have been well marked, mistakes are | | | |

|either erased or whited out. |No report turned in|Report has two or more of the following: |Report has one minor error or no |

| | |grammatical errors, mistakes, incomplete sentences,|errors. |

| | |sloppy handwriting, illegible words, or any other | |

| | |examples of poor work | |

|Teacher name: |

| |

|Student Name ___________________ |

|CATEGORY |Excellent |Good |Satisfactory |Needs Improvement |

|Attitude |Never is publicly critical |Rarely is publicly critical|Occasionally is publicly |Often is publicly critical of |

| |of the project or the work |of the project or the work |critical of the project or |the project or the work of other|

| |of others. Always has a |of others. Often has a |the work of other members of|members of the group. Often has |

| |positive attitude about the|positive attitude about the|the group. Usually has a |a positive attitude about the |

| |task(s). |task(s). |positive attitude about the |task(s). |

| | | |task(s). | |

|Working with Others |Almost always listens to, |Usually listens to, shares,|Often listens to, shares |Rarely listens to, shares with, |

| |shares with, and supports |with, and supports the |with, and supports the |and supports the efforts of |

| |the efforts of others. |efforts of others. Does not|efforts of others, but |others. Often is not a good team|

| |Tries to keep people |cause "waves" in the group.|sometimes is not a good team|player. |

| |working well together. | |member. | |

|Quality of Work |Provides work of the |Provides high quality work.|Provides work that |Provides work that usually needs|

| |highest quality. | |occasionally needs to be |to be checked/redone by others |

| | | |checked/redone by other |to ensure quality. |

| | | |group members to ensure | |

| | | |quality. | |

|Preparedness |Brings needed materials to |Almost always brings needed|Almost always brings needed |Often forgets needed materials |

| |class and is always ready |materials to class and is |materials but sometimes |or is rarely ready to get to |

| |to work. |ready to work. |needs to settle down and get|work. |

| | | |to work | |

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download