By: Marcus Gabriel A. Fronda
Gr.6-Queen of Queens
Creating my own version of the Rube Goldberg Machine is very challenging. Simple as it may seem, it requires a lot of patience, concentration, and flexibility. Simple machines reduce or decrease effort. It extends the ability of people to perform tasks beyond their standard competencies. When our teacher in Science 6, Mrs. Maricar Luteria, assigned us a project of building such a machine, my reaction back then was to challenge myself, to think right away and to ask myself, how to do it?
The simple machines that I used in creating my Rube Goldberg Machine, which I called by its unique name, “Simple Boom Blast Machine” are the lever, inclined planes, wedge, screw, and wheel and axle. While doing the project, I felt like I am an engineer. I had to make a sketch plan and a simple blueprint of my project. My idea initially was to create a marble machine where I can put or drop the marbles that would hit and push the car to roll on the planes. The marble machine was made from recycled materials such as cardboard and empty tissue rolls which I gathered from my room. The design of the marble machine was up to the creator for as long as marbles can roll towards the start point of the car. Then, I used my hot wheel toys and planes as tools. I connected the planes from the side tip of a small table using a screw. These were indicated in my sketch plan. The table was put on a chair or any higher area suited to the desired height. I also connected the planes up to the desired length or distance.
At the end of the last plane, I connected the ramp with a fixed fulcrum for support. I placed the trash bin with big pins at the end which served as the finish line. The big pins were Boom Blast Stix (plastic) and were also available at home. In this scenario, a good setting would be to conduct the activity on a staircase for proper elevation. The agenda then was to hit the car, roll to the planes, and then aim for the trash bin. The car must be able to shoot into the bin and be able to make an impact on the big pins inside it. By hitting the big pins, these created a BOOM explosion! The machine was considered a success upon the explosion! The difficult challenge here was the repetitive trial of aiming and shooting the car into the trash bin making the big pins boom blast and explode.
I failed several times but I kept on trying. As the saying goes, “there is no failure except in no longer trying and it does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” The most valuable learning and my biggest takeaway in doing this machine is to never give up. Every failure is a learning experience. This also made me realize that if we made a mistake and did not reach success, we just need to get right back to work, focus, and try different ideas until finally, one effectively works. In addition, it is the feeling of great relief and being proud that though the machine is too simple, the important thing is that I knew the hard work and effort exerted behind this awesome creation. This project taught me a lot. We need to be strong and stand firm.
No one can ever stop a dauntless engineer!
Aim to reach your goal, whatever it takes!
