Wantagh High School Embraces Rube Goldberg Challenge

A team of science research students recently took first place in the Regional Rube Goldberg Machine Contest at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in East Garden City and will now head to the national competetion this spring.

The program was based on the works of Rube Goldberg, a cartoonist and inventor who is known for his designs of complex devices that perform simple tasks in indirect ways. The national challenge put forth to students was to complete the action of “Watering a Plant,” using a minimum of20 steps.

Working as a team, students designed and built a working machine that featured simple materials and items such as Tinkertoys, string, piping, weights, baskets and musical instruments. Students honed their problem-solving and analytical skills to engineer an impressive contraption with a successful flow. Through experimentation, trial and error students tested their theories and collaborated on the execution of an innovative machine that completed the task.