The Boomerang Name: Gabriel Pilkington School: Kelmscott Senior High School

The Boomerang A boomerang is a throwing stick used by Aboriginal people primarily for hunting. The boomerang has a long history in Australia. Images of boomerangs can be seen in rock art and their use dates back tens of thousands of years. They are traditionally made and used by men. Traditionally, decorations on boomerangs are produced by carving or burning. Boomerangs are perfect for hunting large upright animals such as kangaroos and emus. They are also used as weapons.

Boomerang Shapes Boomerangs come in many shapes and sizes. Some are evenly curved; others have hooks or flat clubs at one end. The most common shape for the boomerang is shown in the top picture.

Aerodynamics of the boomerang The way that boomerangs work is very complicated. Part of the explanation is that boomerangs are flatter on the lower side and more curved on top in a shape called an aerofoil. When a boomerang is in flight, the shape of the boomerang wing and its angle relative to the flight path (angle of attack) deflects air downward and creates an upward force called lift.

The boomerang Most boomerangs were designed to come back only if the thrower missed the target. The hunter didn’t want to waste time running after the boomerang and let the animals scatter. This would make it harder to get food. Boomerangs are a lot quieter than guns, so if you miss the target, the rest of the animals aren’t scared off. In recent times boomerang throwing is an International sport.

The importance of the boomerang in my community My family sometimes still use the boomerang as a traditional weapon to hunt animals like kangaroos and emus. The importance of the boomerang in my wider community is that if someone does the wrong thing, they will get punished by boomerang. In my family community there are no clapping sticks so two boomerangs are used to make rhythm and keep beat for songs and dances.

Useful Web Sites what-is-a-boomerang.htmlhttp:// what-is-a-boomerang.html nology.htmlhttp://questacon.edu.au/html/aboriginal_tech nology.html boomerang.htmlhttp://sabudiprasetyo.blogspot.com/2007/03/ boomerang.html htmlhttp:// html

Acknowledgements Sonny Pilkington (cultural knowledge and advice) Extra acknowledgements: I’d also like to acknowledge my mum (Leanne) for convincing me to go to the camp to meet and make new friends. Brendon Degois for helping and setting up the science camp. Scott Martyn for helping to give us a tour around U.W.A and setting the experiments up. The students and teachers at U.W.A for helping us to look at how things work. And last but not least the supervisors for looking out for us and driving all of us around.

Thank You