Middle schoolers will have completed a unit of forces and motion prior to the current unit of study on simple machines (lever, inclined plane, screw, wedge, pulley, wheel and axle). Students will review the functions and examples of simple machines and view example Rube Goldberg machines. Middle schoolers will create a compound machine out of all six simple machines to complete a simple task of their choosing. The machine should meet the limitations given in the rubric and be able to be demonstrated at school. Students will complete a PowerPoint slide show about the history of Rube Goldberg machines and write an expository essay about their finished machine.