Systemic Sustainability: 1.1 Curriculum and Instruction
7th Grade "Recycled Rube Goldberg Projects"
2017: Students test their "Recycled Rube Goldberg" machines made entirely of recycled and re-purposed materials.
In the 7th grade, students utilized reused and recycled materials such as paper towel rolls, toilet paper rolls, clothes hangers, cardboard boxes, old toys and various other re-purposed materials to create a Rube Goldberg machine. Not only are the students creating and showing an understanding of the properties of physics, but they are using everyday resources. They can “see” how recycled products can provide value. Students have remarked that this STEM project enlightened them on the wide range of materials that can be re-purposed. Students then were asked to re-purpose other everyday items at home and report back to the class, sharing what items they re-purposed and how they were able to reuse these items that would normally be thrown away...what a great way to apply learning and appreciation for the environment to their everyday life!
