Project Exchange
ACTIVITY: The hook into Rube Goldberg Projects
Project: Rube Goldberg Project: Motion and the Physics of Change
SUMMARY
Goals
Details
Duration: 90 minutes
Assessments: Student writing
Materials: LCD projector (for video), groups of 3-4 for grouping in projects
Description
This day is basically a hook to get students excited about the project
Preparation before:
Basic knowledge of terms of physics (velocity, acceleration)
It is important, as with any project, to get the students excited and have a "hook" to get them thinking. The hook in this case is a series of videos dealing with rube goldberg devices. With this project, I have used 2 videos, "The Way Things Go," which is a longer 30 minute video about a large rube goldberg device, and a shorter honda video done by the same people who did "The Way Things Go" using the parts of a Honda. This moves into describing what the student will do, along with caveats about what they cannot do.
The video "The Way Things Go," by Peter Fischli and David Weiss, is available on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Way-Things-Go-Peter-Fischli/dp/6304551630
The shorter Honda Commercial can be found here. http://www.ebaumsworld.com/flash/honda-ad.html
Look at the powerpoint on how I asked the students to find the different parts of physics and motion in both videos.
Progression of lesson-
I would say that the Videos are essential for hooking the student into the project. Have them call upon previous knowledge about physics to find different instances of physics in each video
Go over the Description of the project
Start brainstorming using the brainstorm sheet
ACTIVITY RESOURCES
(e.g. rubrics, examplars, websites, etc.)
Benchmarks for Rube Goldberg project
This is an example of the benchmarks and due dates that i have used with students. THE TEACHER/FACILITATOR NEEDS TO CHE...
Download (38K)
Blueprints and Brainstorming
This is the document that helped students brainstorm the beginnings of their project...
Download (41K)
Intro Powerpoint
This gives the description of what the students will start with for the Rube Goldberg project, along with the hook....
Download (56K)
Rube Goldberg project Descriptive document
This gives an overview, plus the benchmarks spread out over the month...
Download (115K)
REFLECTIONS & COMMENTS
Author Reflections
ALL PROJECT ACTIVITIES
- The hook into Rube Goldberg Projects
- Project Planning continued
- Assigning group roles and starting a formal proposal
- Project building. Should take 2 or more days
- Calculating different aspects of physics in your Rube Goldberg device
- Writing a script for the presentation (can be also done during project building and calculations)
- Presenting your Rube Goldberg Device to the class