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Simple Machines and Building the Rube Goldberg Machine
(Continued)
Materials:
• Teacher: SmartBoard, ppt slides for notes on Simple Machines
• Technology: PearDeck
• Student: writing utensil, supplies for Rube Goldberg machine
Assessment:
Formative
• What simple machine do you use every single day?
Summative
• Successful Design
• Functional Rube Goldberg Machine in the end
• Learning Verbalized/Demonstrated/Summarized:
Students build a functional Rube Goldberg machine and demonstrate mastery of how the 6 simple machines work in action.
• Evidence Collected: Machine works and students are able to point out where each simple machine is located.
Procedure:
1. Students will take Cornell-style notes over the two families and 6 types of simple machines
2. Students will watch a short documentary about Rube Goldberg and about the Rube Goldberg Project that takes place every
year at Purdue University
3. Students will choose a movie and an end goal or result to design/build their Rube Goldberg machine after.
4. Students will then create a blueprint (drawn to scale) that outlines the 6 working simple machines in their project
5. Lastly, students will bring the blueprint to life and create a working Rube Goldberg machine. Only one human interaction is
allowed (starting/activation energy) and it must make all 6 machines function as a chain reaction.
6. Have fun!
Time: 3–5 class periods to finish project
Anticipatory Set:
• Activate Background Knowledge: Rube Goldberg
• Relate to Real Life: How were the Pyramids of Giza built?
Vocabulary:
• work
• power
• mechanical advantage
• simple machine
• compound machine
• energy
• potential energy
• kinetic energy
• mechanical energy
• efficiency
