Rube Goldberg Machines - Take 2

It's time once again for Rube Goldberg Machines! Last year, I posted about my class' experience leading up to and during this activity. This year, I only gave students one day of lead time (we were working on a large project up until two days before this activity, and I didn't want to distract from that). They were excited and curious, and spent approximately 20 minutes making lists of things that could help them solve an unknown design challenge. I also gave them the opportunity to request items from me, but only if they got their requests in ahead of knowing what the challenge entailed.

To start the day of the challenge off, I showed my students the OK Go video, This Too Shall Pass. If you've never seen it, I highly recommend taking 4 minutes right now to do so. I'll wait...

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Amazing, right? This was the visual prompt I used to set my students up to create very interesting constructions. They had brought in a wide variety of items once again. Along with the basic items I provided to them (paper, tape, a tack, a marble, paper clips, clothespins, yarn, straws, a paper plate and a balloon) groups had brought in :

• duct tape
• nail scissors
• glue guns
• a canvas lawn chair
• empty water bottles
• a plastic bucket
• a pillow
• giant sponges
• locker mirrors
• skipping rope
• tin foil

As they began to work with their groups, I circulated around the classroom, listening in on conversations. I consider it a mark of enormous success that students did not ask me what they should try, but instead jumped straight into collaborating with their group members to make a plan.

Taking stock

Beginning to plan

Group 1 : Materials

Group 2 : Materials

Group 3 : Materials

As students planned, I listened. Here are some of the comments I overheard :

"Let's start by putting all the things that could pop the balloon in a pile."

"Ok, now try that way. Make a little dent in it."

"If we put the ball here instead of there, the ruler would have enough energy to move the sponge."

"We should put the tack on a string, and then it could swing and pop the balloon."

"We should start at the end of our machine - how will be pop it?"

"I'm not really sure if this is going to work, but it's a start."

"It can't go slow, or else it won't move the potato masher!"

Although none of the groups managed to pop their balloon, they had a lot of fun trying. At the end of the period, after they had all tried their machines, I took a moment to read them the list of comments I had overheard, and to underline the importance of perseverance. All of the groups had ideas for how they could have improved on their design, even though they knew they were not going to have a second chance.

The amount of learning that went on in those two hours that they were working collaboratively to solve a problem was phenomenal! It gave me a renewed sense of just how important it is to give students the freedom to try, fail, and try again. 

Fun With Physics

As the year winds down, it can become more and more difficult to maintain students' interest in day-to-day school activities. My classroom environment is pretty much "organized chaos" throughout the school year, so the mood doesn't change much at the end of the year, although I do end up with more flexibility in my scheduling. As a result, I am able to integrate some activities that take up more time than a standard sixty minute class.

Last week, I started laying the groundwork for "The Challenge". On Monday, I informed students that they would be attempting a challenge on Thursday morning. They would need to bring items from their lockers and from home in order to complete it. Following my usual classroom rules (nothing stinky, nothing dangerous, nothing illegal), I told students that they were permitted to bring anything at all.

"But what is the challenge that we have to complete? How will we know what we need??" students were quick to ask me.

"More information to follow..." was my mysterious reply.

On Tuesday, I reminded them to coordinate with their groups in order to bring a large variety of items.

On Wednesday, I gave them the information that they would have to cause an object that I would give them to have an effect on another object that I would give them. And that the only materials they would be permitted to use would be the few items I supplied them with, and the items they brought from home.

Students arrived on Thursday morning with all kinds of items. A rubber boot, a Newton's cradle, a Lego airplane and a magnifying glass were all in evidence, along with many other supplies.

The Challenge? To create a Rube Goldberg machine that would use a marble as the impetus for causing a balloon to pop.  I provided them with :

- 2 large sheets of paper
- 2 metres of masking tape
- 6 desks
- 6 chairs
- 1 thumb tack
- 2 paperclips
- 6 straws
- 1 marble
- 1 balloon (for testing purposes - if they popped it, they were out of luck! They received another one when they demonstrated their machine to the rest of the class)

And..... GO!

Groups began by taking stock of the items they had in their inventory.  (I put the tape on the floor to confine them to their own area - they were only permitted to use the items that were inside the rectangle)

Next came the planning and trial stage.

Students were engaged in building their machines for just over an hour, tweaking them and trying to improve upon them. It was inspiring to see their collaboration and perseverance on this task!

What I particularly like about this activity, each time I do it with a class, is the creative thinking and collaboration it calls for. Students become so reliant on teachers to tell them exactly how to perform a task (and teachers become so used to providing the structure and steps necessary to achieve the "correct" result) that they (and we) forget what it is to experiment, rework, possibly fail, and enjoy the entire process!