Free · TEKS 8.7A · Grades 6–8

Pumpkin Chunk-Off Lab

Students load a trebuchet, pick a counterweight, and try to out-throw everyone in the room. Every launch freezes at the top of the swing so they have to find the net force before anything flies.
  • The full interactive labRuns in any browser. No installs, no student logins, works on a Chromebook.
  • Student worksheetThree pages. Launch log, the math, and the analysis questions.
  • Teacher answer keyEvery calculation worked out, so you can grade it in one pass.
The Pumpkin Chunk-Off Lab with a pumpkin in flight and its trajectory

A real throw, 45 degrees off a 3,000 kg counterweight. The markers on the ground are how students find out whether the setup they argued for actually beat the last one.

1

Run the tutorial

One launch with the numbers filled in, so everybody knows what they're reading before they start.

2

Twelve practice throws

Students try bad ideas on purpose. The worksheet has room for all of it.

3

Three that count

They commit to their best setup, then argue about whose pumpkin went farthest and why.