Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – Normally throwing a potato at school would land you in detention, but for math and physics students at Presque Isle High School, successfully launching tubers is not only encouraged, but can earn you an “A.”
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
PRESQUE ISLE HIGH SCHOOL students in Kierston Donovan’s physics class and Sean Donovan’s advanced math class teamed up recently to launch potatoes as part of a unique competition that was meant to be both fun and educational. The students created launching devices, or siege machines, with the goal of hitting a target.
On Nov. 8, students in Kierston Donovan’s physics class and Sean Donovan’s advanced math class teamed up to launch potatoes as part of a unique competition that was meant to be both fun and educational. Last year, the students catapulted pumpkins.
“Our vision for this project from the beginning has been to teach students math and physics concepts in an exciting, hands-on environment,” said Sean. “After last year, Mrs. Donovan and I decided that we could teach the same concepts using potatoes.”
Donovan said in addition to being easier to clean up, potatoes are also safer to launch.
“Potatoes are smaller projectiles, and the machines and accompanying counterweights don’t need to be nearly as large,” he said, noting that using potatoes also seemed regionally appropriate. “It’s simply easier for kids to build a launcher capable of launching a potato (especially in a couple of hours). They will be more successful and, therefore, have more fun.”
While the goal of last year’s competition was to send a pumpkin the longest possible distance, this year’s goal was changed to hitting a target.
“This change, once again, takes some of the emphasis away from building a huge machine. Since we are actually building small versions of what historians now call ‘siege machines,’ our target was a small castle,” said Sean. “I made the castle pink to help offset the ‘brutality’ of the event. This competition format also resembles a competition from the series ‘Junkyard Wars’ that we watched as an opening activity at the beginning of the year.
“We also changed the format of the competition,” he said. “Last year, the students had a couple of weeks to build the machines. This year, it was a one-day event. We went by a strict schedule. The students had two hours to build before lunch. After lunch, they had one hour to calibrate their launchers followed by the launch competition.”
Though the students enjoyed being outside of the classroom, the potato launch competition was a very educational exercise.
“Our Advanced Math curriculum emphasizes complex equations and modeling real-world events using those equations,” said Sean. “Our curriculum also emphasizes the using of graphing calculator technology to solve equations. These were the core concepts I was emphasizing with this project.
“Prior to the competition day, we had been learning how to find ‘modeling equations’ that can predict the distance of launch based on changing a variable in the launcher such as launch angle, amount of counterweight or even the mass of the projectile,” he said. “We’ve learned how to collect measurement data, view a graph of that data on a graphing calculator, decide on an appropriate ‘modeling equation’ based on previous instruction, and then using that equation to adjust their launcher to hit a specific distance.”
Physics students also learned how to graph a “calibration curve” and used it to hit a target.
“Additionally, Mrs. Donovan’s students were required to use the launch distance, mass of the projectile and time of projectile launch in order to calculate the projectile velocity,” Sean said. “They will also be using the data from the project throughout the year to reinforce new concepts. She said they will be ‘crunching that data all year!’”
Lucas Mathers, a junior in Sean’s advanced math class, built a trebuchet.
“It’s basically a catapult with a giant throwing arm on it,” he said. “Slingshots are easier to build and more accurate, but I think trebuchets are cooler even though a slingshot probably would have been a wiser decision.
“With my knowledge of other trebuchets I’ve seen in the past, I basically went out in my garage, cut some triangles and whatnot, and winged it,” said Mathers. “It took me about two nights to build it, and then we took it apart and brought it here and rebuilt it, since that was part of the competition. You couldn’t have it pre-built.”
Mathers said he learned a lot from the competition.
“I’ve learned that just because you have more strength or weight on your throwing arm doesn’t mean it will go farther,” he said. “There’s a point where things will stop going farther because you add more weight. You learn different variables, and how machines work. Even though I’m not in physics, I’m learning what the size a potato can do to distance, and things like that.”
Scott MacCallum, a junior physics student, and his team also built a trebuchet.
“It was more fun, but a lot more work,” he said. “We worked two days on it after school … probably a total of 15 hours.
“Our best launch was about one meter away from the castle,” said MacCallum, “and we launched from 30 meters away. We did pretty well. It was fun and we learned that one of the most important things is the angle of when your sling releases the potato. The best angle is a 45-degree angle for a maximum launch. After that you basically go with weight and how the weight box will drop and the force will bring the arm upward and launch the potato.”
MacCallum said he enjoyed the activity immensely.
“I personally am someone who loves to build stuff, so this was way more fun for me than sitting in a classroom,” he said. “I really liked the hands on aspect, plus I learned stuff so you get a two-way benefit.”
The students supplied their own potatoes, but the Donovans did have some on hand “in case of an emergency.”
“One of the fun aspects of the competition was they could choose any size or shape of potato they wanted,” said Sean. “The mass of the potato could actually be the variable that they changed in order to achieve different distances. I told my students that if they prefer the ballistic qualities of Russet to a Katahdin White, then that’s their prerogative.”
The Donovans hope the potato launch was a fun and exciting project that helped students develop their own understanding of math and physics concepts.
“In addition, we hope that students learned a little history, some construction skills and teamwork skills,” said Sean.
The husband-wife duo said they will continue the potato-launching project, which is being called, “Super Potato Unloading Devices (SPUD).”
“We’ll continue to improve and tweak the rules for improved fairness and safety,” said Sean. “There were an excellent variety of launcher types but they all launched successfully!
“Mrs. Donovan and I were blown away by the students’ enthusiasm and effort,” he said. “We had hoped to blend learning with a fun and wacky event and our students definitely captured that spirit. Siege machines truly are ‘Weapons of Math Instruction.’”
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
PROVING THAT MATH AND SCIENCE can be fun, physics and advanced math students at Presque Isle High School launched potatoes recently with the hope of hitting a target. The advanced math curriculum emphasizes complex equations and modeling real-world events using those equations, while physics students were required to use the launch distance, mass of the projectile and time of projectile launch in order to calculate the projectile velocity. Ready to pull the device is Scott MacCallum, as teammates Erika McKay and Richie Byrnes stand on either side of him.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
WHILE SOME STUDENTS used trebuchets, others like Chris Amero, pictured, used slingshots to launch their potatoes during a recent competition at Presque Isle High School. The students had two hours to build their siege machines before lunch, and after lunch, they had one hour to calibrate their launchers followed by the launch competition. The teachers hope to continue the activity again next year.
