WV State Standards: Science: 6.1,6.2.21, 6.3.05, 7.1.08, 7.2.24, 7.3.01, 7.3.05, 8.2.25, SC.O.PS.2.17, 2.18 Technology: 6.3.3, 7.3.3, 8.8.3, 12.3.3 National Standards:  Science: 10, 12 Technology: 3, 4, 6 Blooms Taxonomy: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, Evaluation 21st Century Skills: Information, Communication, Thinking, Reasoning, Personal, Workplace

Overview:

To provide background on Rube Goldberg and some history of technology.  The students will be familiar with Rube Goldberg and how simple machines can be connected to complete a task.

Objective(s):

To explore the connection between math, science, and technology.  The groups will be able to draw and label a simple Rube Goldberg cartoon and present it to the class.  Students will also be able to analyze each step.

Time Required:

Three 45 minute lessons

Pre-Requisite Skills:

Drawing, analyzing, presentation skills

Instructional Materials:

You will need access to laptops or a computer lab.  The websites needed are available in the procedure section.  This will also take some pre-planning if you intend to take the children on a field trip.  A blog or journal should already be set up.

1. Have students visit the websites below and do research on Rube Goldberg (knowledge):  http://www.rube-goldberg.com, http://www.toonopedia.com/goldberg.htm, and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5nmspVOz_Y
2. Show some other examples of the devices at the following website: http://hall-school.org/projects/rgoldberg/index.htm
3. Ask the students to create their own “simple” Rube Goldberg cartoon with explanations for homework  (Analysis, Application).
4. Students are to bring their homework and exchange it with others for discussion
5. Plan a Valley Worlds of fun trip (or other access to some games, i.e. mousetrap game) for each child to pick a game/ride and try to list at least 3 simple machines that game/ride is made of.  Students are to blog/journal their findings after the trip/game (Comprehension, Synthesis, Evaluation)
6. Collect and display the best Rube Goldberg cartoons.

Differentiated Instruction:

Students can explain, draw, or use the computer as needed.  Provide one on one instruction as needed. Constant monitoring, checking on progress, and providing peer tutoring will help all students meet or exceed the standards.

Author's Notes:

This activity was designed to use Valley World’s of Fun for educational purposes.  If you don’t have access to a field trip then you can use the game Mousetrap or some other working theme park ride, playground equipment, etc.
The drawings can get very complicated so stress a “SIMPLE” drawing of a simple task.  It may be better to have the students respond to questions on the blog/journal.

You can assess the completion of their Rube-Goldberg cartoons.  Also check their blog/journal for understanding of the three simple machines found at Valley Worlds of Fun or other site.