Steps:

1. The marbles, which acts as coconuts, fall down the palm trees.

2. The balls then rolls down the ramp.

3. One ball follows the split in the ramp. 

4. It falls down the screw, which is our volcano.

5. It then rolls down the ramp, which is the lava.

6. The ball causes the dominoes to topple each other over.

7. The last domino knocks the pieces of wood which cause the wheel and axle, our elephant, to move forward.

8. Meanwhile, the other ball rolls down the rest of the ramp and knocks over the weights.

9. The weights fall in one end of the pulley causing it to go down.

10. The pulley pushes down one end of the lever.

11. The other end of the lever goes up and spills the bucket of monkeys.

Simple Machines:

• inclined plane- Our ramp, or inclined plane, acted as our river of the jungle.

• screw- The screw was put into our volcano and was made our of paper bowls and a funnel.

• pulley- The pulley represents a hammock of plants.

• lever- Our lever is a wooden log which sits under the pulley.

• wheel and axle- We incorporated our wheel and axle into the elephant.

Work Log:

Day 1: Today we got our boards, my group decided on 2 board that were 2 ft by 4 ft. We also got our blueprints approved. My group and I decided to use right angle triangles to help secure the two boards together.

Day 2: Today we managed to secure the two boards together. We had a little difficulty when one of the triangles split and twisted away from the board. Otherwise the day went smoothly.

Day 3: Today,my team and I attached a wooden platform to our board and stared cutting out the ramps. I also started making a the "elephant's car". This involved me finding what drill bit would allow movement in the axles and the least lateral movement.

Day 4: Today, my group and I we painted the board and elephant. Also we completed the ramp and started work on the pulley. We had some trouble figuring out what steps to do next.

Day 5: We finally decided on how we are going to make our machine work. The barrel of monkeys will now be a part of our blueprint and the elephant will run away from the lava. We finished painting and sanding our board.

Day 6: Today is our last day in the makers space and then we'll go to the classroom to start calculating the board. We have completed the pulley and the volcano platform and Volcano.

Day 7:We have finished the monkey part of our board and have been testing and tweaking the design. The sanding caused some part of the ramp to become "danger spots". Also we have decided to make a ramp from the volcano down. 

Day 8: We now have dominoes running from the ramp to the elephant and make it run away. We now have a divider between the paths. The board still has issues. We are starting to calculate all of the steps and look at the rubric.

Day 9: The team has decided that the elephant will be pushed by large wooden blocks instead of the dominoes. Otherwise we are doing work on our presentation design and slideshow.

Day 10: Over the weekend I did some work on the slideshow. We are back to recalculating. We have weighed the elephant and the total weight and the counter weight of the pulley

Day 11: We did revision of the elephant and began decoration the board. The elephant was having trouble running so tried to make a track. The board is to have animals placed all over it to make it a less bland sheet of wood. 

Day 12: The board has been completed been decorated. Our team has touched up the waterfalls and the lava. We also have all of the animals on the board. The calculations are almost complete.

Day 13: We completed the calculations and are going over the presentation. The ball finally has a good rail and we are trying a new idea for the split. We would place a toothpick in the way so the balls doesn't go into the same path.

Day 14: Last day, we are testing and tweaking. Over and over again until we have perfection. We are drawing the blueprint and practicing the presentation. Tia has put on the vines and the board is looking good. We have gone over the presentation and it is looking good and we have the slide show finished.

Physics Concepts: 

• velocity (v) = change of distance/change of time

Velocity is the rate of covered distance in a direction. 

• acceleration (a) = change of velocity/change of time

Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity.

• force (F) = (mass) (acceleration due to gravity)

Force is the push and pull on an object and is measured in Newtons.

• work (W) = (force) (distance)

Work is the amount of energy put into something.

• potential energy (PE) = (mass) (gravity) (height)

Potential energy is the energy an object has due to its position at a height of in a gravitational field. This is measured in Joules (J).

• kinetic energy (KE) = 1/2 (mass) (velocity) ^2

Kinetic energy is the energy due to motion and is also measured in Joules.

• mechanical advantage (MA) = force of effort/force of load (real), distance of effort/distance of load (ideal)

There are two types of mechanical advantages, MA real and MA ideal. MA real is how much easier, or less force, a tool makes a task. This is calculated using force. MA ideal is how much further you have to push due to using a tool. This is calculated using the distance.

Reflection: 

Overall, I think our Rube Goldberg project turned out to be better than I expected. When we first started this project, I think we were all very excited. Each member of our group pitched in ideas and contributed to the team. As a group, we all worked together strongly and each participated in making the project a success!

I think some of the strengths that helped us throughout the construction of the project was the fact that each of us had different areas of strengths that could be put together into one great idea. Josh did an awesome job answering questions during our presentation and making the calculations. Tia was solving problems and making sure our board and explanations were very detailed. I accumulated materials to construct our board and tried to ensure a positive atmosphere. We all incorporated our strong skills during our construction.

I think the way we incorporated our theme in the project was very creative. We turned our wheel and axle into an elephant and put our screw in the volcano. We also added little plastic animals on our board to cover up empty space. As for the presentation, we divided up the work well. Each member of the group had a couple slides to present. I think our presentation went really smoothly.

Although we worked very well together as a team, I do believe that there were areas that could use some improvement. I definitely could've improved on my lack of focus when working near my friends. I could tell that I had a problem staying with my group. I admit to going off to other groups and socializing. However, I tried to socialize with other groups less as I realized that it became a huge distraction and I was off track. 

Personally, I feel that I learned a lot from this project and from others. I gained knowledge by working alongside others with varying strengths and weaknesses. I've never used a drill before doing this project. I learned a lot about safety precautions in a building environment. I used tools that I've never used before and I can use the knowledge that I've gained from this project to do better in any upcoming projects.

Despite my lack of focus, my group and I were very efficient. We tried to stay on track and each contributed our part to the project. As the first project of the year, we did a good job on working as a team. We all had different aspects that was beneficial to our final project.