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Pop Fly
New activity
In this hands-on engineering design challenge, patrons experiment with levers to launch a ping pong ball as high as possible!
Open Activity
How-to Video
Teacher's Guide
Provides classroom connections, key concepts, connections to science standards, and additional resources.
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Related Programming Resources
| Add a Tech Twist | Optional: Try using a slow-motion camera to capture just how high the ping pong balls travel! |
| Hints for uses in your library |
Please be mindful of patron safety and ensure that no one is standing too close to the "launch site."
Try this next! - Increase the number of balls you launch. Redesign your launcher so it can send two balls in the air at the same time. - Play a launch and catch game. Set up a target in your landing zone and challenge a friend to a launch and catch game. - Think big. Make a supersize pop fly launcher. This activity can easily be expanded by using other commonly-found materials around your library! For younger patrons, try making a connection by asking them about see-saws. Remind patrons to utilize the engineering design process. Failure is OK! |
| Related Links |
Levers at Play Activity
Levers at Play How-to Video |
| Originating Source | PBS Design Squad |
| Related Books [Suggest a book] |
These children’s books all deal with various themes involved in engineering such as the engineering design process, specific projects such as building bridges or houses, and perseverance through failure.
• Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty • Iggy Peck, Architect by Andrea Beaty • Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty • This Bridge Will Not Be Gray by Dave Eggers • Cross a Bridge by Ryan Ann Hunter • What To Do With an Idea? By Kobi Yamada • Ish by Peter H. Reynolds • Stuck by Oliver Jeffers • The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds • The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires • How a House is Built by Gail Gibbons |