This week we have had more of an engineering focus rather than science. We investigated the chain reaction technique of a Rube Goldberg machine. Having watched a few example videos on YouTube, the pupils were inspired to create their own simpler versions using a range of ‘blue bin’ recycling items that we had put a plea out for to the school community. The club split into two teams, each working towards the end goal of transporting a ball away from its starting point. Both teams worked co-operatively and collaboratively to design their machine and they only had string and masking tape in addition to the recycling materials – although they also chose to incorporate some PE equipment for extra height. They also had to refine and improve their ideas when things didn’t go quite to plan, all in the space of about 45 minutes! As always, our science governor was there to prompt, guide and enthuse and this week we had a special guest – her eldest son, an ex-pupil of ours , came to support too. Both teams came up with their own innovative designs, with team A designing an original ball drop starting mechanism and team B creating an end point for their ball run that knocked over a small tower. Everyone participated well and enthusiastically watched each other’s final ball runs. Stickers were awarded to all with Team B just having the edge overall with their design. Well done everybody!
