A Rube Goldberg machine does not really look like it would make work easier. Introduce your class to Rube Goldberg with a resource that shows how his inventions make simple tasks harder to complete. 

Let's see how complicated we can make this simple task. The last activity associated with a 10-part series has groups design and build a Rube Goldberg machine. Teams determine a simple task to accomplish and use the engineering design...

Students design and construct a Rube Goldberg machine that accomplishes a simple task in at least ten steps. They view and discuss various Rube Goldberg designs, identify types of simple machines, and in small groups produce a schematic...

Students explore the drawings of Rube Goldberg to design and construct a simple machine. They discuss simple machines, and using various materials and toy parts, design and construct a "Rube Goldberg" style machine to ring a bell.

Young scholars dissect simple machines. In this simple machines lesson, students gather simple machines from their home to dissect in class. Young scholars investigate the working parts of simple machines and construct a machine based on...

When you take a simple task and create an exceptionally difficult way to complete it, it is known as a Rube Goldberg machine. These machines are filled with many types of energy transfers and energy transformations. Here, pupils...

Fifth graders practice technology skills while searching online for information about inventor, Rube Goldberg. They discuss Rube Goldberg's use of simple machines, and write journal entries about their findings.

Students examine six simple machines and investigate who Rube Goldberg is. They explore various websites, write an article, write ten interesting facts about Rube Goldberg, and design and construct a simple machine.

Students participate in a culminating activity for a unit on Energy and Simple Machines. They are challenged to incorporate simple machines in to a complex mechanical system. While designing and testing their machine they will also...

Learners investigate net force by building Rube Goldberg contraptions. They build a contraption that has at least 6 steps or moves.

Fourth graders design a contraption, which contains five different examples of simple machines and works without intervention. They sketch designs and label its parts. They present their creations to the class and relate them to Rube...

Instructions for series of six activites, a reading of scientific literature, and a choice of six assessments await you in this physics resource. Well-written plans guide you in guiding your pupils to experiment with levers, pulleys,...

Mike and Kellie, a team of electrical engineers, demonstrate how to to design a contraption that accurately drops a marble onto a target. The materials needed and general instructions are provided on the website or via a downloadable...

Students apply inquiry and problem solving approaches in science. They design a device (invention) that solves a special problem.

Students examine and discuss simple machines and Rube Goldberg cartoons, listing real-world examples. They design and illustrate a Rube Goldberg device, identify the simple machines involved, and write a paragraph explaining how the...

Students study Rube Goldberg machines. In this architecture lesson, students build a Rube Goldberg machine.

Compound machines, nothing more than a combination of simple machines working together, are the focus of an activity that asks class members to use the provided information to take a look at the way innovators combine simple machines to...

Young scholars explore the functions of simple machines. For this simple machines lesson, students evaluate the uses of simple machines as they dissect a machine and then design their own.

In this physics activity, students visit the site http://sciencespot.net and complete a scavenger hunt for a variety of physics topics.

Students learn about Rube Goldberg machines (complicated devices designed to accomplish simple tasks and then design and build a machine that uses more than six separate steps to move an empty aluminum can. They can either work...

Students examine an original engraving of a piece of equipment called, The Grasshopper Catcher. They describe how technologies developed in Iowa during the Industrial Revolution influenced farming practices, and develop hypotheses about...

Students create a Rube Goldberg type cartoon and research an invention.  In this art inspired lesson students create their own cartoon and research inventions on the Internet. 

Young scholars study Rube Goldberg machines.  In this investigative lesson students design and build a machine that uses several steps to move an aluminum can. 

It's no small wonder that a lightbulb has come to represent a bright idea. The light bulb, the bright idea of Thomas Edison, was just one of his over 1,000 inventions. A teacher's guide introduces young audiences to works of the man who...