Students in grades 5-8 participated in a simple machines unit. Our class started this unit by defining terms that had to do with simple machines and looking at cartoons drawn by Rube Goldberg to finding simple machines in his silly and complex drawings. During another class we watched a Myth Busters video about pulling out a tablecloth from under a table that was set for dinner. Students were able to watch the start of the video, and then given two minutes to write as many questions and predictions as possible. After discussing our questions and predictions, we began to watch the video more and stopped a few times to change predictions or answer questions. At the end of the video, we then watched it one more time without pausing it at all. This video brought up the topic of inertia and Newton’s First Law. As our unit progressed, we experimented with net force, unbalanced force and balanced force. We watched more videos, talked and read about Newton’s Second and Third Laws. As a culminating project, each student was placed in a group and challenged to make a Rube Goldberg type machine that would pop a balloon and use at least six simple machines to do so.
Watch a sample of one of the machines by clicking below!