St. Michael Regional School students construct science projects
CLAYTON - On May 17, St. Michael Regional School (SMRS) 7th and 8th grade students presented their Rube Goldberg Projects at the Annual Art and Education Fair.
Each year SMRS hosts an Art and Education Fair which represents art and science projects from PreK-4 to 8th grade. The school is decorated like an art museum with all the works from the students throughout the year. The science projects range from homemade rocky candy to hover boards.
Seventh graders Faith Rosa, Jae Forster, and Gianna Gollotto presented their Rube Goldberg Projects at the Annual Art and Education Fair. This year Mr. Wittstock, the 7th and 8th grade science teacher, asked the students to create a Rube Goldberg Machine. What is a Rube Goldberg Machine you ask? A Rube Goldberg machine is a contraption, invention, device or apparatus that is deliberately over-engineered to perform a simple task in a complicated fashion, generally including a chain reaction. It very similar to the board game Mouse Trap.
This project had specific parameters that needed to be followed. The machine needed to fit in a 4-by-4-feet square, run for a minimum of 30 seconds, use at least three simple machines, included 8 to 10 steps, and much more. The students were broken into small groups, and had over a month to construct their machine. The machines were quite impressive. The students used various materials such as Kinex blocks, dominos, books, water bottles, small toys, etc.
"This project was created to make the students think outside the box," said Mr. Wittstock "not only were they learning, but them seemed to have had some fun as well!"