I hope you have enjoyed my blog reflections on my Rube Goldberg machine! Vrinda and I have finished the contraption and it works! We changed our design to a fully functional chain of reactions. First, a baseball puts more weight on one side of a large piece of foam than the other, causing a tennis ball to roll off the foam and down a ramp. Then, the tennis ball hits a Jenga tower with a ball on top, attached to the ceiling by a string. When the Jenga tower falls, the ball travels toward where the string attaches it to the ceiling, but hits a book along the way. The book hits more books, acting as Dominos. When the last book falls, it pushes a toy train forward and down a train track ramp. The train then hits a toy car, which travels around a loop when pushed forward. The car hits a power switch, letting electricity flow and charge my phone. It took hours of work and endless amounts of effort, but we finally made our Rube Goldberg machine!

The due date is just days from now! Vrinda and I have planned out the project, and are just waiting for another meeting to put our plan in action! While some have finished completely, and some have done only a few steps, our group sits in the middle. Our Rube Goldberg machine seems so much better then before. Vrinda and I strongly believe that this will be most of our final project. We have incorporated many ideas and objects, such as cars and large tracks (SPOILER ALERT: INCLUDING A LOOP), books, and many items attached to the ceiling with string. I can’t wait to show our final video to you guys!

The Rube Goldberg due date is less than a week away! Vrinda and I really have to catch up. We planned our next meeting, and brought lots of supplies from Vrinda’s house. We looked at other Rube Goldberg machines for inspiration, including Vrinda’s brother’s project. We adapted upon some of his ideas. Our Rube Goldberg really started to come to life! We thought we got more done at that meeting then all the others combined. We have about five steps working straight, and some others that we need to fix. You must have at least seven steps. Vrinda and I think we are almost ready for the final run! Look out for more updates on our Rube Goldberg Machine!

Welcome to my third Rube Goldberg machine reflection. As Vrinda and I work and build the machine, the due date just gets closer and closer. Monday, April 4th, 2016 we must show that we have begun the process. Three blog reflections, two links other than the ones our teacher, Ms. Edwards provided on her teacher’s page, evidence of research, and at least one sketch of the machine. Vrinda and I prepared a presentation on Google Slides, showing our starting sketches, pictures of us working, and more. We have been enjoying the project so far. It has been fun trying out different kinds of chain reactions, and learning for ourselves. I recommend a Rube Goldberg project to any classroom.

      This is my first blog reflection of my Rube Goldberg machine project in Ms. Edwards’ fifth grade class. I will make five more blog reflections between now and April 19, when the project is due. We are just beginning the project. My partner Vrinda Pareek and I have been making sketches about what our machine should be like. If you don’t know, a Rube Goldberg machine is a chain reaction of objects that performers a simple task like blowing a bubble or flipping a paper. Not just yet will we tell you our idea, but stay tuned for more blog reflections. Here is a quick teaser of some of the objects that will be used: Toy cars and trucks, marbles and Domino’s. Of course there will be more objects used, but those are a few. Keep updated on more news by visiting my blog again soon!