Rube Goldberg Project

What is a Rube Goldberg machine?

A Rube Goldberg machine is a complex contraption designed to complete a simple task. The machine uses a set of tasks that work in succession and trigger one event after another until the final event. A Rube Goldberg (RG) machine is a machine intentionally designed to perform a simple task in an indirect and overly complicated way, relying on chain reactions. Younger kids  can use simple Rube Goldberg Machines to visually understand pushing and pulling forces and test out how to combine them. Older kids can expand on this and begin to consider energy transfers in terms of kinetic, potential energy, and friction.

Velocity- Velocity is the prime indicator of the position as well as the rapidity of the object. It can be defined as the distance covered by an object in unit time. Velocity can be defined as the displacement of the object in unit time.

Acceleration- Acceleration is the increase in the rate or speed of something.

Force- Force is the strength or energy as an attribute of physical action or movement.

Work- Work is the activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result.  

The Task:

The task of this project was to create a Rube Goldberg machine using the construction of blueprints, simple machines, and energy transfers. My group, Me, Ty, Megan, and Vincent, used the central theme of under the sea. Our end goal was to open a treasure chest at the end of the machine. We calculated velocity, force, acceleration, potential energy, and kinetic energy. We created a slide presentation of our project (shown below), which included 10 steps and the proper etiquite.

Reflection:

Overall, I felt very accomplished doing this project. I feel I had many strengths and many weaknesses. One of my strengths was staying on task. I feel I kept myself and my group members on task and working at an appropriate pace.  One of my weaknesses was working with power tools and being more active vs. passive. I wish I could assist my group members in a more active way. Toward the end of the project I felt a little more balanced in making decisions passivley vs. making decisions actively.  I think I did a very good job calculating the physics, as I did almost all the calculations for my group. I was able to solve and calculate the equations efficiently.