Build a Rube-Goldberg machine that is a metaphor for the scientific method while using electric circuits. This was our goal for our Scimatics project in this latter half of term 2. A Rube-Goldberg machine over complicates and indirectly solves a task or problem so we aiming to build a vertical contraption that shows the scientific method. Circuits soldered together needed to be included somewhere on our boards. My group (Holly, Meg and Ally) were very ambitious for what we wanted to create and we used the competencies to guide our learning.

Questing & Predicting:

I used all of my time effectively and worked very hard to complete this project. When we were waiting for something, I helped other groups with their building and sawing so everyone could finish. I am interested in building and engineering a solution for a certain purpose. Trying to create a certain aspect of the machine, I reengineered the item and chose what to build it out of.

Reasoning & Analyzing:

To save time redesigning and trying to figure out what to do, we made blueprints to fully plan our ideas. We used Notability and the grid attached to calculate how big each item would be. Each unit across was 4cm and we had a lot of space to work with. We combined all of our ideas and even we changed some of them to work better, it helped having a set design.

Planning & Conducting:

When creating the circuits we first needed to test and learn about circuits and the symbols used. We planned where we wanted the lights and switch and batteries but ended up changing it at the end. To make the circuits stay connected we soldered the wires together in a parallel circuit so even if one light was burnt out or not working it would still work. The parallel circuits allows the lights to be light up while still having equal levels of light. The different symbols resemble things live cells, batteries and lights for designing a circuit.

Scientific Communication:

Our video covered all the parts of our machine and then showed it working. With voiceovers, we explained how the parts of our machine represented the scientific, the circuit and mechanically how the machine works. The video turned out really well and the machine was really cool to build and watch.

Incorporating electric circuits, building, designing and a lot of meter sticks we created a Rube-Goldberg metaphor machine. I learnt a lot about parallel & series circuits, the symbols used for diagrams and measuring voltage. The machine challenged us to work together and create a product.