GT SWE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL OUTREACH
Rube Goldberg Machine Competition
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
What is a Rube Goldberg Machine? 1
Examples of Rube Goldberg Machines 2
What is a Rube Goldberg Machine?
Named after an American cartoonist, a Rube Goldberg Machine is a contraption that uses chain reactions to perform a simple task in a complicated way.
Think of falling dominoes! One task causes the next to happen, and so on.
Picture from: Planning Above and Beyond
Examples of Rube Goldberg Machines:
Rube Goldberg Machines can do any task you want, as long as you can build it. For your video, you’ll be allowed to pick any task, such as watering a plant, ringing your doorbell, feeding your pet, spelling out a word, and so many more!
Here are some examples for inspiration. You can also google “Rube Goldberg Machines” to get more ideas, but do not copy another person’s machine or else we will automatically disqualify your submission. We want to see your own work!
“How to Pass the Salt While Maintaining Proper Social Distancing” - Joseph Herscher of Joseph’s Machines
The following pictures are from Design Boom:
Competition Guidelines:
Here at GT SWE Elementary School Outreach, we are looking for creative young minds that can devise a Rube Goldberg machine with the ability to complete at least one simple task. Submit a video of your machine in action for a chance to win some awesome prizes (Page 5)!
To enter the competition, you must submit a video of your Rube Goldberg Machine in action according to the following guidelines:
- Your video must be filmed in a landscape format (horizontally) with visible lighting and minimal background noise.
- Your video must film your Rube Goldberg Machine completing the task all the way from start to finish in one take. Incomplete or stitched submissions, meaning you stopped filming and started again at a later time, will not be considered for prizes, so make sure your machine works the entire time you are filming!
- Your video must have your full name and school in the title so that we can give you proper recognition.
- Use this format to title it: “First Name_ Last Name_School Name”
- Optional But Recommended! In a separate document, describe how Newton’s Laws of Motion and/or other scientific topics like gravity affect certain steps of your machine (See Page 4 for more info). Your explanation should be at least 1 paragraph long. The video with the best-explained paper will win a prize!
Other important notes:
- You can use any materials or props that you want (be creative!), but please make sure everything you use is safe and age-appropriate.
- Due to COVID-19, this is an individual activity. For your safety, do not work in groups. We will allow some parent help, but only for tasks such as cutting materials that may be dangerous for younger children.
- As mentioned earlier, we do not tolerate plagiarism (copying someone else’s work).
- You can only submit one video, so make sure it’s your best one 😊
Getting Started
Have no idea where to start? Never fear, SWE is here to help!
Check out this resource by Tinker Labs on what kind of materials you can use. You can find a lot of these in your very own home.
For some ideas on what you can do with your materials, watch this informative YouTube video. It’s a bit old, but it has some great techniques you can use to get started on your machine!
Writing a paper? Here’s a crash course from NASA on some important (and pretty cool!) physics concepts:
Newton’s 1st Law: If an object is not moving, it will not start moving by itself. If an object is moving, it will not stop or change direction unless something pushes it.
- Advanced: This is the basis of inertia, or the resistance an object has to a change in its state of motion. It’s why we wear seatbelts in a moving vehicle, so we don’t fall forward and get hurt if the vehicle suddenly stops.
Newton’s 2nd Law: Objects will move farther and faster when they are pushed harder.
- Advanced: Force is directly proportional to mass and acceleration, meaning an increase in force creates an increase in speed for an object (and vice versa).
Newton’s 3rd Law: When an object is pushed in one direction, there is always a resistance of the same size in the opposite direction.
- Advanced: Forces always come in pairs: equal and opposite action-reaction force pairs. When we stand, gravity acts down on us, but a normal force pushes us back up, which is why we don’t sink through the floor.
Feel free to read these resources on The Physics Classroom to gain a better understanding of these concepts!
What is Gravity? A very strong force of attraction between two objects. It is what keeps us grounded to Earth as we fall, jump, and move!
These are just some of the topics you can address in your paper, but know that you don’t have to be an expert about these in order to win the prize! 😉
Prizes:
- Budding Engineer Award: Award for the most creative/intensive machine
- SWE Merchandise, which includes stickers, pins, and more!
- A Solar-Powered Robot Kit that includes 12 different robot designs!
- Director's Award: Award for the most interesting recording
- SWE Merchandise, which includes stickers, pins, and more!
- A Mega Chemistry Kit with over 45 hands-on experiments that can easily be done at home!
- Smart Cookie Award: Award for the best written paper explanation
- SWE Merchandise, which includes stickers, pins, and more!
- A Smart Circuits kit that includes a real computer microprocessor and 50 step-by-step projects you can do with your family!
Submitting Your Video:
When you are ready, submit your video (and paper, if applicable) at this link. The competition will officially run from February 20 to March 20, during our Spring Video Series, but you can start submitting as soon as you want.
- Remember that you have until 11:59 PM on Saturday, March 20 to submit everything!
- Before you submit, be sure to check the Competition Guidelines (Page 3) to see if your submission meets all of the requirements!
We will announce the winners on Saturday, April 3 during our last Spring Video Series video, so mark your calendars! If you have questions or need more clarification, email us at swelittleswe@gmail.com, and we’ll be happy to help.
