Design & Build a Ping Pong Ball Launcher

Materials

Preparation

• Collect an assortment of recycled and new materials that students will use to construct the prototypes. The materials list above is only a suggested list.
• Determine the required quantities of materials for each working group and organize the materials.
• Option: Provide students with a set amount of play money and set up a ‘store’ area where students can ‘buy’ their materials. This could be included in the design criteria (e.g., you must spend a minimum of $5 and a maximum of $10.).
• Choose a large open area (such as the gym, or outdoors) for testing. Have students wear safety glasses.

What to Do

Students develop and apply Design & Build skills as they design, build and test a prototype ping-pong launcher.

Students will follow the steps of the Design & Build process:

• identify the problem to be solved/need to be met
• brainstorm criteria that the prototype must meet
• share their questions and ideas for a solution to the problem/need
• discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each in order to select a potential solution to be tested
• visualize what the solution might look like and make design sketches based on their visualizations
• develop a design plan (e.g., identify the tasks or key steps involved in developing the solution, make decisions about tools and materials that will be needed, include labelled sketches)
• build/develop the design idea based on the design plan
• test their prototypes based on the design criteria
• modify the prototype and retest it against the design criteria as necessary
• reflect on their results and identify things that could be done to improve their prototypes

Assessment

Observe and document, using anecdotal comments, photos and/or video recordings, student’s ability to:

• Work Collaboratively –  students work collaboratively to complete a task and evaluate their group processes throughout the Design & Build process
• Generate Ideas –  students use idea generation skills and strategies, such as brainstorming, to identify possible solutions as well as make decisions about the pros and cons of each solution
• Communicate –  students communicate their thinking and learning in words, sketches, photos, videos, etc. (e.g., in identifying the problem, in design plans that include 2D design sketches and key design steps/tasks, in lists of materials/equipment/tools)
• Work Safely –  students demonstrate safe practices when using a variety of tools and materials while prototyping
• Test – students use skills of observing and recording data as they test their prototypes
• Reflect – students reflect on the results of their prototype testing and suggest things that they might do differently to improve their prototypes

Co-constructed Learning

Cross-curricular Connections

Literacy

• Ask questions (e.g., “What surprised you about your device?” “What role did devices like these play in the past?” “What sorts of tasks could a device like this help us with?”)
• Communicate thoughts, feelings and ideas (e.g., while brainstorming criteria for a launcher, in design plans that include 2D design sketches, in an outline of key design steps/tasks and lists of required materials and equipment/tools; discuss solutions for construction challenges)
• Access information from various sources of media (e.g., books, videos, in-person experiences)

Mathematical Thinking

• Represent using pictures, diagrams, graphs, tables, numbers, words, and/or symbols (e.g., sketch their visualization of how their launcher might meet the established criteria; use tables to record tests and redesigns of their launchers)
• measure the distance travelled horizontally and/or vertically using both standard and non-standard measures

Extending the Learning

If your students are interested in learning more, the following may provoke their curiosity:

• Encourage students to use the knowledge and skills developed in this challenge to solve a real-life problem, such as how to create:
  • an automatic ping-pong ball launcher
  • a launcher that can get the ball to land on a ping-pong table
  • a launcher that can have balls land in a bucket consistently
  • a launcher that can launch a toy for a dog to fetch 
• Discuss with students how they would adapt the launcher to make it launch other objects such as tennis balls, basketballs, pumpkins, etc.
• Provide opportunities for students to present their launchers before a mock “Dragon’s Den” panel (could be teachers, older students and/or community members). The machines could be judged on originality, cost (if using play money), purpose (e.g., to launch a dog toy), accuracy, etc.

Supporting Media

• Pumpkin Catapult (2018) National Geographic -- Video (3:09 min.) of a pumpkin catapulting competition, demonstrating a variety of catapult inventions in action.
• Pumpkin Catapult (2010) M64Sport -- Video (3:32 min.) of pumpkin tossing competition by Boy Scouts. 

Learn More

Catapult Facts for Kids (2020) Kiddle Encyclopedia -- Learn all about catapults on this web page for kids. 

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