Launching a pumpkin into the drizzling skies Wednesday morning, the physics class at the Grand Traverse Academy harked back to medieval times.
The 11 students showcased their award-winning trebuchet, a siege engine, for younger students at the school. They successfully completed one launch that morning before the force of the powerful machine snapped a steel axle pin, ending the demonstration.
Although the live physics lab was closed for repairs, students still celebrated their achievements at the Second Annual Pumpkin Chucker Contest at the Benzie County Fall Festival.
Held October, 13, the event drew five schools into the fray: in addition to the Grand Traverse Academy, teams from Traverse City West High School, the Manufacturing Technology Academy, Glen Lake High School and Frankfort High School built trebuchets. The Frankfort creation broke en route to the festival and did not participate.
Participating for the first time, the Grand Traverse Academy entry took first place in the category of small pumpkins, in which it was the only competitor. Launching a gourd officially 215 feet over Betsie River, they unofficially had the overall winning flight as their pumpkin outsoared all others from the heavier weight class.
"We don't really have a physics lab so it was really cool to make something like that,” said Claire Butler, a senior at the school.
Teacher John Velis used the project to instill hands-on physics lessons as well as immerse his students in applied math, problem-solving and building technologies. During the project, he divided students into teams that addressed areas include the base, sling, throwing arm, weight box and release mechanism.
Students embraced the challenge.
"Something about chucking pumpkins a couple hundred feet beats taking homework home,” said Nat Schenck, another senior.
Even history made an appearance as students studied trebuchet development and past application. Trebuchets were used in large arrays firing in sequence at a castle and also to launch dead cows, horses or diseased human bodies over a wall, an early version of biological warfare.
"They were very effective siege engines, more than anything they were used to knock things down because they were accurate once they had a bead on a wall,” Velis said.
The team at the Manufacturing Technology Academy participated in the Pumpkin Chucking Contest for the second year, building an even bigger trebuchet than last time. Tim Wheatley, an instructor in the program, noted that the design and construction process was more deliberate this time around.
"Last year they just kind of put one together off the top of their heads,” he said. "This year it became a senior project with a few of the students leading. They stiffened the design, made it a little bit taller and stronger — in fact, it barely fit out of the barn and was too big for the trailer.”
After the 2006 contest, Wheatley successfully wrote a $1,500 grant for the project to MEEMIC Insurance, distributing the funds to participants to help defray material costs.
A big promoter of the annual Pumpkin Chucking Contest, Wheatley is looking for more schools to join the fun next year. He sees it as a win-win scenario for both teachers and students as the trebuchet project teaches, reinforces and makes real so many aspects of math and physics.
"Really what bothers me most is the general decline in understanding what the real meaning is behind physics,” said Wheatley. "I think its based largely on our dependence more and more on standardized tests. To be fair, they have adapted to what we've created for them: expecting students to write more and more down on paper and not do.”