Description
Bringing Medieval Technology Alive in the 21st Century! In this session, we will showcase the lessons learned as our 4-9th grade students organized an after-school Punkin Chunkin Club, assembled a medieval style trebuchet, and competed in the Colorado Punkin Chunkin Competition in November 2017 and 2018 (They came in 3rd and 2nd place!) This hands-on session will spark the creative ideas of teachers and give them ideas on how to start or expand their own Punkin Chunkin club at their school. As our students participated in this club the past two years, they leveraged all aspects of STEM and the scientific method as they designed, assembled data, tested, and perfected their their machine. Our team had the mentorship of John Heffelfinger, the Colorado record-holder for launching pumpkins (2,613 feet for the record!) John's passion is to assist teachers/students in promoting hands-on STEM education around the state through the Pumkin Chunkin competition. Participants in the session will take part in using the trebuchet and will leave with ideas, resources, and a network of support to engage their students and spark their interest in STEM activities. We like to say "Our students are launching pumpkins today, and will be launching rockets tomorrow!