Create a Rube Goldberg Car With Your Kids for This Competition
Why do simple, everyday tasks when you can make a sophisticated tool to help you accomplish them? This is the idea behind the annual competition hosted by Rube Goldberg, Inc. , in honor of the cartoonist Rube Goldberg, whose cartoons often depicted devices that performed everyday tasks in complex ways. This year’s competition asks students to create a device that will ultimately shake and pour a box of NERDS.
Registration is open for the 2021 Rube Goldberg Machine Competition , and botanists will sponsor the first 100 teams – up to 1,400 students / family groups – with free registration. This competition announcement video shows a device that might inspire you to create your own:
Each attachment should include up to 75 “steps” or “energy transfers”, and in the final step, the machine should shake and empty the nerd’s box.
Students can enroll in four divisions: ages 8-11 (student), ages 11-14 (section 1), ages 14-18 (section 2), and family (all ages). Teams can have at least three people, but no more than 14, plus the team leader must be at least 18 years old – this person registers the team and receives all the information necessary to get started.
The deadline for the competition is March 3, 2021, and the winners will be announced in April. You can read the Introduction to the rules and answers to frequently asked questions for more information and register here .