🧪 Science with Sarah: Balloon transportation & popsicle stick catapults 🎯

Hello parents, teachers and students! If you’re looking for a fun way to understand simple machines, this experiment is for you.

Be sure to check out GMSA@9 on Wednesdays, when Meteorologist Sarah Spivey demonstrates and explains the science behind it.

HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED

For the popsicle stick catapults

• 10 jumbo popsicle sticks
• Rubber bands
• A plastic bottle cap
• Glue dots
• Various soft items to launch (pom poms, cotton balls, mini marshmallows, pencil topper erasers, etc.)

For the balloon-straw transportation

• A balloon
• Double sided tape
• Ribbon
• 2 chairs

BALLOON-STRAW TRANSPORTATION

• STEP 1: Thread a straw with a long piece of string
• STEP 2: Tape the string across two chairs
• STEP 3: Blow up a balloon, but don’t tie it off
• STEP 4: Tape the balloon to the straw using double-sided tape, and let the balloon go. It should fly along the string!

ASSEMBLE THE CATAPULT

• STEP 1: Cut notches on two of the popsicle sticks. It should look like this: ⬇️

• STEP 2: Stack the other eight popsicle sticks onto each other, binding them on both sides with some rubber bands. It should look like this: ⬇️

• STEP 3: Shove one of the notched popsicle sticks through the bottom of the stack and place the other notched popsicle stick on top. Bind these two together along the notches. Again, it should look like this: ⬇️

• STEP 4: Using a glue dot, place the bottle cap at the top of the catapult. If you’d like to fortify your catapult, place additional rubber bands across the middle of the catapult. Your final product should look like this: ⬇️

• STEP 5: Launch the various soft items from the catapult. See which ones fly farther!

SCIENCE WITH SARAH

Want Sarah to come out to your school? Here’s how to apply: CLICK HERE.