Springfield 5th-graders facing off in Rube Goldberg competition
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — This Saturday, fifth-graders from across the Springfield area will engage in an event of elaborate contraptions through a Rube Goldberg competition.
Competitors will face off from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Lincoln Land Community College student union, found in the lower level of Menard Hall at 5250 Shepherd Road. The event is free and open to the public.
A Rube Goldberg machine is a device designed to complete a certain task through a number of complex steps. Its namesake comes from famed cartoonist Rube Goldberg, who was known for his drawings depicting complicated gadgets and gizmos. Many may also recognize Rube Goldberg contraptions from the popular board game “Mousetrap,” Pee-wee’s quirky breakfast machine in “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure,” or even rock band OK Go’s viral 2010 music video for their song, “This Too Shall Pass.”
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For the competition’s 17th year, fifth grade students must build a Rube Goldberg machine that can insert and remove a piece of toast from a toaster through at least 10 different steps. Competing teams will be representing Black Hawk Elementary, Graham Elementary, Morrisonville Elementary, Our Savior Lutheran, Riverton Middle, Rochester Intermediate, Southern View Elementary, Springfield Christian, Trinity Lutheran, and Hillsboro’s Beckemeyer Elementary School.
As fifth grade classes from all around Springfield build their apparatuses, they are visited by engineer volunteers who help them develop their machines and learn engineering skills. The goal of the event is to foster an interest in STEM fields in young students.
Last year, Our Savior Lutheran took home the top prize when Sarah Eyth’s fifth grade class built a Rube Goldberg that could move a rocket to a launch pad. The students and their engineer volunteers, Marty Maletich and Phil Raftis from HLR Engineering, were also recognized at the University of Illinois’ Engineering Open House.
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