The Foresthill Divide School 5th grade classes built "Rube Goldberg Machines" utilizing the six simple machines, the Lever, Pulley, Incline Plane, Wheel Axis, Wedge and Screw. After learning about these simple machines from teachers Adam Peres and Greg Mason, the students went to work combining as many of the simple machines as possible to build a working Rube Goldberg Machine.

All students participated in demonstrating their final working machines to the entire 5th grade class and presented a speech explaining their self made contraptions. The students could not spend more than ten dollars for their project and "home found" parts were desired. The students raided their parents kitchens and garages to scavenge the desired simple machine parts.While the machines were simple, the children's minds were very complex in producing their final project. Drywall screws, pulleys and string, play cars, marbles, pathways, cups, water, hydrogen peroxide, dry ice and balloons were incorporated into many of the projects. Some of the machines produced a chemical reaction at the end causing foam to bubble over. Others produced carbon dioxide to blow up a balloon, a moving needle to pop a balloon, the closing of  an electrical circuit to start-up a record player---very complex indeed!

The Foresthill Lions Club was on the scene to score each project and donate awards to the top five students. Wyatt Cottingham was awarded first place by a very small margin over the tied second place winners, Pennell Mora, Nash Netherby, Rylan Peres and Madison DeuPree.

(0) comments

Welcome to the discussion.

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.