Rube Goldberg Machines
7th Grade Enrichment
Wednesday, April 13th
Who Is Rube Goldberg?
What is a Rube Goldberg Machine?
A machine that does a simple task in a complicated way.
OK Go - This Too Shall Pass - Rube Goldberg Machine - Official Video
MythBusters Rube Goldberg Machine : www.HumorKick.com
Sesame Street: Rube Goldberg Machines!
Wednesday, April 20th
Plan out your Rube Goldberg Machine
Planning Instructions
- In groups of four, have student engineering teams decide on simple tasks to create machines for, intended audiences, and any information they know that will help them solve the problem.
- Each group must create a machine that has at least 7 steps.
- With every group member contributing ideas, have students brainstorm ideas about how they will accomplish the simple task (such as getting a marble in a cup one meter away) in an overly complex way. Remind them that they must use at least three simple machines in their final designs.
- Next, have each team collectively produce machine drawings that include dimensions.
- Have teams include materials lists, including any special-request materials.
- Teams show their designs and materials lists to the teacher for approval.
- Have students make design alterations if not immediately approved. After approval, make the design more specific or the drawing more detailed as other groups finish up their designs.
I will supply glue and construction paper. Any supplies beyond that (including tape) will need to be supplied by the group!