The Boomerang

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The Boomerang

• Name Gabriel Pilkington
• School Kelmscott Senior High School

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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.

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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.

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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.

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The boomerang

• Most boomerangs were designed to come back only
  if the thrower missed the target. The hunter
  didnt 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 arent
  scared off.
• In recent times boomerang throwing is an
  International sport.

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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.

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Useful Web Sites

• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boomerang
• http//www.boomerang.org.au/articles/article-what-
  is-a-boomerang.html
• http//questacon.edu.au/html/aboriginal_technology
  .html
• http//sabudiprasetyo.blogspot.com/2007/03/boomera
  ng.html
• http//www.boomerangs.com/boomeranginfo.html
• http//www.maruku.com.au/prod_content.htm

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Acknowledgements

• Sonny Pilkington (cultural knowledge and advice)
• Extra acknowledgements
• Id 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.

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Thank You