Who is Rube Goldberg?!?

As the school year comes to a close, I challenge my students to be more than consumers over the summer break. We talk about the importance of doing and making - of being producers. In an effort to inspire them, I share a variety of websites and books.

A favorite topic to share at this time of the year is Rube Goldberg machines. I introduce them to the concept by sharing Wonder of the Day #1234 from Wonderopolis. I follow that up with this short video of a child who has created a Rube Goldberg machine. After watching the video, we sketch our own versions of Audri's monster trap and take a gallery walk to make suggestions of possible materials our classmates could use to accomplish their goals. By the end of the GATE session, they have practical ideas for making their own machines and are excited to post pictures or videos to our Google Classroom.

(I'm sure their families love me for suggesting possible ways to repurpose the couch or to use the ceiling fan to launch parachutes!)