Immersive Physics with Rube Goldberg Machines

Preparation

Students are expected to:

• Have some background knowledge of simple forces
• Have knowledge about Rube Goldberg machines from a previous lesson
• Have prepared a design of a Rube Goldberg machine to perform a simple task (as directed by the teacher)
• Have some background in using Immersive Virtual Reality (IMVR) Headsets
• Have a basic background in building on CoSpaces. If not, please add at least a 1×60 minute lesson for learning the basics. There are tutorials linked in the resources section

Teachers should make sure that:

• IMVR headsets must be calibrated and charged
• Gadgeteers to be installed on IMVR headsets
• Students are able to access  YouTube videos.
• Ensure that links to any Rube Goldberg machine games are not blocked by school firewalls.
• Slide deck has been checked and the teacher has enabled the deck’s accessibility so students can access them.
• A copy of the Student Digital Notebook has been distributed to students and they have downloaded/ made a copy for themselves.
• Have prepared students with knowledge about Rube Goldberg Machines, forces, and given them time to prepare a design of their own Rube Goldberg Machine
• Students are divided into pairs or groups depending on how many devices are available. A suggested rotation cycle may be:

This may differ based on student numbers and number of HHVR headsets/ devices.

Lesson Sequence

• Show students This Too Shall Pass (3:53) by OK Go as an introduction to Rube Goldberg Machines.
• Ask students to recap how this video could relate to physics and the idea of forces.
• Explain that students will be spending some time creating and exploring Rube Goldberg machines virtually. They will need to have their machine designs completed previously with them (see example on Rube Goldberg Machines: Teaching Deck slide deck)
• Introduce the stations students will be engaging in

Station-based Learning in 10-15 min interval rotations

Station 1 – IMVR

• In pairs, students are to use the Gadgeteer app on their IMVR Kit or the Learning Lab to create their Rube Goldberg Machine Take turns in the group and document decisions or ideas.

Station 2 – Explore

• Students can play some online challenge games that require them to make Rube Goldberg type machines to achieve tasks;
  • The Incredible Machine
    (TIM Backup link)
  • Tinkerball
  • Dynamic Systems
  • Simple Machines

Station 3 – Build

Students are to use Tinkercad and CoSpaces EDU to create their Rube Goldberg Machines they designed earlier. They can include their description of the forces at play through coding information panels or using text/ speech options.

• Ask students to share their city designs/creations using CoSpaces EDU by sharing the link/ QR code. Students will be able to view each other’s creations in VR or AR by scanning each other’s QR codes.

Download the PDF for more information