Crazy Contraptions: Build Rube Goldberg Machines that Swoop, Spin, Stack, and Swivel: with Hands-On Engineering Activities
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Overview
An exciting book about the chain reaction world of Rube Goldberg for middle schoolers, including 25 engineering design projects that get middle schoolers applying the laws of physics to their own inventions as they learn the scientific principles behind the actions and reactions they create.
Why use a simple hand motion to wipe your mouth when you can build a machine to do it for you? Toppling dominoes, rolling marbles, racing balloon cars, springing catapults, and whizzing zip-lines are all elements used to build Rube Goldberg machines in Crazy Contraptions: Build Rube Goldberg Machines that Swoop, Spin, Stack, and Swivel with Hands-On Engineering Activities. The book introduces kids ages 9-12 (and beyond!) to the wacky machines designed by Goldberg, which were based on complicated chain reactions used to accomplish very simple, sometimes ridiculous, tasks.
• Through contraptions, the book discusses the basics of physics, including force, motion, and work. Each chapter introduces one of the six simple machines and how they can be used in Rube Goldberg contraptions—inclined planes, levers, wheels and axles, wedges, screws, and pulleys.
• Kids are challenged to design, build, and evaluate dozens of increasingly complex contraptions that do things like unscrew a lid, turn the page of a book, and pop a balloon.
• Projects use materials already in most homes—reimagining and repurposing everyday items, as well as mining the recycling!
• Contraption hints, essential questions, short sidebars, and links to online primary resources help readers learn the basics of force, work, motion, and simple machines, while exploring their creativity as they design and build their own crazy contraptions.
About the Build It Engineering set and Nomad
Press
Crazy Contraptions is part of a set of
two Build It Engineering books that explore the
engineering technology behind our daily lives. The other titles in
this series is Bots! Robotic Engineering with Hands-On
Makerspace Activities
Nomad Press books in the Build It series integrate
content with participation. Combining content with inquiry-based
projects stimulates learning and makes it active and alive. Nomad’s
unique approach simultaneously grounds kids in factual knowledge
while allowing them the space to be curious, creative, and critical
thinkers.
All books are leveled for Guided Reading level and Lexile and
align with Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science
Standards. All titles are available in paperback, hardcover, and
ebook formats.
Praise for Extinction by Laura
Perdew
National Science Teachers Association
Recommends
“This book uses the concept of extinction
to teach a little chemistry, a little climatology, paleontology,
biology (biodiversity), ecology, and a lot of geology. The science
information is historical and current, drawing on three–dimensional
learning, incorporating science practices to determine what factors
affect extinction in general and specifically. The integration of
concepts helps bring the science alive and relevant.”
Praise for Extinction by Laura
Perdew
Baristanet
“When it comes to keeping kids’ interest in a subject alive,
combining hands-on activities with knowledge is key. That’s why the
Build It Yourself books from Nomad Press are such
great resources, not just for classrooms, but also for at-home
application of new learning.”
Praise for Extinction by Laura
Perdew
Alexander’s Library
"Finally! A book
about paleontology that begins with a geological time scale
stretching from Earth’s beginning (about 4.6 billion years ago) to
the present. Not only does the timeline map out eras, periods, and
epochs, it also places the last five mass extinctions into
context."
School Library
Journal
"Gr 4-6–Inspired by cartoonist (and trained engineer) Rube
Goldberg, Perdew intersperses introductions to six simple machines
from inclined planes to screws, explanations of Newton’s laws of
motion, and projects that use these principles and tools to show
energy in motion and sequential actions. The projects, which
include a device for knocking down a "one-armed Lego dude" to a
working catapult (or "Treat Launcher"), are all constructed from
easily available materials. Most include hints or challenges aimed
at inspiring tinkerers to concoct alternative designs to accomplish
the same results. Along with plentiful diagrams and color
illustrations, nearly every spread features a vocabulary list. Many
also include one or more Q-code links to relevant videos online.
VERDICT A delight for all budding engineers in elementary grades
who, as Perdew puts it, ‘like to think of complex ways to
accomplish simple tasks.’"
Product Details
- Title : Crazy Contraptions: Build Rube Goldberg Machines that Swoop, Spin, Stack, and Swivel: with Hands-on Engineering Activities
- Authors:
- Perdew, Laura
- Rauch, Micah
- Publisher: Nomad Press
- Publication Date: 2019
- ISBN: 9781619308244
Laura Perdew is an author, writing consultant,
and former middle school teacher. She has written more than 20
books for the education market on a wide range of subjects and is
the author of Extinction What Happened to the
Dinosaurs, Mastodons, and Dodo Birds? and
Biodiversity: Explore the Diversity of Life on Earth
with Science Activities for Kids. She is a long-time
member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators,
and an avid runner and hiker. Laura lives and plays in Boulder,
Colorado.
Micah Rauch is a freelance graphic designer and illustrator from the beautiful state of Montana. He received a BFA in graphic design from Montana State University in Bozeman Montana. He has loved the magical act of drawing his entire life and continues to learn and push his skills both as a designer and an illustrator.