I love the Rube Goldberg elements and I like the entrepreneurship elements too, but I’m missing the
connection between the two of them. I really love the PE component and hope to see pictures of them
and the cartoons they produce. This plan is really close to complete. I need more information on the
assessments, as most just said ‘rubric’ and I at least need the categories to be assessed by a rubric. I put
the parts I need more info on in red and things I suggest as possibilities to add in green. Let me know
what questions you have. Thanks!
Entrepreneurship: Turning an Idea into a Product STEAM Lesson Brief
Educators on the team: _Linda Bruns_
Trained: August 15-16, 2014
Town/State Naples, Florida (Village School)
Students use knowledge from across the disciplines to strengthen their understanding of each subject’s
content and its related careers through topic or theme oriented realistic problem-based activity-rich
lessons.
Theme that this lesson would tie to: Entrepreneurship (Bridging the Gap between Technical and NonTechnical Education)
Specific Topic Concept within that theme: Turning an Idea into a Product
PROJECT IDEA + brief notes & supplies
BASIC CONCEPTS
Essential Concept: - I switched your
essential concept and basic plan – this
concept is still long, but good.
The students will identify and
experiment with simple machines
through toy dissection. After reading
about cartoonist Rube Goldberg,
students will draw their own cartoons,
incorporating simple machines.
Student teams will build a working
model in the classroom using
inexpensive/recycled items. Students
will eventually bring a cartoon to life
by creating an obstacle course on the
playground that uses simple machines
to complete specific tasks. Students
will maintain their own
Inventors/Entrepreneurs’ notebooks
throughout this process to brainstorm
and record their own ideas (Village
Shark Tank presentations at end of
Science –
 Concepts –Simple Machines
 Goal / Objectives – The students will experiment with
simple machines and understand that the ideas behind
simple machines have been adapted into more
complex inventions. They will define the seven simple
machines and dissect a broken appliance or toy,
identifying simple machines during the process.
 Standards –NCSEE: Understands concepts and
processes associated with successful entrepreneurial
performance (Discovery).
 Careers – Gear: clock maker, bicycle designer;
Wheel and Axle: amusement park designer,
automotive careers; Inclined Plane: architect, roller
coaster designer; Pulley: crane operator/builder,
Lever: hockey player, airplane pilot; Screw:
construction worker; Wedge: rocket engineer,
woodworker, ship designer
 Project – Toy Dissection, Simple Machines: Each
student will bring to class a broken toy or broken
appliance to disassemble (NO mercury, and proper
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STEAM Education
Lesson Brief
year).
Provided with a list of famous
entrepreneurs, the students will
research the inventions/innovations,
products/services associated with
their businesses. Students will identify
the personal qualities that contributed
to their success. Music will be
introduced in the classroom to provide
additional entrepreneurial lessons.
Classroom businesses will be created
based on student input. Management
teams will be formed and business
plans written, including cost analysis
and future marketing of the product or
service.
Basic Plan:
Students will investigate the risks and
rewards of entrepreneurship by
researching and testing inventions and
innovations and developing new
products according to need and
demand (S, T, and E). Rube Goldberg’s
cartoons depicting complicated
gadgets that perform simple tasks (S,
Art) will be a bridge to brainstorming
and experimentation using the simple
machines (S, T,E).Students will bring
the simple machines and cartoons to
life by using motion and equipment
(PE) to create an obstacle course.
Students will categorize a variety of
products by definition as invention or
innovation (LA) and use simple toys,
such as the Slinky (1942), to observe
the science behind many
inventions/innovations (S, E).
Students will choose an invention,
identifying how and why it was
invented (SS). After considering the
original invention process, they will
think of ways to create innovations of
that invention. Additionally students
will research Richard James, Slinky
inventor, and other entrepreneurs
with emphasis on their personal lives
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

disposal of all materials after project). Working in
groups of 2-3, the students will take apart the toy or
appliance part by part, keeping track of each part
removed by tallying on the Simple Machines
Worksheet provided.
Assessment – The student will correctly identify each
of the seven simple machines when examples are
provided. And how they are used to transfer force.
Extension – Physics of the Slinky
Technology & Engineering –
 Concepts – Rube Goldberg Models Using Simple
Machines
 Goal / Objectives - After defining and identifying the
simple machines, the students will design and build a
working model, using three or more of the simple
machines.
 Standards - –NCSEE: Understands concepts and
processes associated with successful entrepreneurial
performance (Development).
 Careers – mechanical engineer, electrical engineer,
machinist, tool and die maker, inventor
 Project -Using Rube Goldberg, creative cartoonist, for
inspiration as well as a basic knowledge of the simple
machines, the students will choose a simple task,
(I.e. turning off the alarm clock, letting out the dog)
and design a complicated machine which will perform
the very simple task. Students will provide the
elements needed to build their models. Simplicity will
be emphasized (money should NOT be spent on
supplies)—dominoes, Barbie dolls, fans, toilet paper
tubes, marbles, cardboard boxes, sporting goods etc.
The model will incorporate at least three simple
machines and must execute at least 5 steps. The
machine must work on its own after the task is
initiated. The students will include a written
description and original design (picture). The students
may choose (extra credit) to record the machine with a
video in a continuous clip (Windows Media Player File
or QuickTime) and show in class using a flash drive or
burned to a CD.
 Assessment – Rube Goldberg Rubric PLEASE do not
say ‘use a rubric’ without saying what categories and
basic parameters will be on it. It is expected that every
assessment be rubric-based.
 Students will design and construct a working rube
goldburg device that uses all of the simple machines to
STEAM Education
Lesson Brief
and the personal qualities that
contributed to their success or failure.
Students will note that
entrepreneurship knows no age limits
by observing young entrepreneurs in
action. Entrepreneurial processes and
music will be identified as a means of
forming a creative mindset (Music)
The students will identify the traits
needed by all successful
entrepreneurs. Students will keep
inventor’s/entrepreneur’s notebooks,
regularly updating their ideas (LA).
Student teams will choose appropriate
goods and services, including the
starter businesses selected, Village
Pops (est. 2010, now offering glutenfree options) and Village Crates. The
students will be ready to write their
business plans, estimate cost of
starting the business (M), raise capital,
create advisory boards and market
their products.
Skill level (Grade Range): 7-8
Timing of Lesson:
Three-40 minute periods weekly for
8 weeks
Basic Supplies:
All Subjects: Career Portfolio

Math – what are the companies selling?
 Concepts –Estimation
 Goal / Objectives-The students will use estimation to
determine the money needed to start and maintain
their business(es).
 Standards –NCSEE: Understands personal money
management concepts, procedures and strategies
(Resourcing).
 Careers – project estimator
 Project – The students will determine their capital
needs for three months of operation. They will list all
start-up costs, including materials
(I.e. appliances for Village Pops and carpentry tools for
Village Crates), logo design, trademarking, website
domain—what they need to get their business off the
ground. The students will then list all operating costs.
Direct operating costs will include ingredients (for
Pops) and crates/fabric/wood, etc., as well as cost of
labor, delivery costs and anything else associated with
getting the product out to the customer. Indirect
operating costs will include location fees, insurance or
anything not directly related to selling the product.
The students will add up the start-up costs and the
operating costs to get the best estimation of capital
needs for the first three months of operation with an
ability to forecast future costs.
 Assessment – Completed Estimation of Capital Needs
 Extension - Cost Analysis, Budgeting
LA –


Individual Subjects:
Science:
Safety goggles
Simple Machines Worksheet for each
student
Broken toys and appliances
Screw drivers (Phillips and flat-head)
Torque drivers
Hammers or small pry- bars (as levers)
Needle-nose pliers (locking)
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complete a basic task.
Extension - Video clips of winning Rube Goldberg
machines at national college competitions



Concepts –Inventor’s or Entrepreneur’s Notebook
Goal / Objectives – The students will design and
maintain an Inventor’s/Entrepreneur’s Notebook to
help develop ideas, inventions and innovations.
Standards –NCSEE: Understands concepts and
processes associated with successful entrepreneurial
performance (Discovery).
Careers – technical writer, journalist, author, blogger
Project – The students will read about Leonardo Da
Vinci’s notebook containing his notes and drawings on
engineering and science, and realize that many of his
theories and inventions were proven or built by later
generations. The students will begin their own
STEAM Education
Lesson Brief
Jeweler’s screwdriver kits
Technology and Engineering:
Simple Machines Reference Sheet
Rube Goldberg Machine Rubric
Language Arts:
One bound composition book for each
student
Handouts about Leonardo Da Vinci’s
Notebooks

Social Studies:
List of Selected Entrepreneurs
Rubric for Grading Oral Presentations
Entrepreneur Personal Qualities
Assessment
Math:
Computer
Printer
Internet Access
Art:
White cardstock
Drawing supplies (colored pencils, etc.)
P.E.:
Use of playground and playground
equipment
Swings
Slides
Spiral slides
Rappelling equipment
See-saws
Sandbox shovels
Skates
Wagons
Skateboards
Merry-go-rounds
Music:
Beatles Soundtracks
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

SS –





Inventor’s/Entrepreneurs’ Notebook, following
guidelines for keeping their creative ideas protected
and updated (i.e. Da Vinci often wrote in a form of
coded mirror-writing or purposely made mistakes on
his diagrams to keep his inventions from being stolen).
The students will maintain their notebooks throughout
the year. Students will be asked to label drawings –
put in notes about the technical aspects of how the
invention (technical writing) would work as well as the
inventions appeal to people and problems it would
solve (social writing)
Assessment – Presentation of one
invention/innovation at the Village Shark Tank where
“potential investors” will choose a prospective
entrepreneur’s business or product, based on concept
or product model, to develop in 2015.
Extension - Patents and How They Relate to
Inventions/Innovations
Writing up a business plan for the entrepreneurial
shark tank part of this lesson.
Concepts –Famous Entrepreneurs in History
Goal / Objectives – The students will research and
present facts about the personal lives of selected
famous entrepreneurs, emphasizing the personal
qualities that contributed to their successes and
failures.
Standards-NCSEE: Understands the personal
traits/behaviors associated with successful
entrepreneurial performance (Personal Assessment
and Management).
Careers - inventor, entrepreneur, including business
owner, manager, director, CEO
Project - The students will choose a famous
entrepreneur from a list provided. Students will
research the entrepreneurs, including details about
their lives and the events leading up to the
development of their product or service, how the
product/service was marketed and to whom. The
students will create a 3-5 minute presentation about
the entrepreneur. The presentation should convey the
creativity and the personal qualities about the
entrepreneurs that made them successful. Power
Points may be used, but using the product (or
facsimile) or assuming the personality or appearance
of the person is encouraged. Upon completion of the
STEAM Education
Lesson Brief
IT Resources:
Computer
Power Point
Doc-Cam


Other Resources:
Simple Machines( www.mikids.com)

Slinky Physics
(http://www.howitworksdaily.com/am
azing-slinky-physics/ )

Inventors Toolbox: The Elements of
Machines ( www.legacy.mos.org) –
this link isn’t getting me anywhere
specific
Art –


The Inventors’ Workshop: Museum of
Science

Simple Machines, Survivor-Style Please
link more directly.
(www.scholastic.com )


Land Explorations-The Science Factory
(Toy Dissection and Rube-Goldberg
Design) (www.sciencefactory.org )

Rube Goldberg
(www.rubegoldberg.com )

Design and Build a Rube Goldberg
Please link more directly.
(www.teachengineering.org )
https://www.teachengineering.org/go
oglesearch_results.php
there are 32 listed when I do a search
Goldberg Inventions/Goldburger to Go
Please link more directly.
CC. 2013
PE –


presentations, the students will brainstorm and create
a class definition of “entrepreneur.” The students will
complete a self-inventory that gauges their own
entrepreneurial spirit.
It is very important that the SS Component be
reflective on history, understanding of the topics
relevance to current times and the student and to also
include an element of the student being asked how
this project or concept could be relevant to or used in
the future,
So, how did these inventors change society at the time
and are their inventions still in use or have influenced
modern versions and what do the students think will
be related things developed in the future.
Assessment – Grading Rubric for Oral Presentations on
Famous Entrepreneurs - please put the categories
assessed on the rubric
Extension – Interview entrepreneurs in the community
and share the results of the research in an essay
entitled “Common Traits of Entrepreneurs.”
Concepts –Rube Goldberg Cartooning
Goal / Objectives – The students will draw a Rube
Goldberg cartoon that portrays a complicated way to
complete an easy task.
Standards – NCSEE: Understands concepts and
processes associated with successful entrepreneurial
performance (Concept Development).
Careers – cartoonist, artist, inventor
Project – The students will draw an original Rube
Goldberg cartoon that incorporates at least 10 steps
and uses at least three simple machines.
Assessment – Rube Goldberg Design Rubric that shows
10 steps and 3 simple machines and looks like a
technically viable design.
Extension -
Concepts – Rube Goldberg Obstacle Course
Goal / Objectives - The students will build an obstacle
course on a playground utilizing simple machines.
While the principles of simple machines must be used,
the students may create wacky events in the likeness
of Rube Goldberg contraptions (using a pulley to hoist
a bucket of water, etc.)
STEAM Education
Lesson Brief
(www.pbskids.org )
Videos of Rube Goldberg College
Competitions


Power Point: One Zany Device (Rube
Goldberg and His Cartoons) Please link
more directly.
(www.scienceworld.scholastic.com )



U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
(USPTO Kids) (www.USPTO.gov )
Inside the Vault: Famous
Entrepreneurs
(http://www.stlouisfed.org/ )
PBS: Everyone’s Business Please link
more directly.
(http://www.pbs.org/ )
MyEconEdLink (www.econedlink.org )
“Money Matters” (Rankin, Kenrya.
Start It Up. San Francisco: Zest Books.
2011)
Obstacle Course Planner (Simple
Machines) Please link more directly.
(www.scholastic.com)
Music and Entrepreneurship:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaell
indenmayer/2014/06/12/7-lessonsmusic-mavens-can-teachentrepreneurs/
http://www.businessweek.com/article
s/2014-05-28/the-beatles-teachentrepreneurship-better-thanbusiness-school
Misc.
Community Entrepreneurs
Photos:
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

Standards – NCSEE: Understands the personal
traits/behaviors associated with successful
entrepreneurial performance (Concept Development)
Careers – playground equipment designer,
architectural designer
Project – After reviewing the simple machines, the
students will visit a playground, and then brainstorm
as to equipment seen there that is made from simple
machines. Using videos clips from a show like Wipeout,
the students will create an obstacle course on the
school playground. Students will suggest imaginative
ways to use the simple machines on the playground to
create their obstacle course. 2-3 students will be
responsible for the creation of one part of the obstacle
course using a different simple machine. The class will
come together to connect the parts of the obstacle
course. SAFETY IS ESSENTIAL. The students may not
suggest any activity that poses a risk. Safety
equipment (knee pads, helmets, etc.) may be used as
necessary. Each group of students must submit a
sketch of their obstacle course event along with a
written description. On the day of the event, students
will set up their event, and then students may take
turns moving through the obstacle course. The
students will start thinking of ways that simple
machines could be used to invent something new.
Assessment – Rubric scoring the obstacle course
sketch and written instructions PLEASE do not say ‘use
a rubric’ without saying what categories and basic
parameters will be on it. It is expected that every
assessment be rubric-based.
Extension -
Music –
 Concepts –Music and Entrepreneurship
 Goal / Objectives -The students will listen to selected
songs by the Beatles and identify the entrepreneurial
lessons that can be learned from musicians.
 Standards – NCSEE: Understands concepts, strategies,
and systems needed to interact effectively with others
(Communication).
 Careers – musician, music entrepreneur
 Project – According to Businessweek, the Beatles teach
entrepreneurship better than a business school. The
students will listen to music to tap into their
entrepreneurial skills. Become a good listener.
Connect with your audience (opportunities to impress
STEAM Education
Lesson Brief

Village Pops, Est. 2010, creates new
gluten-free options for 2015.

your target market). Know that failure may be a daily
routine, so practice and practice (to turn great ideas
into great successes). Improvise-make use of
unplanned opportunities. Master the art of storytelling
(to investors, clients and employees). Embrace the
struggle. Promote a creative mindset by listening to
everything around you (focus), blending disparate
concepts into a whole (teamwork), learning through
failure and in the end making a product that users will
love.
Assessment – Listening to music for fun and profit –
this needs to be more robust – how can the students
document what they are doing in the project area –
what kind of an analysis can they do of a performer,
practicing, listening, etc.
Extension -
Product Development and Marketing
managers inspect materials and
options for the new Village Crates
business.
Inventor’s or Entrepreneur’s
Notebooks keep new ideas flowing
and students engaged.
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STEAM Education
Lesson Brief
CC. 2013
STEAM Education
Lesson Brief