Catapult

Students can build and manipulate these tiny catapults to learn about motion, the history of science and technology, and the scientific method.

Standards alignment

Common Standards — cross-referenced to the Common Core State Standards, the Next Generation Science Standards and the California Content Standards.
Standard	Framework	Grade	Subject	Domain
Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object.	Next Generation Science Standards	Grade 3	Physical Science	Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
Make observations and/or measurements of an object’s motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion. [Examples: a child swinging in a swing, a ball rolling back and forth in a bowl, and two children on a see-saw.]	Next Generation Science Standards	Grade 3	Physical Science	Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
Use evidence to construct an explanation relating the speed of an object to the energy of that object.	Next Generation Science Standards	Grade 4	Physical Science	Energy
Support an argument that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed down.	Next Generation Science Standards	Grade 5	Physical Science	Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
Plan an investigation to provide evidence that the change in an object’s motion depends on the sum of the forces on the object & the mass of the object.	Next Generation Science Standards	Middle School	Physical Science	Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
Construct, use, & present arguments to support the claim that when the motion energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object.	Next Generation Science Standards	Middle School	Physical Science	Energy

California Standards — cross-referenced to the Common Core State Standards, the Next Generation Science Standards and the California Content Standards.
Standard	Framework	Grade	Subject	Domain
1.c. The way to change how something is moving is to give it a push or a pull. The size of the change is related to the strength, or the amount of “force,” of the push or pull.	CA Science	Grade 2	01. Physical Sciences	1. The motion of objects can be observed and measured.
1.d. Tools and machines are used to apply pushes and pulls (forces) to make things move.	CA Science	Grade 2	01. Physical Sciences	1. The motion of objects can be observed and measured.
1. Motion	CA Science	Grade 8	01. Physical Sciences
2. Forces	CA Science	Grade 8	01. Physical Sciences