TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Simple Machines
Through a five-lesson series with five hands-on activities, students are introduced to six simple machines - inclined plane, wedge, screw, lever, pulley, wheel-and-axle - as well as compound machines, which are combinations of two or...
Other
Rube Goldberg
Get a look into the life of the wacky machine inventor Rube Goldberg. Includes a terrific biography, a gallery of his cartoon inventions, and a link to The Rube Goldberg Machine Contest.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Splash, Pop, Fizz: Rube Goldberg Machines
Refreshed with an understanding of the six simple machines; screw, wedge, pully, incline plane, wheel and axle, and lever, student groups receive materials and an allotted amount of time to act as mechanical engineers to design and...
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Goldburger to Go
Apply principles of physics as you add parts to an unfinished Rube Goldberg design in this interactive game. Examine clues and make adjustments to complete a food delivery machine.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Construction of a Complex Machine Through Classroom Collaboration
Learners take a simple task and make it much more complicated using a cardboard box. Each group must use a minimum of six simple machines utilizing at least four types of simple machines. The goal is to keep the initial impulse moving...
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Games Machines Play: Rube Goldberg Challenge
Explore the cartoons of Rube Goldberg and design a complex machine to perform a simple task. Use scientific design elements and information about energy transfer to build a model of the machine.