Dominique's Trebuchet Project

This year Dominique is taking Pre-AP Physics. We have heard about this project for juniors ever since Dominique started high school. It is like a right of passage for all juniors at her school. It was her turn for the trebuchet project. She actually enjoyed this one. Her two partners were boys and really good friends in band. She doesn't normally trust anyone to do a school project with her. She would rather just depend on herself to get a good grade than worry about others failing to do their part. Her 2 friends are reliable people that feel the same way she does, so it was a good partnership. They all decided to do the floating arm trebuchet.  Tom was really good about letting them design the whole thing, go to the store and pick out their own materials,  and even cut up the wood. It was really funny discovering that neither of the boys had any experience with power tools. Dominique was the most experienced with tools. Tom had to slowly and patiently introduce them to the tools so they could do their own work. Most everyone in the class made a tiny trebuchet. I am talking the size of a tissue box. Not my daughter. She has always been an over achiever when it comes to projects. It was almost as tall as she is. The 3 of them also use to watch a show call Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. There is a reference from that show on their trebuchet, flaming bunnies. It is a long story, but I was actually impressed that all 3 of them knew what that was. All 3 of them decided the call it the flaming bunny and painted actual flaming bunnies on it. There are pictures below. You can click on the pictures to see them larger. I will see if I can upload any video we took of them shooting a tennis ball.