Goodrich- It’s about 9:30 a.m. on a sunny Tuesday morning, and basketball projectiles pierce the crisp spring air high above the football field at Goodrich High School.
Cheers and applause ring out as the spheres fall to earth, hitting the dewy grass with a satisfying thud before bounching back up, as far as 170 feet away from their launch site.
Students in Ed Oset’s high school physics class are learning a modern lesson using medieval technology. The assignment this week; Construct and demonstrate a trebuchet.
‘We learned a lot about working with a team and we learned what, exactly, is a trebuchet,? says student Jack Nowakowski, 16.
Dictionary.com defines a trebuchet (Treb-yoo-shet) as ‘a medieval engine of war with a sling for hurling missiles.? Or in this case, basketballs.
For the most part, explains Oset, a trebuchet is similar to a catapult except it works using a system of counterweights.
Students were put into groups of five or six and were instructed to build their own trebuchet, no taller than eight feet high and capable of throwing an object a minimum of 40 yards. They were not allowed to use springs or chemicals, nor could they use any materials that were motorized .
The activity was described by Oset as being ‘self directed,? meaning students had to research exactly how to go about building such a contraption on their own. ‘There’s a lot of material out there to look at,? said Oset. Additionally, students will have to write a report on the project.
This year’s winning creation was designed by an all-women group, who dubbed themselves ‘The Launching Ladies? and decorated their weapon of medieval destruction with little pink hearts and tissue paper.
The ladies launched themselves into sweet victory over their classmates by hurtling a basketball 170 feet.
‘It doesn’t matter how it looks,? says Erica Frank, a student on the winning team.
Teammate Candice Ayotte agreed. ‘People judged us on the fact we’re all girls…and we proved them all wrong,? says Ayotte.
Aside from a lesson in empowerment, Oset says the activity taught students a variety of things including construction and engineering, problem solving and group dynamics.
Christina Sweet, 17, says she learned the experiment was about more than getting the machine to work once.
‘I think with any experiment, we learn that consistency is the biggest thing to achieve,? says Sweet.