Re-imagining our weaknesses as strengths.

Who is Rube Goldberg?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rube_Goldberg

www.aaa.si.edu/collections/oralhistories/transcripts/goldbe70.htm

His "inventions," drawn for our pleasure, can actually work. By inventing excessively complex ways to accomplish simple tasks, he poked fun at the gadgets designed to make our lives easier. He believed that most people preferred doing things the hard way instead of using simpler, more direct paths to accomplish goals.

What is a Rube Goldberg?
Click on the link below to visit the Official Rube Goldberg website. Once there...explore the Artwork Gallery.

www.rube-goldberg.com/

Now check out an actual Rube Goldberg-style commercial.

autorepair.about.com/cs/funstuff/l/bl_honda.htm

The Task
It will be your job to create a contraption poster of a compound machine and an invention to make Rube Goldberg proud! You will need to use at least four simple machines in an unusual arrangement accomplish a simple task.

Criteria:
* Show evidence of Creative Awareness (fluency, flexibility, elaboration, imagination, curiosity, originality, risk-taking, and complexity)
* Have at least 10 connecting steps (steps must be labeled)
* Include a typed description of how the contraption works (steps)
* Have a creative title
* Include at least one 3-D item
* Include at least one moving part
* Have documentation of your use of the Creative Process (preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification)
* Be presented to the class
* Meet the Presentation, Visual Aid, and Product Quality Standards of
- careful construction
- neat writing, coloring, drawing
- final work in ink, marker, paint, etc. (not pencil)
- correct grammar and spelling

Visit each of these Web Sites to learn about simple machines and to get ideas for your project.
Here you will find the names and descriptions of different types of simple machines. This website explains how each machine works.

sln.fi.edu/qa97/spotlight3/spotlight3.html

Explore this site to get ideas for your invention.

www.mos.org/sln/Leonardo/InventorsToolbox.html

Use this site to quiz yourself to see how well you understand simple machines.

www.mos.org/sln/Leonardo/GadgetAnatomy.html

Leonardo da Vinci was a famous painter, scientist, and inventor. Play Leonardo's Mysterious Machinery and try to identify the simple machines he used.

www.mos.org/sln/Leonardo/LeosMysteriousMachinery.html

Check out this fun activity!

www.edheads.org/activities/simple%2Dmachines/





For your presentation...
Write a commercial to sell your invention. The commercial must be at least 30 seconds long. It should convince the general public that your invention will make their lives easier.

Watch a United Streaming story of Rube Goldberg!

Remember! When it is simple, Rube Goldberg will make it complex!