Catapulting Candy Pumpkins and Being Creative With Problem Based Learning

Some of my best ideas for project work in the classroom with my students over the years has come from things I read in a magazine or book or seen elsewhere and have stolen the idea for teaching purposes. One such idea I saw recently involved the use of catapults made from found materials to eject candy pumpkins and see how far they can go. I use this example of a project-based classroom activity to stimulate some thoughts on maximizing student learning in a classroom and the why's and wherefores of problem-based learning.