Here at Science Sparks we’re huge Harry Potter fans, so with that in mind I have some fun Harry Potter science activities coming up over the next few weeks. First up are our golden snitch catapults.
Materials
Wide lollysticks/craft sticks
Elastic bands
Feathers or white paper
Double sided tape
Milk bottle top
Sharpies to decorate
Gold glitter glue
Instructions
- Follow the video to see how to build your catapult.
To make the golden snitch we coloured in a table tennis ball with a brown sharpie then coated in glitter glue. Once dry I used a hot glue gun to attach paper or feather wings.
Investigation Ideas
- Measure how far the catapult travels if you push it down as far as possible.
- Does a feather or a paper golden snitch travel the furthest? Why do you think this is? – Remember when testing different snitches you should use the same catapult and release the snitch with the same force to make it a fair test.
- What would happen if you made the snitch lighter or heavier?
How do catapults work?
When you push down on the milk bottle top, the lolly stick catapult arm bends, giving it energy, when the arm is released the energy is transferred to the ping pong ball which flies through the air.
The further down the lolly stick is pushed the more force is used, which gives the lolly stick more energy to transfer to the ping pong ball, this means it should travel further.
More Catapult Ideas
ooh these are such a great idea. My little harry potter fans will love this. xx