Who Was Rube Goldberg?
The Grasshopper Catcher, developed around 1870, was a creative invention.
It was designed to solve a very difficult problem faced by early Iowa
settlers-too many grasshoppers! The unknown inventor combined available
materials to make a clever machine. It didn't work very well, but the
inventor used his or her imagination in creative ways.
Many new machines were being developed at this time. Some of these inventions
were more successful than others.
Rube Goldberg
(1883-1970) was an unusual inventor. He believed there were two ways to
do things, the simple way and the hard way. He observed that a lot of
people preferred doing things the hard way!
As a young man he went to school to become an engineer, but what he really
loved was drawing cartoons. He combined both of these talents when he
became famous for his weird and interesting cartoon inventions.
One of his inventions was designed to "simplify" the job of sharpening
a pencil. Another of his inventions helped clean
shop windows.
Directions
- Explore the Rube
Goldberg Gallery and check out some of the invention
resources online.
- Identify one of your jobs at home or in the classroom.
- Create a "Rube Goldberg" to make this job more "simple."
- Draw your invention on a piece of paper. Make sure to number or letter
the parts.
- Develop a paragraph description for your invention. Refer to the
labeled parts when describing how your machine works.
- Share your invention with your teacher and classmates at a Rube Goldberg
Invention Convention.
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Introduction