Upper Elementary students got a taste of middle school science in an exploration of Rube Goldberg machines. The UE students took the knowledge they learned about simple machines and force and motion earlier this year and applied it by inventing contraptions of their own. They poured a lot of creativity, collaboration, and resilience into their amazing chain reactions!
A Rube Goldberg machine is a contraption that uses a chain reaction to carry out a simple task. It performs a very basic job in a complicated way.
Rube Goldberg was an American Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor, and his work is a classic example of the melding of art and science. Goldberg began his career as an engineer, and later became a cartoonist who drew elaborate illustrations of contraptions made up of pulleys, cups, birds, balloons, and watering cans that were designed to solve a simple task such as opening a window or setting an alarm clock. Interestingly, Goldberg only drew the pictures, and never built any of his inventions. However, these pictures have since served as inspiration for makers and builders who want the challenge of making wild inventions to solve everyday problems.
