My class was assigned to do a immigration project. I started to wonder of who I could interview. I suddenly remembered that my Dad immigrated. My Dad immigrated from South Africa to America.
In preparing for my interview, I did some research on immigration and what immigrants have to go through. From researching, I had some ideas of what my questions could be to ask my Dad. My class was assigned to do 10-15 questions. I came up with 15 questions. I made sure that the questions were informational so I could make a Spark video. My teacher also assigned my class to do a Spark video of who we’re interviewing.
I think this interview will go well because I already know a lot about immigration and my Dad’s story. I am excited to learn more about my Dad’s journey to America and how he felt as a fifth grade student coming to a new country.
My overall experience designing a Rube Goldberg machine is that at first, I thought it would be easy but suddenly when we started, it became hard. Some steps of the project were no problem to complete and other steps were challenging. For example, we struggled with step five which we named tower of terror. This step included a pulley system that Stella and I created. We cut a plastic water bottle in half and used rocks to create weight for the release mechanism. The water bottle was tied to a piece of string and we spent two of our sessions trying to figure out how to hold the string down. We started with several weights of toy cars and then we moved on to a tennis ball but did not work either. So we finally replaced tennis ball with three magnet tiles. This took hours of trial to come up with a successful solution. Stella and I were literally jumping up and down.
I learned from working on the Rube Goldberg project that sometimes you may get frustrated but it is important to be patient and have a positive attitude to get through it. I also learned working with a partner you need to have a open mind to other people’s ideas. It was more fun to put our ideas together. I really enjoyed working with Stella on this project and I was happy I did not have to work on my own.
Making a Sketch of our Rube Goldberg machine was fun. Stella and I were very excited about our theme and creating a Disney Rube Goldberg project. We purchased a blue poster board and Mickey Mouse decorated tape. Then we used black construction paper and and cut out Mickey Mouse ears. Next, we used red letter stickers to label our project. This was going to be the backdrop of our sketch.
Following the layout of our backdrop we discussed how we wanted to draw out our machine. We drew out each step as best as possible and then made a key with numbers naming each step. We named each step based on different Disney rides. Except for one we just labeled dominos.
A few of the steps we drew larger to help the viewer understand the machine better. Having these sketches were helpful when we went to actually build each step. Not every step worked out exact to our sketch but was somewhat close.
After decorating and sketching our Rube Goldberg board created a goal which was to release balloons and labeled this on our board. Just like a book has a picture of a author, Stella and I included a picture of us.
Stella and I have been working and testing our Rube Goldberg project for the past five weeks. Within the past weeks we have had some success and some failures. Working on this project has been challenging.
Testing the machine has been interesting, sometimes what you think will work doesn’t actually work. For example, when Stella and I choose to do a rubber duck traveling across water, it got too hard. We decided that we would put rubber duck on a car and make it go down a track.
Some parts of the project have been frustrating. For example, When we were doing the pulley which we based on the ride Tower of Terror, we had some difficulties deciding what would hold the string of the pulley. We choose to use a car but we had to finds a car that was light enough for the dominos to push and to hold the string.
Stella and I have made some revisions to our machine. Some changes we made include switching a tennis ball with a cut open water bottle. Another change we made was to use a car and a track instead of water and rubber duck.
A big insight moment was when Stella and I were making the pulley the car was not moving. We replaced the car with magnet tiles. The magnet tiles were easier for the dominos to move because it was lighter than the car and the magnet tile was shaped the same as the domino.
In conclusion, I have learned from this experience that your ideas sometimes might not work. However, I have also learned to be patient and open minded to other ideas that can be possible solutions. If something does not work the first time than try and try again.
Reflecting on collaborating on the Rube Goldberg project, I have really enjoyed working with Stella, my partner. Although we have different ideas, we have been able to share and take turns testing different parts of our project out. I am happy I choose to work with a partner on this project. Stella and I have been able to come up with nine different tasks and we have worked out the first five. We have been meeting on Thursdays, Saturdays and sometimes on Sunday to work through the different tasks. Our next goal is to start task number six. We are going to have a seesaw knock over six fairy tale books, which we named fairy tale forest. So far this has been a fun experience.
Last Saturday, February 2nd, Stella and I had a meeting regarding our Rube Goldberg project. We went in my basement and found the materials we needed to start building. Some of the materials we found included marbles, dominoes, marble run tubes, string, blocks, rocks, tape and much more! After watching, “The Lemonade Machine” by Sprice Machines on youtube we found some great ideas. Attached below is the video:
We decided for our Rube Goldberg project our first step would be based on “ The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train” ride. To create the first component we found wrapping paper rolls, tape, scissors and marbles. We first cut the wrapping paper rolls in half and created four separate pieces. Then we placed the cut wrapping paper roles on different angles, securing them to the wall with tape and placing the rolls underneath one another so the marble would travel down the tube and fall directly down into the next tube. Our first take was not a success because the marble bounced off the tube and fell on the floor. Our solution was to change the incline of the tubes to make it less steep so the marble would not fall off. Although the incline was better the marble still did not stay on the run. Our next thought was to add a plastic cup to block the marble from coming out of the tube. Our solution did not go as planned because the marble got stuck inside the cup. After that we decided to use the bottom of the cup. We tried to drop the marble down the run and by placing the cups backward the marble traveled in and out of the wrapping paper rolls successfully! Our first step was now complete!
The Seven Dwarf Mine Train
Our second step is based on the roller coaster, “Thunder Mountain.” Our supplies that we used for this step included connecting tubes (marble run tubes), marbles and tape. First we built a contraption using the connecting tubes to help the marble continue its travel from step one to step two. After we came up with a cool design for our connecting tubes, we started to build it. We had originally placed the connecting tube mechanism on the floor but the marble from the first step was not falling into the second step. We then stacked plastic boxes on top of one another so that we could meet the height of the first step. We started to test the “Thunder Mountain” marble run. Our solution was to connect another connecting tube to the marble run. We tested it one more time and it worked!
Step 2 : Thunder Mountain
For our third step we based our idea on the Disney ride “Splash Mountain.” The supplies that we used include marble run connectors, tape and a ball. To build Splash Mountain we first put together the marble run connectors. We taped the marble run connectors to the plastic box so that it would not move. Taking a match box car ramp, we balanced the ramp next to the run and placed a car on the floor. We tested it but the car was to heavy. Our solution was to replace the car with a ball. We tested it one more time and it finally worked!
Step 3 : Splash Mountain
The last step of the day was our fourth step which is based on the ride “Tower of Terror.” Some of the supplies include blocks, dominoes, string, a tennis ball and a car. We first watched a video how to make a pulley. After we put together blocks so the tennis ball could land on the table. We set up the dominoes on the floor and placed the car over the string. We tested it out and it worked! This is the link to watch the video on how to make a pulley:
Stella and I learned that we need to have more than one idea for each step. It was fun to see which ideas worked and which ideas did not. It was much harder than I expected. We can’t wait to keep on building our Disney Rube Goldberg project!
A couple days ago, my class was assigned to do a Rube Goldberg project. The Rube Goldberg project is about a contraption that is over engineered to make a simple task work. All the students had the choice to work alone or work within a small group. I chose to work with my friends, Stella and Maya. Due to after school activity conflicts Maya chose to work alone.
Stella and I decided that our Rube Goldberg project would have a theme. We decided our theme will be Disney World. We chose the theme to be Disney World because we wanted to make the elements look like different Disney rides. For our simple task we decided that we would release balloons into the air. Stella and I are excited to get started!
This week my school did a challenge called kindness matters. The challenge is to do as many kind things as you can, such reading a book to your sibling or smiling at 25 people.
I entertained someone with a happy dance, hugged a friend, smiled at 25 people, complimented 5 people, read a book to my sibling and made a bookmark for a friend. Even though we kindness week at my school we should always be kind.
Doing a Martin Luther King Jr. timeline was very interesting and fun. My favorite thing about researching on Martin Luther King Jr. is putting together the timeline. I learned that Martin Luther King Jr. got arrested 35 times and he won a Nobel Peace prize in 1964. I also learned that Martin Luther King Jr. lead a bus boycott and died in 1968. Martin Luther King Jr. was a famous black leader.
Today’s presentation went well. Everybody on my team remembered what to say and everyone in the audience seemed to understand what we were saying. We had pictures and words on each slide to help us remember what we were supposed to say for each slide. My team worked well together to create a good slide show with lots of information and pictures. We each worked on a slide and put as much information as we could. We also put images on the slides based on what we were saying. Our presentation was successful because every member of the team worked hard.
