The Olympics Of Complexity

By Laurie Borst

Eighth grade students from Newtown Middle School’s GATES program will be participating in the school’s annual Rube Goldberg Machine Contest. On a recent afternoon, NMS Applied Technology teacher Don Ramsey and GATES teacher Patrice Gans introduced a group of interested students to the complex world of Rube Goldberg Machines.

The contest brings the ideas of Pulitzer Prize-winning artist Rube Goldberg’s “Invention” cartoons to life. Named after, and inspired by, the cartoonist, this “Olympics of Complexity” is designed to pull students away from conventional problem solving and push them into the endless chaos of imagination and intuitive thought.

Groups are given an elementary challenge, but instead of just “solving” the problem, students have to make the solution as complicated and as convoluted as possible. In fact, the more steps (there is a minimum of 15 for the middle school competition) the better the Rube Goldberg Machine — an assemblage of ordinary objects, mechanical gadgets, and the oddest odds and ends that are linked together to get to the desired goal.

The modified challenge for 2007 is to extract the juice from a sliced orange, place it into a pitcher and then pour it into a cup so that there is at least one teaspoon of juice in the cup at the end of the machine run. The contest, originally geared toward college engineering students, has been modified from the national challenge to accommodate the middle school student.

Each group of students has been paired with a professional mentor to guide them through the design phase of the project. This year’s mentors, representing a wide range of engineering backgrounds, such as electrical, mechanical, and computer engineering, are volunteering their time to assist with this engaging project.

 “Simplicity is the hallmark of success,” said Mr Ramsey told the students. “Think of this as 15 small individual projects. But, the more variety in the parts, the more interest your contraption will have.”

He compared the project to dominoes, where knocking one domino over starts a chain reaction. He counseled the students to think about how the component parts will come together to give a whole machine.

“Think of it as a form of creative play or exploration,” he said. “Feel free to experiment with different gizmos.”

He had on hand a wave motion machine that demonstrates energy transfer. He discussed the worm screw, which Archimedes figured out could to bring water uphill, and the cam, an important component of many machines.

“Gravity is our best friend in this activity,” Mr Ramsey pointed out during a discussion about kinetic and potential energy. “It’s a ready-made force; all you need is something higher than something else.”

Mr Ramsey stressed the need to consider both functionality and thematic artistry. “Judges tend to favor projects with an aesthetic appearance,” he told the students. “The subliminal impression is important.”

The competition is being sponsored by Tier One Machining of Newtown. The judging of the competition will take place in the middle school cafeteria on Wednesday, June 6 from 6 to 8 pm.  For additional information, contact Patrice Gans at gansp@newtown.k12.ct.us.