4-H Engineering Design Challenge

Q: What is a step?

A: A step in the machine is a transfer of energy from one action to another action; identical transfers of energy in succession should be counted as one-step.

Example: A sequence of dominos hitting each other counts as one-step. Counting 100 dominoes as 100 steps is repetitive and not in the spirit of the Engineering Design Challenge.

Q: What do we mean by “machine”? 

A: A Rube Goldberg™ machine is an overly complex contraption that does a simple task and uses everyday items in a fun or amusing way. The machine uses a series of chain-reaction steps that culminate in accomplishing a task. 

Q: What does human intervention mean?

A: Once the first step in your machine takes place (e.g. someone pushes a ball onto a ramp), the machine should function all the way to the end without a person touching it. However, sometimes the machine may fail to reach the last steps to accomplish the task. If a machine fails before it completes the task, it may be necessary for a person to start it again from the point where it failed. That is a human intervention. 

Q: Can I enter a machine that has been previously built and posted online?

A: No. All entries must be new machines created for the current challenge year and theme.

Q: Does our machine have to fill the whole 6’ x 6’ x 6’ space?

A: No, your machine can be smaller than the maximum allowed dimensions, it just can’t be larger.

Q: What sources can we use for research?

A: Information gathering is a key step in the design process. Some of the information may be what you and your teammates already knew before you started to think about your machine. In that case, your source is your other teammates or maybe the class in school where you learned the information, or maybe a parent or relative or a 4-H volunteer who taught it to you.

But you probably won’t know everything before you start. The library, your teachers, the Internet, your family and friends are all good sources for helping you figure out how to solve a problem.

Q: Can a team be made up of youth from different school grades?

A: Yes. Adult leaders should carefully consider the benefits and challenges of widely varying age/grade groups. Youth in different grades vary greatly, not only in their attention span and ability to stay on task, but also in the amount and type of planning they are capable of, the guidance and recognition they require, and the types of personal development they seek.

Q: Can youth from different counties be on the same team?

A: Yes. However, the team must be affiliated with a specific county’s 4-H program. If they exhibit their design at a county fair, it will be the fair of the county they’re affiliated with.

Q: If we have more questions, whom should we contact?

A: You can contact Amber Greeley (runk0014@umn.edu) for registration related questions and Michael Compton (mcompton@umn.edu) for all other questions. 

Eight Practices of Science and Engineering from the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

Learning guide

Members of the Minnesota 4-H State STEM team developed this curriculum to support coaches with practical strategies to teach the engineering design process, the eight engineering practices, and 21st Century skills through an experiential process.

Judging

Judge interview: Project engineer and challenge judge Teresa Burgess explains what she looks for when interviewing a team.

Judging guidelines

• Level 1 judging guidelines

• Level 1 judging evaluation 

• Level 2 judging guidelines
• Level 2 judging evaluation

Elements and ideas you can incorporate into your own machine

• 50 Rube Goldberg Machine ideas
• 75 Rube Goldberg ideas & inventions

Helpful videos

A Minnesota 4-H Engineering Design Challenge team in action

The Meeker County Koronis Eager Beavers demonstrate their contraption that puts toothpaste on a toothbrush and talk about what they learned while building it.

Rube Goldberg online camp

In this series of short videos, Dr. Duct Tape explains a number of concepts that Engineering Design Challenge teams can use to design and create a machine.

Keeping a journal

Keeping a journal or engineering notebook is strongly recommended. This provides a way to record design ideas, work accomplished, problems encountered and solutions tried, materials needed, and any other aspects of designing and building your machine. Teams wishing to enter their machine for judging at county or state fairs or the state showcase event are required to keep a journal or notebook.

Here are some photocopied journal excerpts from teams that competed in a previous Engineering Design Challenge. Some parts of these examples became difficult to read/see when we photocopied them.

The following files are for printing only:

• Full journal (Miles of Smiles team from Stearns County) (PDF)
• Full journal (Can Cak Flooses team from Washington County) (PDF)
• Journal excerpts (Mechanicals team from Ramsey County) (PDF)
• Steps list (Can Cak Flooses) (PDF)
• Steps diagram (Can Cak Flooses) (PDF)

Questions to help guide journaling

• Example journal questions (Acoma Can Crushers from McLeod County)
• Example journal questions (Workshop Wonders from Le Sueur County) 

Are you curious about space exploration and the people who make it happen? 4-H hosted exclusive conversations with engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory who work on the Mars Rover program. Learn more about engineering, careers in space exploration and the Mars Rovers!