Over the past week, our students have been designing and creating Rube Goldberg Machines during our energy unit (science learning). During the 1930s and 1940s Rube Goldberg a cartoonist, became known for his drawings of complex machines that would accomplish a simple task.
Currently in art class students are creating piggy banks. Each group will attempt to drop a coin into the piggy bank as their final transfer of energy. The criteria is that each group’s plan should include at least 4 simple machines with 5 transfers of energy. Another challenge is for students to use as many recycled materials as possible.
The student groups have done an incredible job collaborating and listening to one another throughout the inquiry process. We are so proud of our young engineers as they run trials and make changes to their original plans.
Watch this video of one group’s machine. They even added sound energy!