Archives

Engineering Challenge: Design & Build a Maze
to Move a Marble from Top to Bottom

Challenge: Using your research and knowledge of simple machines, design and build a model of a maze. This machine must successfully move a marble through a maze (going from the top of a frame to bottom in the longest amount of time possible). Use a minimum of 3 simple machines. (You can receive extra credit for using all 6 simple machines!)

Materials: (These are just some suggested materials, you are welcome to use others)
Cardboard, Paper Towel/Toilet paper tubes, String, Tape, Glue, Wood, Rulers, Marbles, Empty Thread Spools, Drinking Straws, Rubber bands, Stopwatch, Pencils, Markers, Crayons, Aluminum Foil, Sandpaper, Hot Glue, Wooden Dowels, Yarn, Books, Internet

Project:

Research: Research all 6 of the simple machines (Lever, Inclined Plane, Screw, Wedge, Wheel & Axle, and Pulley). Research may be done through books, Internet and experiments. Think about the experiments we’ve done in class. How did we use a pulley to our advantage? How did the inclined plane work? What happened in our lever experiment? Combine all this knowledge into how you can build an original maze to move a marble from top to bottom in the longest time.

Planning: Create a list of all materials you will need (including the size of the parts), Create a drawing of how the parts will fit together, Write detailed steps for how to connect the parts. The research and planning will be done mostly at school using books and the Internet, but you can also do some at home.

Building Specs: You will build a model of your maze. The maze should be no taller than 24 inches and must be able to stand by itself on a desk. You will be using familiar materials, processes and hand tools. You might have to modify your original plan in order to make it work. Your project will be completed at home. It’s ok for parents to help you, but the finished piece needs to be your own, original idea.

Presenting: We will have a class museum of all the machines. You will bring in your working maze and set it up on your desk. You will also present a written summary of how the maze works (please include your planning drawings and planning sheets with your final summary).You need to be able to demonstrate how your machine works, and discuss why things work or didn’t work as you were building the machine. You will need to identify each simple machine you used and tell how each part helps the maze work.

Grading: You will be graded on the originality of your idea, the number of simple machines used successfully, overall look of your maze, planning sheets and drawings, written summary of how the final maze works, and completing the project on time.