NMY Math Science

It is hard to believe that we a week away from the winter holidays! It has been very busy here in the NMY science lab the past few weeks. Both classes have moved on from the speed experiments to looking at simple machines and mechanical advantage. This led us to look at the work of Rube Goldberg. Rube Goldberg is best known for a series of popular cartoons he created depicting complex devices that perform simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways, called Rube Goldberg Inventions.  Inspired by his cartoons and other people’s interpretation of his inventions, the classes decided to make their own Rube Goldberg Inventions using basic household materials.  For six weeks, the students have been planning, experimenting and constructing their inventions. The time was filled with jubilant successes and stressful setbacks.  The students are working with a variety of tools that they are not accustom to handling, such as saws, hammers, power drills, screwdrivers and a sheet sander.

The students will be sharing their inventions during a Rube Goldberg Invention Convention on Tuesday, December 14.  We hope you can join us. Be on the look out for video documentation of their projects….coming soon!