Fremont students explore simple machines through Rube Goldberg devices

Fremont Middle School students in Mundelein experimented recently on roller coaster gymnastics to to see how levers, inclined planes and pulleys would affect the speed of a vehicle and how integral a role objects would play in the outcome.

"Rube Goldberg machines are compound machines that are made up of simple machines working together," science teacher Jenn Novello said.

"These machines make a simple task as complex as possible. Fremont eighth-grade students applied their knowledge of work and machines in a performance-based assessment to build their own Rube Goldberg machine. Many students became very creative by including multiple simple machines such as inclined planes, pulleys, and different classes of levers to achieve their task of getting a tennis ball into a recycling bin without it bouncing out."

Students incorporated a variety of materials into their machines including dominoes, toy cars, and even water. Some machines had more than 10 steps involved in performing the task.

This activity also reinforced Next Generation Science Standards in engineering design because students defined a problem, developed a solution, and went through testing steps to optimize the best design.

Students are also utilizing Common Core Standards to produce and publish writing that presents relationships between information and ideas efficiently.