We want to hit the target with our cannonball, but we do not know how much power to fire the cannon with. We need to experiment a little bit to see just how much power we need.

In this case, we didn't fire the cannon with enough power to reach the target.

In this case, we used too much power and over-shot the target.

This time, we tried an amount somewhere in-between and got much closer to the bulls-eye.

In today's activity you will measure the length of a rubber band and then launch it with different amounts of "stretch". Mark where the front of the band hits the ground for each test. Try to do each test the same, with the exception of the increased stretch.

Try setting your ruler on the edge of a table to keep things level and consistent.

After the tests are done, I will set a cup at a random distance. Use the information you have gathered and graphed to estimate how much stretch it will take to send the rubber band into the cup.