Engineering Design Process

Think about all the steps in the process.

Investigate
Design Brief
Define the Problem

Research

Act
Communicate
The Design
Redesign

Plan
Develop Possible
Solutions

Design
Specifications

Evaluate

Create

Test It Out!

Follow Your Plan

Build It!

Investigate
Design Brief, Define the Problem, Research

Design Brief
The challenge was to construct a catapult with a
group of four to five that could project a
marshmallow over a standard sized tennis net.
Define the Problem
The problem was to construct a free-standing
catapult with a group of four to five with duct
tape or masking tape, string, cardboard boxes
that were no bigger than a shoe box, plastic
spoons, paint sticks, and Popsicle sticks as
materials. A marshmallow must be projected
over a standard sized tennis net by the catapult.
Research
Part of the research that our group did was in
kinetic and potential energy. Kinetic energy is
when energy is being released. Potential
energy is when energy release is possible. We
also researched how to make a scale drawing.
We did this so we could make one of our
catapult. The link of the video that we watched
to learn how to create a scale drawing is below.
Scientific inquiry drives the work of physicists by
fueling new discoveries and building questions
off new discoveries.

Plan
Develop Possible Solutions, Design Specification

Develop Possible Solutions

There were many possible solutions to the
catapult challenge. We decided to make a
catapult with a box for a base and a spoon that
would launch the marshmallow.
Design Specification
There were some specifics that had to be
included in the catapult. The first aspect was
that you had to use at least one box. The other
specification was that you could not alter the
launched marshmallow in any way.

Create
Follow Your Plan, Build It!

Follow Your Plan

Our team followed our plan almost exactly. We
added another box that made the catapult
higher, added a paint stick support, and
changed it into a stick that bent the top one
over later. That way the top stick would have
more power when it snapped forward. We also
added several paint sticks as a stem for the
spoon.
Build It
As we built our catapult, we discovered that it
kept falling over. We added a box underneath
our first one. That worked until we realized that
our spoon was too low and needed to be
higher. A paint stick stem was added. The long
stem unbalanced the catapult. To make it
sturdier we added a paint stick support. But it
kept sliding and wouldn't keep our catapult up.
We decided to turn it into a prop-up stick that a
person held. Then our catapult was completed.

Evaluate

Test It Out!
Test It Out
We tested our catapult two times. Our catapult
was tested once in the gym and once on the
tennis court. The results of the different teams
are below.
Gym
1st Trial
Simplicity

11.36 meters 7.59 meters 2.76 meters 10.57 7.59

meters meters

Dominators

Origins
Clockwork
Catapults
Launcherz
The
Shuttles

N/A

8.6
meters
1.36
meters

1.6
0.24 meters 1.6 meters meters

1.2
meters

N/A

5.93 meters 8.17 meters 7.9 meters 7.34

meters
4.69 meters 0.65 meters 1.13 meters 2.22
meters

7.9
meters
1.13
meters

N/A

1.2 meters

Bow'dz

2nd Trial 3rd Trial Mean Median Mode Range

N/A

1.81
1.95
1.95 meters 1.98 meters 1.5 meters meters
meters
4.82
5.49
4.26
meters
7.39
meters
4.82 meters
meters meters
5.76
5.57
5.76 meters 6.32 meters 4.64 meters meters meters

N/A

4.373 4.64
meters meters

N/A

N/A

N/A

2.24
meters
4.04
meters
0.48
meters
3.13
meters
1.68
meters
11.12
meters

Evaluate

Test It Out!

Tennis
Court

1st Trial
Simplicity

7.59 meters

2nd Trial
6.5 meters

Dominators
3.8 meters

Bow'dz
Origins
Clockwork
Catapults
Launcherz
The
Shuttles

3.9 meters

Mean
7.04
meters

3.9
meters

5.02
meters
1.63 meters 6.16 meters 3.9
meters
5.2 meters

4.83 meters

1.53 meters 2.31 meters

3.2 meters

3.6 meters

4.42 meters 5.7 meters

1.92
meters
3.4
meters
5.7
meters

Median Mode Range

N/A

1.09
meters

N/A

N/A

0.1
meters

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

0.37
meters
4.53
meters
0.78
meters
0.4
meters
1.28
meters

Act
Communicate the Design, Redesign

Communicate the Design

We decided to make a catapult with a box for
a base and paint sticks as the stem of the
catapult. A plastic spoon would be the where
the marshmallow was placed. A web of
Popsicle sticks and tape would keep the paint
stick stem attached to the open lid of the shoe
box. An additional box made the catapult
higher.
Redesign
If I could redesign any aspect of my catapult, I
would straighten the stem of it. The stem of
the catapult was taped slightly slanted so I
would redo it. I would also tape my Popsicle
stick web better. The web would be taped up
to the sides of the top of the box lid. That
might make the stem more secure.