Rube Goldberg was well-known for his intricate drawings of machines that would do the most mundane tasks in the most outlandish way possible. Each year, students from all over the world now participate in “Rube Goldberg Machine Contests,” and create machines that are designed to do a specific task — this year, it is “Open an Umbrella.”
Last year, I had the privilege of working with a team of Middleschool-aged homeschoolers in Richmond. Looking back, I feel that the most important quality this process works on is the development of “Grit.” Yes, I did need to capitalize that. Angela Lee Duckworth talks about Grit in the TED Talk. Duckworth makes a convincing argument for GRIT being an important ingredient in reaching your goals.
Last year’s task was to erase a chalkboard. We had the most amazing time figuring out how to do this involving many different creative solutions — and failures! We had lots of those.
We will be starting up our 2016 Rube Goldberg Team for Richmond Area Homeschoolers and begin meeting in October on Tuesdays in the early afternoon. For more information, please contact us. We’d love to have you join our adventure!
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