experiment for you, and in fact he or she should let you do as much of it as you can. But make sure someone is available to help with the hard parts, like cutting the cardboard and choosing a safe place to throw.
       â¢Â   Choose a safe place to throw! It should be a wide-open area where there are no people, animals, or things that wouldnât like to get hit with a cardboard spaceship.
       â¢Â   Start small! As with any experiment, donât ramp up to full power right away. Start with light, easy throws that let you get the hang of it and develop control first. Then rampup the power after youâve developed some technique.
       â¢Â   Make sure there is nothing in front of you that can get hit! If you read the prior instructions, you might notice this is mentioned twice. Thatâs because this is really important! Even though your cardboard spaceship doesnât weigh very much and has a soft tip from the sponge you taped on, you should never throw it toward anybody.
Digging Deeper
To learn more about the science behind the atlatl youâve built, look into the physics of projectile motion. The most important thing about the atlatl is that itâs a clever method of getting even more benefit out of the thing our appendages have evolved to be good at: speed.
Your arm is really strong, and also really fast. The cardboard spaceship youâre throwing doesnât weigh very muchâso you can throw it very easily. But because it weighs so little, your body is actually not able to maximize the amount of energyit can put into the projectile when throwing with just your normal arm. The atlatl enables your body to put more energy into the projectile by allowing you to bring it to an even higher release velocity (that means speed) than your hand can during a normal throw.
This can be illustrated by doing another experiment.
       1. Hold the cardboard ship and prepare to throw it with just your hand. Have an adult hold your forearm steady and still, so you can only use your wrist to throw the ship. Your hand is functioning as the lever arm. Because the lever arm is so short, you wonât be able to get the ship to a very high speed before you have to let go to throw it. The ship probably wonât go very far.
       2. Have the adult hold your upper arm steady while you throw. This way youâre using your hand and forearm as the lever arm. Your lever arm is longer than last time. Youâll be able to achieve a much higher speed than when you were throwing it with just your hand and wrist alone.
       3. Throw it as you normally would, using the length of your hand, forearm, and upper arm. They become your lever arm and your shoulder joint becomes the fulcrum of this throwing lever. The ship should go pretty far!
       4. Use your atlatl. The speed at the tip of the atlatl should be even higher than the speed you can make your hand go during a normal throwâmeaning itâll go extra high in the air. Itâs that release velocity that matters, and you want it to be as high as possible. Maybe high enough to launch Ohm back into orbit. Be safe, and have fun!
Excerpt from Alien in My Pocket #6: Forces of Nature
Read a sneak peek of book six of the Alien in My Pocket series:
Forces of Nature
What a Trip
âT he answer is still no,â Zack said, stuffing a pair of jeans into the canvas bag that usually held his baseball gear.
âJust think about it,â Amp said from atop a pair of rolled-up wool socks that sat on Zackâs desk.
âWhat part of ânoâ are you not getting?â Zack asked. âThe n or the o part? Itâs really a pretty simple word.â
Amp stared off into space dreamily. âIâve always wanted to go camping.â He
       â¢Â   Choose a safe place to throw! It should be a wide-open area where there are no people, animals, or things that wouldnât like to get hit with a cardboard spaceship.
       â¢Â   Start small! As with any experiment, donât ramp up to full power right away. Start with light, easy throws that let you get the hang of it and develop control first. Then rampup the power after youâve developed some technique.
       â¢Â   Make sure there is nothing in front of you that can get hit! If you read the prior instructions, you might notice this is mentioned twice. Thatâs because this is really important! Even though your cardboard spaceship doesnât weigh very much and has a soft tip from the sponge you taped on, you should never throw it toward anybody.
Digging Deeper
To learn more about the science behind the atlatl youâve built, look into the physics of projectile motion. The most important thing about the atlatl is that itâs a clever method of getting even more benefit out of the thing our appendages have evolved to be good at: speed.
Your arm is really strong, and also really fast. The cardboard spaceship youâre throwing doesnât weigh very muchâso you can throw it very easily. But because it weighs so little, your body is actually not able to maximize the amount of energyit can put into the projectile when throwing with just your normal arm. The atlatl enables your body to put more energy into the projectile by allowing you to bring it to an even higher release velocity (that means speed) than your hand can during a normal throw.
This can be illustrated by doing another experiment.
       1. Hold the cardboard ship and prepare to throw it with just your hand. Have an adult hold your forearm steady and still, so you can only use your wrist to throw the ship. Your hand is functioning as the lever arm. Because the lever arm is so short, you wonât be able to get the ship to a very high speed before you have to let go to throw it. The ship probably wonât go very far.
       2. Have the adult hold your upper arm steady while you throw. This way youâre using your hand and forearm as the lever arm. Your lever arm is longer than last time. Youâll be able to achieve a much higher speed than when you were throwing it with just your hand and wrist alone.
       3. Throw it as you normally would, using the length of your hand, forearm, and upper arm. They become your lever arm and your shoulder joint becomes the fulcrum of this throwing lever. The ship should go pretty far!
       4. Use your atlatl. The speed at the tip of the atlatl should be even higher than the speed you can make your hand go during a normal throwâmeaning itâll go extra high in the air. Itâs that release velocity that matters, and you want it to be as high as possible. Maybe high enough to launch Ohm back into orbit. Be safe, and have fun!
Excerpt from Alien in My Pocket #6: Forces of Nature
Read a sneak peek of book six of the Alien in My Pocket series:
Forces of Nature
What a Trip
âT he answer is still no,â Zack said, stuffing a pair of jeans into the canvas bag that usually held his baseball gear.
âJust think about it,â Amp said from atop a pair of rolled-up wool socks that sat on Zackâs desk.
âWhat part of ânoâ are you not getting?â Zack asked. âThe n or the o part? Itâs really a pretty simple word.â
Amp stared off into space dreamily. âIâve always wanted to go camping.â He
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