Kayle Lappin holds her breath as she waits to see if her machine will pop a balloon. (Paula Roberts photo)
Jefferson Village School fourth-grade teacher Barbara Cunningham wanted her students to have fun while learning about simple machines during science class. Her students studied and performed different experiments using simple machines, like wedges, levers, incline planes, pulleys, wheels and axles, and screws.
“Armed with all of their new classroom knowledge, the students brainstormed ideas, used everyday objects, and figured out how to implement them to design a Rube Goldberg-style machine of their own,” Cunningham said.
Students drew blueprints of their designs and used them to build their machines at home.
A yellow balloon pops as Anthony Abbott demonstrates “Anthony’s Balloon Popper.” (Paula Roberts photo)
Rube Goldberg (1883-1970) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, best known for his drawings of creative and hilarious inventions. In his cartoons, he illustrated machines going through many complicated steps to perform a simple task. An engineer, Goldberg went to great lengths to get his readers to laugh. It is estimated that he drew 50,000 cartoons in his life.
Popping balloons was a popular theme for Jefferson students, as seven students in Cunningham’s class designed machines to break them, including Anthony Abbott, Gavin Bartlett, Antonio Giacomucci, Halle Jones, Kayle Lappin, and Sam Amarie.
Audryanna DeRaps designed an elaborate candy dispenser. Wyatt Flagg created a whimsical device to trip the flag of an ice fishing trap. Twins Grady and Shamus Pease created a machine that raised a U.S. flag. Aubrey Prock trapped a zombie in a cage.
Melekamu Rich designed a machine that raised a white flag when a mouse was caught in a mouse trap. Kammie Thompson’s “volcano eruptor” machine went through many steps to pour vinegar (warm water and soap) into baking soda to create a foaming volcano.
Kimberly Walker designed a machine to feed a dog a bone. Connor Turner built a catapult machine, “Wallbreaker,” that tossed a marble through a paper wall. Charlie Uleau created a machine that safely delivered a ball through a funnel, down ramps and secret tunnels, and onto a plate.
“They did such a good job with it,” Cunningham said, speaking not only of her students’ creativity, but also the design and implementation of their projects.
