For this project, I challenged my students to design a catapult!

I really wanted to design a project that would include several areas of study (other than CAD) and this seemed to do the trick. This project included History, Math, Science, and English (along with CAD of course).

The first thing I had my students do was do research on the history of catapults as well as how the designs of catapults changed (or remained the same) throughout the ages. I then had my students write a short essay about a certain type of catapult, who used that catapult, what era this catapult was from, and why the design of this catapult was successful. Finally, I had my students begin designing their catapults and required them to use some math and physics to come up with a design that would best utilize force and trajectory.

The project was really fun, and the students had a blast! I don't even think they realized all of the things they were learning during this project.

Here is a link to one of the student's projects:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:765605

And here is a video of one of the launches:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpOv4b8-XdU