🧪 Science with Sarah: Popsicle Stick Catapults 🎯

Hello parents, teachers and students! If you’re looking for a fun way to understand simple machines, this experiment is for you.

Be sure to check out GMSA@9 on Wednesdays, when Meteorologist Sarah Spivey demonstrates and explains the science behind it.

HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED

• 10 jumbo popsicle sticks
• Rubber bands
• A plastic bottle cap
• Glue dots
• Various soft items to launch (pom poms, cotton balls, mini marshmallows, pencil topper erasers, etc...)

ASSEMBLE THE CATAPULT

• STEP 1: Cut notches on two of the popsicle sticks. It should look like this ⬇️

• STEP 2: Stack the other 8 popsicle sticks onto each other, binding them on both sides with some rubber bands. It should look like this ⬇️

• STEP 3: Shove one of the notched popsicle sticks through the bottom of the stack and place the other notched popsicle stick on top. Bind these two together along the notches. Again, it should look like this ⬇️

• STEP 4: Using a glue dot, place the bottle cap at the top of the catapult. If you’d like to fortify your catapult, place additional rubber bands across the middle of the catapult. Your final product should look like this ⬇️

• STEP 5: Launch the various soft items from the catapult. See which ones fly farther

SCIENCE WITH SARAH

If you’d like Sarah to come to your school and conduct a science experiment live on KSAT, fill out this form. “Winners” are selected at random.