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.
My class was a signed to create a wevideo on our Ecosystem. These are the steps that we had to follow. First we got a sheet that showed blank panels so we had to color or write words in the panels. Next we started to create our wevideo. We had to choose different pictures, words and videos. to create our wevideo. Then if you wanted to you could record your voice you could. I recorded my voice. Then we showed it to a couple friends and asked them if it needed any changes. Mine did not need any changes so I pressed the finish button and then I was done.
4th Grade was fun. We did a lot of work. We did a lot of project for example curiosity project, colonial project, biography project and tundra project.
My class and I did a lot of read alouds for example Blood on the River by Elisa Carbone, Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman and Tiger Rising by Kate Dicamillo.
A guy named Dennis Oehler came in to teach learning from our differences. Dennis Oehler was hit by a car and had to get his leg removed. Then Dennis Oehler got into the Paralympics. He showed us what he uses to run with. It was really cool how he could run again.
My favorite thing doing this year was our biography project. Mine was on Walt Disney. I wanted to research about Walt Disney because I just went to Walt Disney World and wanted to know where it all begun.
My favorite subject is science because you get to learn about things right in front of you and you get to use cool supplies to learn science.
My favorite read aloud is Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman because the genre of the book is mystery and I love reading about mystery’s.
Walt Disney was born in the year of 1901. He lived in a small town just outside of Chicago. His family moved a lot because they could not afford to live in just one house. Walt had three older brothers named Herbert, Raymond and Roy. Walt also had one younger sister named Ruth. Walt was pore. Walt loved art but father Elias did not understand how you could make money off of art. Since Walt could not take art lessons he drawn on his house. When his father saw this he got very unhappy. Elias got so unhappy Walt got punished for a very long time. When Walt got a little older the Disney family had to move again. They moved to Kansas City. Since Herbert and Raymond did not like moving a lot they runned away. When they moved Elias started a business. Walt had to work for his father but did not get paid. Other boys worked for him but did get paid. Walt’s job was to deliver newspaper to a thousand people.
When Walt was 14 he started taking art lessons. When Walt’s brother Roy was 17 he runned away and joined the navy. When Roy left Walt was sad and his parents were furious. Since Walt’s father’s business was not doing well Walt had to get a new job. Walt’s new job was a news butcher. When Walt Disney started High School he became an art editor. Then Walt wanted to join the navy but Elias did not want to sign Walt up because he already had two sons in the navy so does not want another one in it but Flora signed Walt up. In November of 1918 Walt sailed to Europe. He spent most of his time driving troops and supplies from place to another. When Walt was older he told his father he wanted to be an artist. Elias was not happy.
Adult Life
One day at Walt’s new job he met a guy named Ub Iwerks. They wanted to start a business together. So Walt wrote home asking if he could have his savings money because he wanted to start a business with Ub Iwerks. But Flora only sent half of it. So Walt and Ub started a business. They called it Iwerks-Disney. In 1937 Disney made his first full length cartoon film to be produced by a movie studio. It was called Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Some of Disney’s other full length cartoon films were Pinocchio in 1940, Bambi in 1942, Cinderella in 1950, Peter Pan in 1953, Lady and the Tramp in 1955, Sleeping Beauty in 1959 and 101 Dalmatians in 1961.
Obstacles
Some obstacles that happened Walt Disney’s life are that Walt moved a lot from one town to another in Walt’s childhood. When Walt got a little older his father became ill with a high fever but he recovered. When his father started the newspaper delivery business Walt had to work when it was snowing and snow was up to his knees and even if the steps were icy. When Roy left to join the navy Walt was very sad that he had no brothers now he only had his little sister.
Impact the World
Walt Disney won 32 Academy Awards for his movies and his work in improving the art of filmmaking. He was also known for the theme parks his company created and Walt Disney Productions created. They include Disneyland Resort in Anaheim and California and Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida.
