My AP students did a project with tennis balls and projectile motion a while back. It took longer than I wanted, but the results were awesome.
I also wanted to share one of my favorite lab experiments in recent history. Not because of its results (slightly shaky), but rather because of its ingenuity and playfulness. And who wouldn't want to have a pogostick in the classroom?
Actually, it gets old after a bit. Both the squeakiness and the constant "no, that's someone's lab, you can't bounce on it all day long.
Model trains? Yeah, we can do that.
Ballistic pendulum with a stomp rocket? Sure. The group decided to attach neodymium magnets to the end of the rocket and the back of the bucket to make absolutely sure that the collision was inelastic.
