Whats a “Rube Goldberg?
” A popular syndicated cartoonist for over a 50-year period, Rube Goldberg had an engineering degree from the University of California and a healthy skepticism of elaborate machines that served questionable needs. A “Rube Goldberg” has become a common expression for any mechanical device that is unnecessarily complicated to achieve simple goals. His cartoons represented a practical awareness of how machines worked and how they can become unnecessarily complex. Humor may be something your students wouldn’t expect when learning about simple machines and descriptive sequential writing. They’ll really enjoy pairing the use of their chosen simple machines in sequence with their original invention using the Rube Goldberg cartoon format. When students write the sequences of how their machines work, they’ll be able to vividly describe what they’ve created to their classmates. The skill of sequencing Sequencing in reading and writing is a natural addition to this lesson. The more humorous the s
