Rube Goldberg--PBL pioneer?

Cindy Stephenson, a new member to this group (welcome, Cindy!), has posed a question that got me thinking: "Any suggestion for Forces. Motion and Energy? I want to have the
students build and present Rube Goldberg machines."
When it comes to project design, it's often useful to ask yourself, how would this play out in the real world? Which discipline is involved? Then, you can use the approaches of that discipline to guide research and project design. (Historians look for a different sort of evidence, for instance, than scientists.)
Enter Rube Goldberg. He was both an engineer AND a cartoonist. Hence, his ability to turn the simplest tasks into crazy-complicated machines. His creations follow the laws of physics, but to comic effect.
So, I started thinking about real-life applications of this wonderful combination. Where else have we seen it? As an entry event for your project, you might have kids watch a clip from "Home Alone," where the young protagonist sets a series of traps (operating on simple mechanical principles you could have students look for) to outwit the (bigger) villains.
I'm sure there are other examples that combine comedy with engineering smarts.
Ideas?

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Cindy Stephenson on March 13, 2010 at 9:10am

Thanks for the welcome! I am so excited to be here and look forward to lots of collaboration and making new friends!! Here is a video sent by Katy Scott. Thanks, Katy! There is also an annual Rube Goldberg competition at Purdue University, open to High School students: http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/rubegoldberg/index.html

Permalink Reply by Cindy Stephenson on June 9, 2010 at 5:30pm

The Purdue competition was very helpful!!

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Orr on March 14, 2010 at 12:09pm

I had my fifth graders make Rube Goldberg machines several years ago. We watched quite a few different ones on youtube and spent a week or so bringing in random materials we could collect. Reading this, I wish I had done a lot more with this. We did it as a fun thing after all our state testing was finished, during the last few weeks of school. There was little structure to it. We had a wonderful time and I think they learned a lot. However, I could have done a lot more to make it a more powerful learning experience.

You can see their creations here.

Permalink Reply by Cindy Stephenson on June 9, 2010 at 5:32pm

I love the videos! Great idea!!

Permalink Reply by Jane Krauss on March 18, 2010 at 5:26pm

Cindy, Katy's video is from the band OK Go. Check out OK Go's other great videos, all which took incredible planning, ingenuity, talent, teamwork, practice and great humor (other aspects of pbl worth tapping). And check out this Goldbergian commercial that employs nothing but Honda automobile parts.

Permalink Reply by Cindy Stephenson on June 9, 2010 at 5:29pm

Yes- these were great!!! Thanks!

Permalink Reply by Sue Boudreau on March 29, 2010 at 11:37pm

Our school had mixed experiences with the Rube Goldberg project. We did it for several years and it became this huge headache for either parents (trying to get kids together after school with busy family schedules, lots of very UN-handy parents out there) or for teachers trying to resource it. Then big old dust collector in the garage until a younger sibling dusted it off and presented it as 'their' project a couple of years later. We discontinued it in the end.... I was not involved in running this, just hearing from my 8th grade colleagues.

I prefer running projects which do something a little more useful in the real world - we did a 'grabber' project based on levers a few years ago where the grabber had to be made of recycled materials, pick up a certain weight of can and a piece of crumpled paper, like someone with arthritis would use it for.

Occupational therapy catalogues have all kinds of crazy-looking assistive devices. There's lots of invention inspiration for teachers there. Maybe save showing them the professional version of the bottom-wiper until they've invented their own though :-) Seriously. There is one.

Permalink Reply by Suzie Boss on March 31, 2010 at 8:36am

We've all seen it, haven't week--the school project that parents feel compelled to take over?
I wonder what strategies others can offer to help parents dial back the help--even it means less than perfect results?
I like your suggestion to focus on projects that have a potential use. When I've visited with students competing at major science fairs, I've seen some terrific thinking applied--such as making wheelchairs more functional or improving prosthetic hands. These are motivating projects, and often start with a personal connection to the issue.

Permalink Reply by Cindy Stephenson on June 9, 2010 at 5:30pm

Good idea for a practical device!! I will look for the bottom wiper!! Who knows?

Permalink Reply by Jane Krauss on June 15, 2010 at 11:58am

I really like the OT catalogs idea! Kids could design their own assistive devices too, at least conceptually. I wonder if kids could create simulations/animations using Scratch/Alice/Agent Sheets or other object-oriented programming platforms?

Permalink Reply by Cindy Stephenson on June 9, 2010 at 5:25pm

With the year over, I can take a few minutes to thank all for the Rube Goldberg ideas. It was hugely successful, as kids created a machine that used 5 energy transfers to pop a balloon!! To begin with, I created a handout which included the challege statement, rubrics, project hints, deadlines and other resources. They loved the You Tube videos that were suggested- thanks again! I also shared the new book, "Rube Golberg Inventions", by Maynard Frank Wolfe. I divided the kids into teams and they elected team leaders who served as my contact person. Students kept journals, which allowed for brainstorming and reflections. They started with items brought from home with a 35" x 40" board and were told the project could go up to 5'. We worked in the classroom for 2 weeks ( I have 5 classes with a total of 63 students), and then had a well-attended parent presentation day, which included sharing a tri-fold display and speaking to the audience on a microphone. Projects were mostly torn down; parts were thrown away or pieces stored for next year. This project met my goals for helping kids to learn to collaborate, problem-solve, and think critically- my big goals for them. Finally, it helped them to realize how hard it can be to solve a real problem- like capping the oil spill in the Gulf. If anyone is interested, I can send you my handout.

Permalink Reply by Suzie Boss on June 10, 2010 at 9:58am

Cindy,
Congratulations on a successful project! Sounds like you accomplished your goals of helping students learn to collaborate and solve problems, and also to realize that real life is full of complex challenges that will require every good idea we can generate. So happy that you tapped into the wisdom of this group to expand your own thinking.
Cheers,
Suzie