Goals

 

Details

Duration: 90 minutes

Assessments: Student writing

Materials: Computers for students to start typing out their formal descriptions

 

Description

This is a benchmark to assure that people will be assigned work equitably and also know what they are responsible for. The roles break down as thus:

ROLE /TASKS ASSOCIATED
GROUP LEADER This person will be the main contact person for any questions you may have about the project. This person may be asked to engage in special meetings with me so that they can relay information to the group. This person should be someone who is organized and responsible.

TIMER This person will be responsible for heading up the plan for each project work period. They will consult the group and come up with a project plan that will state exactly which pieces of the project will be built in a particular day and who will be working on each piece. This person should be able to talk easily and responsibly with the whole group. This person should be someone who uses time wisely and will help others in their group stay on track.

MATERIALS MANAGER This person will be in charge of organizing all materials. They will be responsible for taking the materials out at the beginning of all work periods and will be responsible for making sure that EVERYONE in the group helps to put away the materials neatly and efficiently. This person should be willing to take responsibility and give responsibilities out in a democratic way to other group members.

OTHER If the group identifies any other pressing or necessary roles, please list them and a brief description of what the responsibilities of person's role are.

They will designate roles and also give a master list to the teacher/facilitator

Each student will be responsible for a description of the project that they are building, and will have access to computers during this time to put together a formal project description. This will be done INDIVIDUALLY, and will probably take the remainder of the time during class and then some....
The formal description is below:

EACH PERSON IN THE GROUP will need to create a professional final project description that is TYPED. This final description should include the following:

o Identify all major "events" in your machine
o i.e. sneaker kicks golf ball down 1" PVC pipe ramp
o Identify all of the pieces/materials that are included in that "event" – BE SPECIFIC!
o i.e. whatever you used to push the shoe, Nike size 9 left sneaker, golf ball, 1" PVC pipe ramp
o Identify the physics associated with the "event" in a SPECIFIC manner – do not just write that there is friction – tell me which kind and HOW you see it occurring
o i.e. the sneaker hitting the ball causes rolling friction on the ball as it moves down the ramp AND there is static friction to overcome before the ball can start rolling down the ramp AND there is a force being acted on the ball by the shoe in the forward direction AND...
o When there are equations that you can use to figure out the values of the physics force, include that!!! Remember, we have the equations for FORCE, VELOCITY, KINETIC AND POTENTIAL ENERGY, AND ACCELERATION. In this section, you are REQUIRED to identify and calculate at LEAST 2 OF THESE EQUATIONS FOR YOUR RUBE GOLDBERG.
o Think about how you will calculate these out! What variables will you need? How will you find these out? Later on, we will be giving you a sheet that you can use to figure out to find these variables in your Rube Goldberg.

Benchmark 4 guideline and rough drafting
This is how i went about pushing students to think deeper about the physics and basic concepts in the Rube Goldberg...
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Author Reflections

The Roles in the group are to try to help with equitable distribution of work. This makes sure that people will do work, and always keep the roles handy to refer back to them. ALWAYS REFER BACK TO THE ROLES! if not it becomes a useless thing...