Mosaic Monday - Rube Goldberg Machine and Competition
We spent Saturday morning with my son's 5th grade class at a Rube Goldberg competition. If you aren't familiar with the concept of a Rube Goldberg machine, it is a complex device with numerous steps which performs a simple task. If you played the Mousetrap board game, you've assembled a Rube Goldberg-type machine.
My son's class has been working on this machine for over a month and all the hard work of designing, testing, re-designing, re-testing, writing a technical report, designing brochures, T-shirts, and posters culminated in the local competition where they competed against 5 other machines.
The purpose - create a machine to open the cover and the first page of a book. The machine must also be designed around a theme, complete with a backstory.
Our class decided on a Medieval theme and built it as a large Castle, complete with moat, dragon, princess and brave prince. The machine itself used ramps, dominos, levers, a pendulum and a mouse trap to open the book and turn the page.
We were pleased that the machine worked during the competition and the team took first place! They advance to a regional competition in two weeks.
Today's mosaic is linked to Mary at Mosaic Monday She has beautiful spring hyacinths featured today.
Shirley..This is the most precious post. I have taught school since the horse and buggy days, so your mosaic and other shots today have put a huge smile on my face. Your lighting is perfect and your colors are just bursting off the canvas of my computer screen. I feel like I am there will all of you enjoying the competition. Happy MM to you and the family.
What a wonderful post! All those cute kids!
Wonderful fun!!!
This is so great... I think I missed out something my early schooling. If I'd done fun projects like this maybe I'd have a better head for science. Nice report, Shirley!
Well done, Class! Good luck at the next step of the competition.
Aw, I remember doing this as a kid! I did a fingernail painting machine. :)