Crush the castle
History, Mathematics and Physics combine in the addictive free online game ‘crush the castle’. The war has begun and the King has ordered you to take your trusty trebuchet and lay siege to the castles of your enemies and leave no survivors. This game will develop your understanding of Physics concepts such as trajectories, velocity and gravity.
Instructions: Gameplay is pretty simple but difficult to master – click once with your mouse to start your trebuchet and then click again to release the projectile. Timing is everything as when you release the projectile will determine the trajectory, direction and distance of the projectile.
Learning objective: To develop an awareness of the Physics term ‘Trajectory’.
Plenary questions:
(i) What does the term ‘trajectory’ mean? How did you control the projectile’s initial trajectory?
(ii) Why does the projectile not keep flying in the same direction as it’s initial trajectory?
(iii) What was your approach for successfully completing each level?
