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Your challenge week 5 is to familiarize yourself with simple machines (choose which one to create and test out) as you'll get to use some of them in your challenge mission next week!

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Can you identify all 6?

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Try Making a Simple Machine of your Choice 

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Try Making a Simple Machine of your Choice 

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Start with a lever...which can be turned into a catapult!

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Use this link or search for a different simple machine building guide.

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STEM Challenge. Tutorial on how to build a simple catapult. Directions on how to build an example of lever. Could be connected to a STEM unit on simple machines.

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Share 1-2 pictures or a video of your finished simple machine creation by this Sunday at 1 PM for a chance to be featured at our Virtual STEAM Night!

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The following resources are in Prep for NEXT WEEK's Challenge (Week 6)

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The following resources are in Prep for NEXT WEEK's Challenge (Week 6)

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0:00 / 2:06•Watch full video

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Rube Goldberg Machine Challenge (Week 6)

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Rube Goldberg Machine Challenge (Week 6)

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Your challenge this week is to utilize what you've learned about simple machines to create a chain reaction contraption called a Rube Goldberg.

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Have you ever seen a Rube Goldberg in action? You probably have, even if you didn't know what it was. A Rube Goldberg is a contraption that uses a chain reaction to carry out a task. It performs a very basic job in a complicated way.

Let's look at an example. We'll describe a Rube Goldberg that wipes a person's chin with a napkin. That's a pretty task, right? Well, wait until you hear how the does it!

First, a person picks up a soup spoon. This action pulls a string. That jerks a ladle, which throws a cracker, which shoots past a parrot. The parrot jumps for the cracker, and its perch tilts and drops seeds. The seeds land in a pail. The extra weight in the pail pulls a cord which opens and lights an automatic cigar lighter. This sets off a rocket that causes a sickle to cut a string. This allows a pendulum with a napkin attached to it to swing back and forth to wipe the chin.

Whew! Did you follow that of events? Why on Earth would someone invent such a ? To answer that question, we must take a closer look at Rube Goldberg.

Reuben Lucius "Rube" Goldberg was born on July 4, 1883, in San Francisco, California. As a teen, he loved to draw. He even received some basic art instruction when he worked with a sign painter. Still, he chose not to pursue a career in art. Instead, he went to the University of California at Berkeley. There, he earned his degree in mining engineering.

Goldberg went to work mapping out sewer pipes and water mains in San Francisco. That didn't hold his interest for long. He began drawing cartoons for local San Francisco papers. Then, he moved to New York where he landed a job as a cartoonist for the Evening Mail.

He used his engineering background to create funny cartoons. They featured complicated machines that were described as new inventions. They did easy tasks through a of steps involving chain reactions. The public quickly fell in love with Rube's "inventions."

His work became popular nationwide. The art world also loved his works. Some of them were soon displayed in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Rube eventually even made it to Hollywood. There, his movie script "Soup to Nuts" introduced a trio who would soon become famous as the Three Stooges.

In 1931, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary added "Rube Goldberg" as an adjective. It meant " accomplishing by means what seemingly could be done simply." For Goldberg, his inventions were a way of seeing the humor in everyday situations. He loved that his work made people laugh.

Over time, the cartoon inventions leapt off the pages and became real-life working machines. They were built purely for the joy of engineering and watching science in action. Goldberg's work has inspired millions. People love building their own machines to carry out , tasks.

Today, people even hold Rube Goldberg contests. In 1987, the Phi Chapter of Theta Tau, a national engineering fraternity, started the annual National Rube Goldberg Contest at Purdue University.

Each year, groups compete to make the most elaborate, creative contraptions. How do they get? Very! For example, a Purdue University team once won the competition with a that turned on a flashlight. It used a 125-step process that included a toy rocket, a simulated meteor, and a mock fire!

Have you ever built a Rube Goldberg ? Would you like to? What task might you carry out through a complicated process? Maybe you'll build the next award-winning contraption !

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Have you ever seen a Rube Goldberg in action? You probably have, even if you didn't know what it was. A Rube Goldberg is a contraption that uses a chain reaction to carry out a task. It performs a very basic job in a complicated way. Let's look at an example.

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Start small and test out ideas as you go! You can always add more to your Rube Goldberg (RG).

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Watch this sample.

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The Quarantine Machine : a toilet paper chain reaction

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Launch with the Engineering Design Process

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Launch with the Engineering Design Process

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Watch a few Rube Goldbergs to get ideas!

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What will your multistep invention accomplish? This intro sample features some of my AR middle schoolers who did this very same challenge! Their RG’s purpose? Attach a bandaid on an injured sport’s player.

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0:00 / 0:47•Watch full video

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Make a blueprint...or two!

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Materials and Supplies

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This sample features a few of my AR middle schoolers right before we moved to CA. They did such a good job refining and perfecting their RG contraption that they got invited to compete in the Nationwide Rube finals.

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Favorite Step-Homemade Nail and Pearl Plinko Board

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These AR middle schoolers took their RG to competition shortly after this test run & placed 3rd overall in the middle school division—landing themselves the winnings of box seats at a Lakers game, behind the scenes passes at Disney, and a 10 day excused absence from school while they traveled & competed in the finals. You never know how far your creativity can take you! So dream big & enjoy the journey.

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Share 1-2 pictures AND a video of your finished creation by May 21st for a chance to be featured at our Virtual STEAM Night!