Rube Goldberg Machines

Do you know what a Rube Goldberg Machine is? It's a machine or device that includes multiple steps, usually with some sort of chain-reaction, to accomplish a simple task. As our final task for the unit on Forces and Motion, our class set out to create Rube Goldberg Machines that would use forces and motion. 

Students worked in partners or alone to create a machine that had no more than 5 steps, that would accomplish a simple task such as ringing a bell, putting a marble in a cup or rolling a dice. The ingenuity and creativity behind their machines was remarkable, and their understanding of forces and motion really shone through their work.

What I was most inspired by, however, was their sense of perseverance and grit. Creating these machines was not an easy task, as they soon discovered. A lot of the students had to keep going back to the drawing board and make changes to their plans, or even start all over again. There were a lot of frustrations, upsets, tears, and even students giving up momentarily and proclaiming that it was "too hard!" 

The amazing thing was that for every cry of frustration, there was an exclamation of encouragement. For every tear, there was a crazy celebration of accomplishment. For every negative self-talk, there was a constant chatter of positive suggestions and admiration between the students. It was such a joy to walk amongst the chaos (and I mean CHAOS) and watch and listen to my students truly help, collaborate and encourage each other. The enthusiasm and determination were contagious. 

When we were reflecting back on our 2 weeks of building our machines, I asked my students for one thing they had learned during our project. I was expecting comments about the effect of forces on motion. After all, that was the academic target for this project. The answer I got was unexpected and so fulfilling: 

"You only really fail if you give up" 

Here are some videos of their machines at work!