This week, students in science teacher Chad Brown’s Physics classes have been experimenting in an unconventional way: with marshmallows.

Set up in the hallway, these students have been constructing marshmallow launchers, with the intent to catapult a marshmallow the farthest distance possible.

There are no set instructions for how to build the launcher, or what materials to use. Brown tells his students to bring their own materials and figure out what works best.

“It’s really up to them,” Brown said. “Students bring popsicle sticks, clothespins, string, rubber bands. Some people bring wood and actually construct something out of wood.”

Brown said not only do students enjoy the project, but he appreciates the work put in to make the launchers successful.

“There’s definitely some good engineering going on in here,” Brown said. “I like to see students forming some good ways around the problems that they encounter. They’ll bring in materials and [sometimes] the materials don’t work out, so they have to improvise and it’s kind of fun to watch.”

Brown conducted the project last year as well, as a unit test, but agrees that it functions better as a class introduction to projectile motion.

“I think it’s a great way to actually have hands-on experience with two-dimensional kinematics,” Brown said. “So it’s a great way to witness projectile motion, see how angle affects velocity and how angle affects distance in the horizontal direction.”

Occasionally, problems arise when students forget their materials, but Brown believes they can always make something work.

“They feel like they’re out of luck and I tell those students, at that point, it’s time to borrow and improvise. Make something happen. And so far, everyone has made something happen. Everyone’s created some kind of marshmallow launcher.”

Brown feels the project is a worthwhile experience, not only for students, but as a teacher.

“For me, personally, it’s fun to watch what people create,” Brown said. “To watch people actually engage in physics and engage in science.”