Play Catapult

Catapults are an ancient device that were used to hurl objects over castle walls or barricades. When teaching students about medieval or ancient history, it can be exciting to show them how to create their own catapult out of simple craft materials, such as paper towel rolls.

Instructions

1 Cut open 10 paper towel tubes vertically with scissors.
2 Roll each tube up again tightly, and tape it with masking tape. This will cause the rolls to be more sturdy and they won't bend when you launch objects with your catapult.
3 Tape the corners of three of the rolled tubes together so that they form a triangle.
4 Repeat this process two more times until you have three paper-towel-roll triangles.
5 Place two of the triangles together horizontally, and tape one of the sides.
6 Splay open the connected triangles, and insert the third triangle into the space that is opened up. This will create a paper-towel-roll pyramid.
7 Tape all of the sides of the pyramid.
8 Place the end of the remaining paper towel roll into one of the bottom corners of the pyramid. Tape it into place. This will allow the arm to remain attached to the structure, while enabling it to be moved backward in order to hurl an object.
9 Tape a small paper cup to the end of the paper towel tube arm with the cup facing upward.
10 Loop a rubber band around the paper towel arm with the cup.
11 Loop the same rubber band around the top of the pyramid.
12 Tape the bottom pyramid to an 18-inch square of cardboard in order to stabilize it during use.
13 Place an object into the paper cup, pull the cup back, and release the cup to launch the object into the air.