Trebuchet Builders Test Distance and Accuracy of their 'Flings'

As their major class project, Upper School Engineering I students working with teacher Alex Siragy designed and built wooden trebuchets. Working in pairs/trios, the class teams designed five large trebuchets, each very unique but with a midsection that could hold a bag of sand and a pouch to hold their 'ammunition' - tennis balls. During their building and testing process, they launched balls, made adjustments to pouch/sling, payload and counterweights to improve aim and accuracy and increase distance of each launch. Finally, this week the class spent their final exam period holding a trebuchet launch demonstration and competition to a cheering audience. Teams launched tennis balls at targets, competing for distance and accuracy. The winning trebuchet design was by juniors Elijah M and Kavi M. Check out some testing photos.