This week I had it sent to me 3 times, once from my sister, once from a co-worker and another from a follower on Twitter.
Finally, I took the two minutes to watch it.
I wasn't amazed.
I know that kids can do this. I see it everyday in my STEM classroom. The skeptic in me knows for these three girls to make a Rube Goldberg of this magnitude it would have taken months.
Last year, my 7th graders made their own Rube Goldberg's out of everyday household materials. They made them out of a 12 x 12 square of plywood. It took them over a month to come up with ideas, put them on paper and then they had to create their simple machines to transfer energy from one groups device to another. They tried and tried and failed. Then, they improved. They failed and got frustrated but when it worked, they were so happy.
One of my classes was successful with their energy transfers and one of them was not. Those Rube Goldberg's took a lot of time and dedication. There were days when I thought they were just wasting time, but I tried not to intervene unless it was really bad.
But, the point is--the world needs Goldie Blox. Most schools don't have STEM programs. They don't have Project Lead the Way. Goldie Blox could give girls the opportunity to start building and innovating.
I have found that my girls are the ones who are really good at building--even if they are working on something that involves ugly, cold metal. (Also known as VEX kits.) They do such a great job, they have more patience than the boys, and they even think about aesthetics.
So, if you have a daughter and you want to get her something different for Christmas-maybe you should look into Goldie Blox?
