Aluminum Cans Are The Theme Of 13th Annual Rube Goldberg Competition

By Tanjua Damon

Looking for a way to get off the couch to recycle an aluminum can? Well, eighth grade students in the Discovery program at Newtown Middle School may have come up with contraptions that could help recycle cans, but maybe not from the couch.

The 13th annual Rube Goldberg competition was held April 9 in the cafeteria at the middle school. This year the Discovery students were asked to build a machine with a series of at least 15 steps that could dent or crush and “deposit” a 12-ounce aluminum can into a recycling bin. The machine had to operate within the dimensions of five feet high, six feet long, and five feet wide. The machine also had to use two Duracell batteries, which were provided. Students were encouraged to spend no money on the project, but could spend $20 if needed.

Judges scored students on the successful completion of the task, number of steps in the machine, creativity, Rube Goldberg spirit of the program, and how well the team was prepared and displayed a step description of the machine.

The Rube Goldberg competition allows the students to experience firsthand what engineering entails. The idea of the competition is to expand students’ use of creativity and problem solving in “real life” situations. Throughout the project, students had to question, analyze, and take risks while creating their contraptions. Using existing materials, students had to adapt various materials to suit the needs of a new product.

“They learned how to work with one another. Some of them are true perfectionists,” Discovery teacher John Vouros said. “So it was for them to realize that this was an assignment that didn’t fit into their learning style. To create it in their mind was quite easy. To build it more difficult and for it to work was probably more difficult for them.

“It’s not the grade. It’s the idea that they couldn’t do it the way their mind wanted it to be done,” he added. “It’s character building for them.”

Even the students admitted that getting it to work was not the easiest task. What seemed to be frustrating for some of them was when their machine did not work when the judges were there, but as soon as they walked away the project worked perfectly.

“Getting the ideas down on paper and changing them all the time [was challenging],” Seth Hull said. “I always thought about the foundation. It’s always hard to get the steps together on one foundation.”

The students learned things about themselves, too, during the project.

“I learned to be patient,” Darcy Fiscella said. “It was really frustrating when you thought you had completed the first steps but would come back the next day and they didn’t work.”

Some students enjoyed the challenge of trying to figure out why certain steps or ideas were not working.

“I liked it because it was a challenge,” Patrick Dunseith said. “I enjoyed trying getting it to work 100 percent of the time. It still doesn’t work 100 percent of the time. It gets caught up a lot near the end.”

On April 10 the students spent some time reflecting on the project about what worked and what did not as well as how they felt about the whole process.

“It truly was in all aspects a Rube Goldberg spirit,” Mr Vouros said. “There were all sorts of different kinds of materials uses. I saw a lot of smiles. You can laugh at yourselves. You can enjoy your failures as well as your triumphs. As long as you tried your very best that’s what matters to me. That is what is important.”

Many of the students were surprised by the outcome of their projects.

“I was really surprised by the outcome. Everyone did a really good job,” Cassie Montanez said. “It’s much easier to say things than do things. It was much more difficult to manufacture something.”

Some students even realized engineering is something they might want to explore as a career.

“I really wanted it to work. I really cared about it,” Jen Iassogna said. “I learned that I like this stuff.”

The students had some advice for upcoming Rube Goldberg competitors: plan for the unexpected, do not make it more difficult than it has to be –– keep it simple, start with the final step, watch your time, have multiple levels, attach it to the foundation, use duplicate materials, and if it is not broke do not fix it.

“You need to remember in life sometimes when you approach a problem you have to start at the end,” Mr Vouros said. “Your mind needs to be open to that as a possible solution.”

The winning teams were: first place, Maggie Hemingway and Jen Iassogna; second place, Alex Hart and Brianna Eckhardt; and a tie for third place, Pat Dunseith and the team of Shane McCarthy, Jessie Cox, Michael Stephens, and Cassie Montanez.