You're in the right place if you are interested in combining books with tech and makerspace ideas! This site is our* collection of resources, bibliographies, and ideas.

Contact Me!

Michelle Harris -- District Librarian & Tech Specialist, Heyworth CUSD #4 harrism@husd4.org

*This presentation was originally designed and presented in collaboration with Anna Hanrahan -- Enrichment Teacher, but she has since moved on to other educational adventures.

https://www.wevideo.com/view/1914094732 example

A unit on Forces & Motion!

Books: Just Like Rube Goldberg by Sarah Aronson, Rube Goldberg's Simple, Normal, Humdrum School Day by Jennifer George, Build Your Own Chain Reaction Machines by Paul Long, Give It a Push Give It a Pull: A Look at Forces by Sarah Boothroyd (or any book about forces), and Simple Machines by D.J. Ward (or book or set of children's books about the six Simple Machines).

We learn about forces first, then make a simple prototype of each of the six simple machines. Finally, we read the Rube Goldberg books, then embark on a 10-day build of a giant Rube Goldberg machine. Each group must include one simple machine in their portion of the machine. Groups must coordinate with each other to determine how they will enter/exit (most choose to say that a line of dominoes or a rolling marble will enter/exit their portion). The final group must decide how their machine will accomplish the overall machine goal (ring a bell, shut off the classroom lights, turn on the Christmas tree, make it snow, give us candy, etc.)

With the 3rd graders, we did allow them to use matchbox cars and plastic pulleys, but the older students were required to hand-build everything!

You will need LOTS of cardboard for this project!