Studying simple machines with Rube Goldberg
Using a copy of a Rube Goldberg cartoon, show how the famous cartoonist drew weird and wacky machines to complete a simple task. Students will develop their own Rube Goldberg-type cartoon, using five types of simple machines, to accomplish their selected feat.
A lesson plan for grade 7 Science
Learn more
- The Official Rube Goldberg Web Site information about Rube Goldberg today, the Rube Goldberg machine invention contest and more
Related pages
- The Science House: Through school demonstration programs, student science camps, teacher workshops and innovative laboratory training, and support projects, the NCSU Science House partners with K-12 teachers to emphasize the use of hands-on learning activities in mathematics and science.
- SciWorks Science Center and Environmental Park of Forsyth County: Whether it is biology, geology, physics, or health science, "it is fun to learn about science at SciWorks!"
- Nuclear Engineering at North Carolina State University: Visit the Nuclear Engineering Department at NC State University and learn about the field of nuclear engineering and industrial applications.
Related topics
- Learn more about Rube Goldberg, inventions, physics, science, simple machines, and technology.
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Learning outcomes
Students should:
- Understand the basic simple machines.
- Evaluate the mechanical advantage of simple machines.
- Design simple and compound machines.
Teacher planning
Time required for lesson
90 minutes
Materials/resources
- An example of a Rube Goldberg cartoon is needed. An example can be found in the Holt textbook, Physical Science (Holt, Rhinehart, and Winston, 1994), page 116. You may also obtain a copy from your media center.
- Large paper (poster board, large cardboard, newsprint, several feet of rolled paper, etc.)
- Magic markers or crayons
Pre-activities
Students will need to know the following:
- What is work?
- How do machines multiply force without multiplying work?
- How is mechanical advantage calculated?
Activities
- Give some history of Pulitzer Prize winning cartoons by Rube Goldberg.
- Show an example of Goldberg’s work and follow each segment to the completion of his designated task.
- Explain that the team of students (seems to work best with two students per team) is to decide on a simple chore or task and devise a “Rube Goldberg” way to accomplish this activity.
Assessment
- Observe team’s ideas and progress.
- Check to see if the five simple machines are incorporated in the design.
- Determine if the machines will accomplish the tasks they are designed to complete.
- Creativity and imagination are also assessed.
Supplemental information
Comments
After seeing a Rube Goldberg cartoon in our textbook, it reminded me that his work became an American idiom. The term, “a Rube Goldberg,” meant an incredibly complicated, impractical scheme or device. Younger teachers may have to research more about Mr. Goldberg, but those of us who grew up in the 1940’s will be familiar with his work.
North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
Science (2005)
Grade 7
- Goal 1: The learner will design and conduct investigations to demonstrate an understanding of scientific inquiry.
- Objective 1.05: Analyze evidence to:
- Explain observations.
- Make inferences and predictions.
- Develop the relationship between evidence and explanation.
- Objective 1.07: Prepare models and/or computer simulations to:
- Test hypotheses.
- Evaluate how data fit.
- Objective 1.05: Analyze evidence to:
- Goal 6: The learner will conduct investigations, use models, simulations, and appropriate technologies and information systems to build an understanding of motion and forces.
- Objective 6.02: Analyze simple machines for mechanical advantage and efficiency.
- Objective 6.05: Describe and measure quantities that characterize moving objects and their interactions within a system:
- Time.
- Distance.
- Mass.
- Force.
- Velocity.
- Center of mass.
- Acceleration.
