Sunday, February 17, 2013

Rube Goldberg Machines


Lately, we have been quite inspired by Rube Goldberg Machines.  YouTube has a host of wonderful RG Machine videos.  You can find two of our favorites at the bottom of this post.

Since watching them, we have tried out a few ideas of our own.  We had a RG Machine playdate one day with a friend who brought over some fun parts.  Then, this weekend, our friends Noah and Allison came to visit, and we decided to build one.  Allison is completing her PhD in Physics, so we knew we were in good hands.  We used all sorts of fun things- levers, pulleys, hammers, duplo blocks, marbles, dominos...and lots of tape and string!

Here are a few videos that show what we came up with.  As with all RG Machines, we had a few failed attempts before the whole things worked...but that is a great lesson in itself...and it was so exciting when it finally did!

Part 1- explaining the machine

Part 2- the first try


Part 3- the second try


Part 4- IT WORKED!

A few of our favorite Rube Goldberg Machine Videos on YouTube:

Audri's Monster Trap

Ok Go's "This Too Shall Pass" Machine


Linking up with:

I Can Teach My Child
Science Sunday




2 comments:

  1. Oh this is fun! We did something like this once for leprechaun traps. I think a Rube Goldberg machine is so much fun!

    Thanks for linking up to Science Sunday!

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  2. Marvellous! I love the tinkering to get it to work ... such a great lesson in itself to keep trying :-)

    We are featuring building and construction ideas at Empty Your Archive this week and I would love it if you would link up. Alice @ Mums Make Lists

    http://mumsmakelists.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/empty-your-archive-15.html

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