This week our special event was a chain reaction workshop in which guests built their own Rube Goldberg machine. We had a multitude of different supplies they could use, including dominoes, blocks, ramps, marbles, levers, fans, gears, popsicle sticks, pulleys, cups, etc. Our building space was a series of seven tables taped off into fourteen sections, and each guest built their segment of the machine in their designated area, connecting it to the parts before and after them.
We set off the machines every two hours, and would invite guests of all ages to watch. Of course, not every part of the reaction would happen according to plan, so we would use our “magic fingers” to push the next piece along. After the reaction completed, we would clean up the remains and start building a completely different machine.
Each time we built a machine, there were usually less than 10 kids that came to build a section, so completing the rest was up to myself and other staff members. We had the best time experimenting with parts and finding out what worked and what didn’t. I learned I have a knack for having fans magically turn on, weighting pulleys correctly, and building exploding popsicle stick chains. All of us had so much fun building our machines, and I can honestly say this has been the best week of my internship. We were basically playing with each other like little kids.
Speaking of little kids, sometimes our guests had a hard time grasping the vision of our chain reaction. Some just wanted to keep it simple with domino chains, and others had wild fantasies that were impossible to create. As a staff member, it was my job to offer plausible suggestions without hindering a guests creativity, which proved itself difficult. There was one particular kid that wanted to knock over some dominoes with a string dangling plastic cup with magnets and popsicle sticks taped to it. We tested several times and the reaction did not work. However, this kid insisted to me that he could just swing the contraption himself and “no one would even know!” Of course, everyone noticed when we set off the machine, but he was so excited afterwards that it did not matter, and I’m glad he had the opportunity to build the reaction he wanted.
Unfortunately, I found out I cannot upload videos to this blog, but here are a couple of pictures of our creations:
The other major thing that happened this week was that I sat down with Abby and had a serious talk about grad school. She graduated with her Master’s in museum studies from Baylor in 2018, so I asked her questions about the process. She also told me about the other programs she applied to so I can have a starting point when I research other universities. I have also decided I want to go to grad school right after I finish at UT, which is something I’ve been debating for the past year. Abby was an amazing resource and I’m lucky to have worked with her this summer.
There are only a couple weeks of my internship left now, and I’m looking forward to spending as much time as possible with my amazing coworkers!
Educated and Innovative 