4th Grade Rube Goldberg Projects

Mr. Kress’ 4th grade class recently experienced, first hand, the value of perseverance as they worked through a complicated science project. In order to deepen their understanding of the transfer of energy and motion, the class was assigned a Rube Goldberg project. The goal of the project was to create a chain reaction of household objects in order to accomplish a simple task. The students were not given specific rules for what task to accomplish, what objects to use, or how big the project had to be.

After watching a few examples and brainstorming ideas, each group was responsible for planning their project, bringing in the proper materials, and building and testing the final machine. It was a long week for many groups of building, rebuilding and tweaking their designs until they achieved success. In the end, the class learned about how energy transfers from one object to another, and they also learned valuable lessons about teamwork, growth, mindset and persistence.

After the completion of the project, the students were given the opportunity to reflect on their experiences. Many students were able to connect our core values at ASA to this project. Their answers were most telling about what they took away from the experience.

“I think my favorite part was the recording.” -Santos R.

“My advice would be that it may take many tries, but it will work.” -Cadan W.

“It was hard when things didn’t go right because we had to redo some parts.” -Makenzie M.

“I thought it was fun because we actually got to work together. It was also a learning experience.” -Hadrian S.

“It was cool to try to find a way to get the ball down the ramp.” -Grace E.

“We had to believe that All Things are Possible Through Christ because we had to believe that we would score.” -Tommy S.

“My favorite part was testing it because I got to have fun with my friends.” -Sierra G.

“The most difficult part was coming up with a plan because there were so many things to do.” -Emma B.

“I would say to a future 4th grader that it will take a while and be very patient.” -Owen O.

“The time when we first succeeded I felt a sense of accomplishment.” -Josh M.

“We had to believe All Things are Possible Through Christ because the Lord helped us on our third try.” -Brooklyn O.

“I learned that teamwork can accomplish anything.” -Mei M.

Check out the videos of the projects here: