Town Center Elementary Library

Snowflake Bentley is the story of Wilson Bentley, a farmer born in 1865 in Jericho, Vermont, a small town between Lake Champlain and Mount Mansfield, in the heart of Vermont's "snowbelt." Perhaps it was no accident that Bentley always loved snow more than anything else in the world. When he was fifteen his mother gave him a microscope. When he looked at snowflakes under the microscope he was stunned by their delicate beauty.

He decided he had to share that beauty with others. But he did not know how. And there was no one to teach him. His father and his neighbors thought trying to save snowflakes was foolishness, Bentley was determined. And by the time he died in 1931 he was considered the world's expert on snowflakes.Read more about Wilson A. Bentley, and his work, at the Buffalo Museum of Science's digital library in support of the Bentley Snow Crystal Collection.

Design, create and test a catapult that will launch marshmallows the furthest.

Unlimited Materials from:

Large or small craft sticks

Rubber bands

Plastic spoon

Binder clip

Plastic cup

Clothespin

Guidelines:

Each class will select one catapult to enter in the campus design challenge. (Each class should hold a in-class competition to determine the final catapult that will be entered into the school wide competition.)

Each catapult will launch a total of one time per round.

Three rounds include: mini marshmallows, large marshmallows and jumbo marshmallows.

The catapult that launches the marshmallow the farthest will be declared the winner and cannot compete for the prize in the other two rounds.

Prizes:

$25 Scholastic Book Fair Gift Certificate for classroom library!

One winner per round.