Buildable Catapult Kit for STEM Learning and Collaborative Play Brief overview A handson catapult kit designed for educational settings and family projects. The kit requires assembly and turns mechanical concepts into practical experiments. Ideal for classrooms, afterschool programs, libraries, birthday activities, and STEMfocused families. Key benefits Encourages problem solving and critical thinking through step by step assembly and testing. Reinforces lessons in science, technology, engineering, and physics by demonstrating levers, forces, and trajectories. Promotes collaboration and communication when used in small groups or team challenges. Offers repeatable experiments and adjustments to explore cause and effect and iterative design. What it does Function: Assemble the parts to construct a working catapult that launches small lightweight projectiles. Use it to measure distances, test angles, and compare materials and loads. Assembly required: The product is not a finished toy and must be built before use. Assembly is part of the learning experience and supports instruction in reading plans, following sequences, and using basic tools if needed. Performance: Launch distance and accuracy depend on assembly quality and configuration, allowing learners to experiment with variables and document results. Practical attributes Compatibility: Designed for educational activities, maker spaces, classroom demonstrations, and family projects. Works well as part of lesson plans or handson STEM curricula. Size and setup: Intended as a tabletop activity suitable for group work and classroom desks. The assembled catapult is compact enough for indoor demonstrations and experiments. Materials and components: Supplied as a parts kit to be assembled. Components are provided to create a functional model that illustrates mechanical principles. Use and durability: Built models can be tested repeatedly, enabling multiple rounds of experimentation, adjustment, and improvement. How it solves problems Bridges theory and practice by giving learners a tangible way to explore abstract physics concepts. Keeps students engaged through active building and testing rather than passive observation. Provides a lowcost, reusable tool for multiple lessons and group activities. Use scenarios Classroom lesson: Students assemble the kit in small teams, record launch distances at different arm angles, and calculate relationships between angle, force, and range. Afterschool club or makerspace: Teams iterate on catapult design to improve consistency and accuracy, practicing the engineering design cycle and data collection. Birthday or group activity: Small groups compete in distance or accuracy challenges, encouraging cooperative problem solving and friendly competition. Additional notes The kit is intended for educational and recreational use. Assembly is required and is part of the learning experience. Performance and outcomes depend on how the kit is assembled and adjusted during experiments.