Brenda Krauss and her son Theodore Krauss hold up a piece of a catapult they are building with the Montessori school. The Theodore Krauss built a trebuchet (the smaller structure), which can launch a ping-pong ball. It has a 3 pound counterweight. The full-size catapult will be able to launch a 4 pound pumpkin, and the counterweight will be filled with 400 pounds of sand. He estimates it will launch the pumpkin 360 feet.