Lesson Plan for Catapult Experiment

 

Inroduction – 5 Minutes

·        Introduce Myself

·        Intro about Phys 420 and UBC Phys

·        Intro about apparatus and what we will be doing during the lesson

 

Main Body- 40 Minutes

 

Part 1- Intro to apparatus- 5 Mins

 

·        Run students through apparatus making sure they understand it’s use

·        Explain how photogates work and measure the distance between the two and also the angle between swing arm and ground

·        Explain Safety rules and ensure students are aware of potential danger

 

Part 2- Launch Payload- 15 Mins

 

·        Launch Payloads of different masses and observe results by measuring distances achieved.  Do many runs so that an average for each mass may be obtained.  Record results on board

·        Record times for each mass as measured on the timer, and record as well

 

Part 3- Calculations-20 Mins

·        Using the formulas from Physics of the project, calculate max height, flight time, initial velocity, and range

 

***If time permits, we can change the launch angle of the catapult to increase or decrease the above factors.  To do so, simply raise or lower the entire frame, and compute the formulas again.

 

Conclusion- 15 Minutes

 

·        Discuss results and how close our experimental data was to our calculated results

·        Discuss sources of error and how they may have affected our results, both human and apparatus error

·        Allow time for questions about the experiment, UBC Physics, Phys 420 or UBC in general

·        Thank the class and the teacher for a wonderful time