Teaching Technology: Don't Applaud—Just Throw Tomatoes

From designing a better can opener to building more fuel efficient cars, engineering takes the theories of science and applies them to real life. But teachers of engineering often struggle to bring real-life lessons to the classroom. A class at SUNY Canton gives high school students a chance to grapple with real engineering problems, but with a seasonal twist. Students have to design and build a catapult to launch rotten tomatoes the furthest. David Sommerstein went to see the homemade catapults in action. Listen to story. (Real 4:55)

Above: Steven Tucker, Norwood-Norfolk junior, adjusts the cable on his classic catapult design.

Left: Tucker and SUNY Canton Physical Science Professor Erwin Selleck assess a tomato.

Left: Dennis Krauss, junior, and Mike Jones, senior, both at Norwood-Norfolk, tinker with their counterweight catapult design.