Catapult Contest
GUIDELINES:
The catapult contest involves both
pre-convention preparation and
at-convention competition. Grade groups
will be 6th and under, 7th to 9th, and
10th and up. The SCL reserves the right
to change this grouping based on the
entries received. Any changes made in
these divisions will be announced after
the pre-convention portion of the
contest is received but before the
at-convention competition begins. The
SCL's desire for this competition is for
fair and equitable competition among
students of similar levels of ability,
and to encourage creative, thoughtful,
inspired work, not just to hand out
ribbons. Students may make entries in
groups or alone. Groups may consist of
no more than 6 students, and the group
will be classified by the participating
student with the highest grade. For
example if a group is composed of 3
students from grades 4, 5, and 9, then
the group would enter competition in the
7th to 9th grade group.
MEASUREMENTS FOR CATAPULTS:
Base measurements must be no larger than
6 square feet. Length and width
dimensions may be determined by the
students in whichever manner best suits
a particular student's or group's
design. Catapult arms may be no longer
than 3' 6" long.
No trebuchets please.
At the convention catapults will be
tested tossing a standard size/weight
Hacky Sack (to be supplied by SCL for
the sole use of this competition).
Places will be awarded by length of
throw with the catapult throwing the
“Hacky Sack” the farthest receiving 1st
place (within each grade group). All
group member may arm the catapult, all
catapults must be armed in a fashion
that only one member is required to
launch the Hacky Sack after armed. This
should include a locking mechanism, or
some other method to prevent the arm
from firing until told to do so. This is
to reduce or prevent injury, if an
accident should occur.
PRE-CONVENTION PREPARATION:
Prior to convention each entrant must
build and test a catapult to the above
specifications. To encourage
historically accurate and/or inspired
design, each entrant will accompany
his/her/their catapult with a 1-2 page
double spaced (typed or handwritten)
paper on the catapult. This paper should
include the names, grades, and school of
the participants within a group, the
dimensions and building materials used
for the catapult, and a description of
the design as well as what historical
sources students used to develop the
design. If a catapult design is based on
a style of catapult used during a
certain period of history or by a
certain region of the world, this
information should be included in the
paper as well. Catapults must be
accompanied by such papers to be
accepted to the competition. Work not
need be time consuming and should be
grade appropriate (we're essentially
looking to see that students put some
thought, and hopefully researched some
Roman history while developing a design;
we are not treating this as an essay
contest). In the event of a tie (within
a grade group) in the distance part of
this competition, the papers will be
used as a tie breaker. Papers with
thorough documentation and evidence of
historical inspiration or accuracy will
score higher than those with poor
documentation and no research. If no
clear winner can be established, ties
will be awarded.
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