For our first major STEM project, we were asked to build a Rube Goldberg machine. Our task was to create a machine comprised of simple machines to complete a simple task. We were given a wood board, that was approximately 4' x 4', to work with. We were given about 12 in-class days to work on this: 3 days to create a blue print, 9 days to build, and 3 days to complete our calculations and presentations. During our first 3 days, we decided that our theme would be sports, our end goal would be to raise an American flag, and we created the original blueprint. During our 9 days of building, we faced many challenges, like how our ideas were a lot harder than we thought they were. We used our last 3 days to perfect our presentation. On the following day, we presented our hard work to a bunch of people (which also included some official judges).
Our final product was presented first to the judges. I presented the steps of our project, while explaining some of the physics behind each step. We also had Elements of Design to present, showing the connection between art and science. We described our 5 simple machines and our energy transfers. Our 5 simple machines were:
1. Inclined plane: a wood block that was sloped
2. Lever: a wood piece in between two screws
3. Corkscrew: a vacuum tube that swirled in and out of the board
4. Wheel and axle: a wood cylinder that had circular weights on the end, to look like a dumbbell
5. Pulley: a pulley, string, one cup and our flag
This is our final outcome:
Our final product was presented first to the judges. I presented the steps of our project, while explaining some of the physics behind each step. We also had Elements of Design to present, showing the connection between art and science. We described our 5 simple machines and our energy transfers. Our 5 simple machines were:
1. Inclined plane: a wood block that was sloped
2. Lever: a wood piece in between two screws
3. Corkscrew: a vacuum tube that swirled in and out of the board
4. Wheel and axle: a wood cylinder that had circular weights on the end, to look like a dumbbell
5. Pulley: a pulley, string, one cup and our flag
This is our final outcome: