Rube Goldberg - Computer/web based collaboration evolves into a hands on activity.

Rube Goldberg Machine Contest
In this project, you will demonstrate your knowledge of principles in physics by designing, creating and explaining a Rube Goldberg device. You will work in teams that you have been assigned. A significant portion of your grade on this project will be derived from your ability to “collaborate” with others.

HISTORY:
The Rube Goldberg Machine Contest is named after cartoonist Reuben Lucius Goldberg, the spirit of whose work inspires this project.
For 55 years Goldberg's award-winning cartoons satirized machines and gadgets that he saw as excessive. His cartoons combined simple machines and common household items to create complex, wacky, and diabolically logical machines that accomplished mundane and trivial tasks. His inventions became so widely known that Webster's Dictionary added "rube goldberg" to its listing, defining it as "accomplishing by extremely complex, roundabout means what seemingly could be done simply."
His "inventions," drawn for our pleasure, can actually work. By inventing excessively complex ways to accomplish simple tasks, he entertained us and poked fun at the gadgets designed to make our lives easier. In his words, the machines were a "symbol of man's capacity for exerting maximum effort to achieve minimal results." He believed that most people preferred doing things the hard way instead of using simpler, more direct path s to accomplish goals.
The Rube Goldberg machines you build are different from the machines people are used to seeing. A good Rube Goldberg machine incorporates the everyday machines people are used to seeing and connects them in ways that may seem idiotic or ingenious.
The less work that has to be done to assemble your machine at the site, the better. Too often, things that work perfectly in the workshop break down during the trip to the school.
The materials you use are the most important components of the machine. See what you have around the house, raid your old toy chest, pick up all those appliances Dad has been meaning to fix, but most importantly, USE THEM. Anything goes when you are building a Rube Goldberg machine. Rube knew no bounds when he created his machines, and you should take the same attitude. Follow the adage ''Nothing is impossible, if you try." Your imagination is your only limit.

DIRECTIONS:
1. Investigate the man, Rube Goldberg, and his machines. Write an essay that answers the “Who, What, When, Where” of Rube Goldberg and the origins of his machines. Describe the what his machines were designed to accomplish and what Mr. Goldberg’s intent was in creating them.

2. Design of Rube Goldberg Device
a. Brainstorm some ideas about what type of goals you wish to accomplish with this sort of device (e.g., light a candle, turn on a light, etc.). Fill in the blanks in the table below. You’ll have to do some research to see how other defined goals have been reached.
b. Do a literature search (3 different resources for full credit) to learn about Rube Goldberg, as well as simple machines and how they work. Determine what machines would be best for your situation (e.g., screw, levers, inclines, pulleys, etc.).
c. List many of the ways in which energy can be transformed from one form to another. Fill in the blanks in the table below.
d. Determine some machines that can be used to make these transformations and that can be physically assembled. Fill in the blanks in the table below.
e. Decide on a Rube Goldberg device that will achieve one of your goals listed in the table below through the use of technology/machines that transforms energy from one form to another. There should be at least 5 different types of transformations involved in your machine.


Possible Goals Energy Transformations Possible Machines
1. ________________ 1. ________________ 2. ________________ 1. ________________ 2. ________________
2. ________________ 3. ________________ 4. ________________ 3. ________________ 4. ________________
3. ________________ 5. ________________ 6. ________________ 5. ________________ 6. ________________
4. ________________ 7. ________________ 8. ________________ 7. ________________ 8. ________________
5. ________________ 9. ________________ 10. _______________ 9. ________________ 10. ________________

3. Explanation of Rube Goldberg Device (Paper)
Each student will submit a formally written, word-processed (12 pt font; 1.5 – 2.0 line spacing) lab report. The lab report should include the following sections: (i = done individually; t= done as a team)
a. Title Page (i/t) - includes a meaningful title for your project report and the names of the experimenters along with other pertinent information.
b. Purpose: (t) Describe the purpose of your project. In a few sentences, describe the scenario that you are trying to model and identify the goal that you will be attempting to accomplish. The statement should be a purpose statement (procedural steps should not be discussed).
c. Description of the Model: (i/t) The different parts of the device should be described in detail as to how they function. References to information from the literature search should be included here. A discussion as to the ability of the individual machines in the device to perform their duties is recommended.
d. Theoretical Background: (i) The energy transformations should be described in this part. Exhaustively describe the physics of the situation. Include diagrams, graphs, and other visuals which have been discussed in class or which you found in the book or other literature. Discuss Newton's laws, kinematics equations and graphs (p-t, v-t, and a-t), the work-energy theorem, momentum principles, vector analyses, and any other physics that seems applicable. In other words, apply physics to the situation by intelligently discussing the physics principles that apply to the motion scenario you have selected. Take time to look back through the book and your class notes to find physics and make an effort to apply it to the situation. This is a critical part of your project and should be several pages in length. There is no minimum limit on the number of pages that must be included; and there is certainly not a maximum limit. The actual number of pages will be revealing of your knowledge level; "the more you know, the more you'll write."
e. Data Section: (t) This should include a record of changes that had to be made as the design process unfolded with specific results included. For example, if the launch velocity of a projectile to reach a certain point is too high for the launch device, what will be altered and how? Organize your data in a meaningful way using a tabular format.
f. Discussion of Results: (i) Describe the final successful version of the model you have constructed. Describe in detail any problems or difficulties this device might have in completing the goal. Discuss its reliability (i.e., can it get repeatable results?). Discuss the possible energy losses or machine malfunctions that might take place over time.


4. Creation of Rube Goldberg Device (Product)
a. Using actual hardware, design your Rube Goldberg device and package it in a manner that makes it presentable to the public. Arrange for transportation of your device to the high school. Make sure it is sturdily put together. Little, if any, major modification will be able to be made at the high school.

5. Journal
a. This is an informal description of the process of completing this project. It should look like a “diary” with dated entries and detailed descriptions. The teacher is the only one who sees this entry, so comments about team members and their contributions are not necessarily discouraged. Comment on the process and your feelings about the process and project as a whole. Do not include any direct insults to the teacher for assigning it. The length of this journal should be appropriate for the amount of time that has been assigned to complete the project.

DUE DATES:
The following due dates have been tentatively assigned for the completion of your project.
Submission of Essay (Overview of Rube Goldberg) 50 pts 02/13
Description of Device - Rough Draft (steps 2a, 2b) 50 pts 02/20
Theoretical Background - Rough Draft (step 2c) 30 pts 02/28
Construction of Model (step 3) 02/27 – 05/21
Completion of Final Product (step 3) COMPETITION DAYS 03/28 – 04/01
Submission of Paper (step 2) 04/08
Submission of Journal 04/08

RULES (teacher reserves the right to modify these over time if necessary)
o The entire machine must fit on a base that measures no larger than 36” on each side. It should not exceed 48” in height
o No live animals may be used to power the machine.
o No open flames may be used on the machine.
o No hazardous materials or explosives can be used on the machine.
o The only electricity that can be used must come from typical household type batteries (A, C, D, 9volt, etc.)
o The entire process should last at least 30 seconds but be no longer than 45 seconds.
o There should be at least 5 different types of transformations involved in your machine.
o Your machine should have no less than 15 steps. A step is defined as the answer to the question, “Then what happened?”
What is a step?
A step is a linear process, not a parallel process. If a plane moves up a wire and triggers a switch, that would be an example of one complete step. If a plane causes two things to happen, that would be a parallel result and would only count as one complete step.
o A penalty will be assessed for any human intervention on a machine in motion, once it has started


DESIGN STRATEGY
Start with how you are going to finish your project. Perhaps a string is going to pull something. Work your way backwards from there. How is the string going to be pulled? Maybe a weight will pull it? Or a mousetrap. Yeah... a mousetrap! How will the mousetrap be triggered? You see the pattern? Come up with more than one way to "finish" the machine. Perhaps a lever arm will be used in place of the string to "finish" the machine. Now begin to think backwards as to how the lever arm will be moved. It is very important that the machine be built on a stand. A stand will make sure that everything is in its proper place when the device is set up and will force your machine to work within it's boundaries. Finally, the most important step in the process. Test everything (many times) together before it is brought to class for the presentation!