The ballista, a medieval machine constructed by members of Mr. Schmucker's physics class, fired its bolt 40 meters. (Photo By: L. Taylor)

Taking action in your education is one of the best ways to learn, and physics teacher Mr. Schmucker has recently given his students that opportunity.  Basing his lesson plans on science teacher Mr. Young’s idea of a project-based curriculum, Schmucker assigned his students to take initiative and research something physics- related that really interests them. He said, “Learning is fun and easy when a student pursues a topic he or she is personally interested in.”

The physics students looked into various topics like the physics of roller coasters, photography, trebuchets, and ballistas. Other projects pertained to egg dropping and the physics behind baseball. The most successful projects, though, were the ballista and trebuchet. A ballista is a weapon that was used in medieval times for throwing rocks and stones at the enemy, and a trebuchet is, similarly, an ancient defense machine.

Four students, Josh A., Ethan D., Steven W., and Drew T., worked tirelessly on the ballista, and Ryan G. put a lot of time and effort into a trebuchet. When the machines were finished, the classes ventured outside to witness the test-firing of these projects. Both were functional and impressive, but when they went head to head to see whose was the best, the ballista took the prize. Josh A. said, “I really enjoyed exploring the different physics concepts, and our ballista is just flat-out sweet.”