Have you ever dreamed of a contraption that makes fresh orange juice before you wake up? What about a machine that dumps you out of bed and into your clothes each morning? Crazy, complicated ideas for simple tasks were immortalized by cartoonist Rube Goldberg in the 1920s.
Today, Rube Goldberg machines are contraptions intentionally designed to perform a task by setting off a chain reaction of events. While they are usually impractical, they provide a fun and creative way to explore scientific concepts, problem solving, and critical thinking. In this workshop, students design, build, and test a Rube Goldberg machine. Emphasis is placed on teaching a design methodology in which students analyze provided resources, generate and illustrate a well-thought-out design on paper, and physically construct a mechanism to perform a task while meeting specific design constraints.
Faculty Developer: Dr. Brent Cunningham, Engineering
What students do:
Students work in teams to design and build a rube-goldberg machine for a specific task. They brainstorm ideas, sketch designs, and test and improve their machines through iteration. The experience ends with a showcase where students present their designs and reflect on their process.
What students learn:
- Creativity in designing solutions using available resources
- Systems thinking and how components work together
- The engineering design process (ideation, testing, iteration)
- Effective communication through discussion and sketches
- Teamwork and collaborative problem-solving
- How chemical energy can be converted into mechanical energy
- The role of forces, motion, and energy in machine design
