Bears in Space
In addition to all the variability created by joining two sticks together with an elastic band, the catapult itself is placed on an incline. The position on the incline can be measured and adjusted.
One of the inputs to be evaluated is the colour of the the gummy bears. Do green ones fly further than red ones? At the beginning the red and green bears are to be launched in groups. As the participants improve their skill with the catapult, the colour launched last tends to travel further. Naturally a discussion about the importance of randomization ensues.
Download the full instructions below including identifying sources of variation, blocking, adjusting the fulcrum and the launch angle and, of course, analyzing all the data.
This appears to be a fun lean six sigma training game with plenty of opportunity to generate lots of data. And the gummy bears are a nice touch. Just don’t eat them after shooting them all over your dirty shop floor!