DI Parkview Destination Imagination

LESSON 01 · SEPTEMBER · ANY AGE

Chain Reaction

Build a machine that does something simple in the most complicated way possible, and find out where the energy goes.

Play the game → Best RG Machine challenge

THE BIG IDEA

Energy never disappears. It moves from one thing to the next, and a little leaks out at every handoff.

A Rube Goldberg machine (RG machine for short) is a chain of silly steps that does one simple job, like ringing a bell. Rube Goldberg was a cartoonist and engineer who drew these contraptions 100 years ago. Every step in the chain is an energy handoff. Learn the handoffs, and you can build anything.

SIX ENERGY HANDOFFS

Every RG machine is built from these.

STORED MOVING

01 · Gravity

Stored → Moving

Anything up high is holding energy, and gravity is waiting to cash it in. When it rolls or falls, that stored energy turns into motion. Higher start, more energy.

In the game
Ramp
At home
A marble down a book ramp, a toy car down a slide
Science word
Potential energy → kinetic energy

02 · Collision

Bump

When a moving thing hits a still thing, it hands over its push. Hit it straight on and the first one can stop dead while the second one takes off.

In the game
Ball
At home
Marble into marble, a pool shot, bowling
Science word
Momentum transfer

03 · Toppling

Tip the Next

A standing domino is stored energy too: it's tall and wants to fall. A tiny tap releases it, and it taps the next. That's how a chain can go longer than the first push could.

In the game
Domino
At home
Dominoes, books on end, cards, stacked cups
Science word
Trigger + booster

04 · Lever

Push Down, Fly Up

A lever turns a push in one direction into a push in another. Drop something heavy on one end and the other end swings up. That's how a machine climbs back up.

In the game
Lever
At home
A ruler on a pencil, a spoon catapult, a seesaw
Science word
Fulcrum + changing direction
stretch!

05 · Elastic

Stretch and Snap

Squish a spring or stretch a trampoline and it stores energy in the stretch. Let go and it pushes back. Rubber bands, springs and balloons all work this way.

In the game
Trampoline
At home
A rubber band launcher, a bouncy ball, a spring
Science word
Elastic potential energy
stopped.

06 · Energy Loss

Where It Leaks

No handoff is perfect. Every bump leaks a little energy as sound (the clack), heat (friction warms things up), and wobble. That's why chains slow down, and why good machines add boosters.

In the game
Every part
At home
The clack of dominoes, warm hands after rubbing them together
Science word
Friction, sound, heat

PICK YOUR AGE

Same lesson, four levels.

DI runs from kindergarten through college. Every age builds a chain. The goal, the words and the math grow with them.

Make it go!

Words to use

pushrollfallbump

Build it

Build a 3-step chain: a marble rolls down a book ramp, knocks over 2 dominoes, and the last domino knocks over a cup. Grown-ups set up the ramp, and kids place everything else.

Play it

Game: build a short chain together, with a helper at the mouse.

Ask, don't tell

  • What made it move?
  • Which one moved first? Next? Last?
  • What if the ramp is taller?

Stretch

Draw your machine with arrows showing what bumps what.

Pass it on.

Words to use

stored energymoving energytransfertrigger

Build it

Build a 5-step chain with one change of direction (it has to turn around, go up, or go sideways at least once). Before each test, everyone predicts where it will stop.

Play it

Game: build freely. Try Slow-mo and watch the gold numbers light up.

Ask, don't tell

  • Where was energy stored before we started?
  • Where did the chain stop? Why there?
  • What one change would fix it?

Stretch

Label your drawing: circle every spot where energy was stored.

Beat the energy leak.

Words to use

potential energykinetic energyenergy lossboosterredesign

Build it

Build an 8-step chain that uses at least 3 of the six handoffs above. Only one adult touch allowed: the go signal. When it fails, find the weakest link, fix only that, and test again.

Play it

Game: build freely, then keep improving your Best RG Machine all week.

Ask, don't tell

  • If every link loses energy, how can a chain be 50 links long?
  • Which handoff lost the most energy? How can you tell?
  • Where could you add a booster?

Stretch

Test it: drop a marble from 3 heights onto a domino line and count how many fall each time. Graph it.

Measure the machine.

Words to use

PE = mghKE = ½mv²efficiencyenergy budget

Build it

Build a 10+ step machine using 4 or more handoff types that runs in under 30 seconds. Draw an energy diagram of the whole chain: where the energy comes in, every handoff, and every place it leaks.

Play it

Game: Best RG Machine. Top score explains their design to the younger kids.

Ask, don't tell

  • Time a marble down a ramp. Is its speed at the bottom close to √(2gh)? Where did the missing energy go? (Hint: rolling, friction.)
  • What percent of the first marble's energy reaches the bell?
  • Which step would you cut to save the most energy?

Stretch

Write it up like an engineer: goal, constraints, test log, one redesign, and what you'd change next.

RUN OF SHOW · ABOUT 60 MINUTES

The meeting.

  1. 0:00
    Hook (5 min). Show a real RG machine. Search YouTube for OK Go "This Too Shall Pass" or "Rube Goldberg machine". Ask: where did the energy come from to start it?
  2. 0:05
    The six handoffs (7 min). Walk through the animations above. Demo one for real: drop a marble from low, then high, onto dominoes.
  3. 0:12
    Build (23 min). Use the build rules for your age above. Let it fail. Point at where it stopped and ask why. Don't fix it for them.
  4. 0:35
    Game lab (15 min). Pairs on laptops at parkviewdi.com/lab.
  5. 0:50
    Launch the challenge (8 min). Show Best RG Machine: build all week, submit with first name, last initial and grade.
  6. 0:58
    Exit question (2 min). Where did the energy go when our machine stopped?

DI tie-in: this is Instant Challenge practice. At tournament, adults can't help with solutions (DI calls it interference). Coaches ask questions; kids make every decision.

MATERIALS

Raid the junk drawer.

  • Dominoes, or cards and books standing on end
  • Marbles and small balls
  • Books and cardboard for ramps
  • Paper towel tubes, a pool noodle cut in half
  • Paper cups, string, masking tape
  • A ruler and a pencil (lever)
  • Rubber bands, a toy car
  • A bell, or a cup to knock over at the end

THIS MONTH'S CHALLENGE · ALL AGES

★ Best RG Machine

Build the longest chain you can that still rings the bell. Work on it all week, at home, on any computer. Your design saves on that computer. When the bell rings, submit it with your first name, last initial and grade. Each grade group (K–2, 3–5, 6–8, 9–12) has its own leaderboard and its own winner.

score = links + 5 × kinds of parts in your chain

  • Up to 40 parts. A part only counts once the chain actually hits it.
  • The bell has to ring. Links stop counting the moment it does.
  • One spot on the board per kid. Keep improving all week: submit a higher score and it replaces your old machine. Anyone can replay any machine, so every score can be checked.
  • Ties go to whoever submitted first. Each group's winner shows their machine at the next meeting.

Top machines by grade group

  1. Ava K. K 10
  1. Sam W. 5th 17
  1. No Grades 6–8 machines yet. Be first!
  1. No Grades 9–12 machines yet. Be first!
Build your RG machine →