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Kids invent the Snacker, the Popper and other useless gadgets

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CNN's Jeanne Moos visits a sixth grade class that is having a contest to see who can design the most complex machine to perform the simplest task. Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K

February 25, 2000
Web posted at: 5:10 p.m. EST (2210 GMT)

By Correspondent Jeanne Moos

MERRICK, New York (CNN) -- Children are usually good at making complicated things simple. But what happens when they are asked to make simple things complex? One sixth-grade science class knows, having created fantastic but utterly useless machines that pay tribute to the vision of a whimsical artist.

The children won't become rich for their inventions, which boast names like the Snacker, the Popper and the Goodbye Marble Machine. One might make a splash, but who needs a machine that drops dog treats in a bowl? How about one that attempts to crack eggs and nuts?

Called Rube Goldberg projects, the contraptions are reminiscent of the work of the late cartoonist of the same name. The award-winning artist drew fantastical machines like the self-operating napkin.

College students practice this philosophy at the annual Rube Goldberg contest. They design convoluted machines, like one with an Addams Family theme to accomplish the simple task of screwing in a light bulb.

The children's inventions employ the most complicated methods to achieve their mostly useless ends.

But the middle schoolers are not goofing off. Their inventions reflect how Brian Wallrapp teaches science at Chatterton Elementary School in Merrick, Long Island.

"We had to use all simple machines, the pulley, the lever the wheel and axle the wedge the screw the inclined plane," he explained.

There are frequent malfunctions. An experimental balloon might suddenly pop. But there are rewards too, some edible. What kid wouldn't want junk food delivered by the Snacker, which makes a morsel fall onto a plate?

Even more direct was one girl's contraption. "It was supposed to pop a candy into my mouth," she said.

The Candy Popper flopped but the Snacker took the cake, actually a Rice Krispies treat. Twinkies were tried, but "the aerodynamics didn't work," one young scientist said.