Students around the world entered team-based STEAM and engineering contest to build wacky contraptions

(Atlanta, GA – April 12, 2021) – The North America Scholastic Esports Federation, NASEF, is excited to announce the winners of the first-ever digital Rube Goldberg Machine Contest. Students around the world participated in this contest where they learned to apply engineering and STEAM[1] skills to creatively design fun chain-reaction contraptions in the style of Rube Goldberg machines.

Entrants came from all regions of the United States and several other countries. The Junior Division was for ages 9-12; the Senior Division was for ages 13-18; and the @Home Division encompassed members from both groups. Congratulations to these winning teams:

Junior Division

1st Place: Capital C from Bayan Lepas, Penang, Malaysia

2nd Place: Team 3.3 from Miami, Florida, United States

3rd Place (tie): Team Spark in Coral Springs, Florida, United States

3rd Place (tie): Minecraft's Peoples in Weston, Florida, United States

Senior Division

1st Place: Natural Selection from Flemington, New Jersey, United States

2nd Place: The Legendary Potatoessss from Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia

3rd Place (tie): GM Hornets Team 10 from Great Mills, Maryland, United States

3rd Place (tie): Tricky Life from Pöcking, Germany

@Home Division Winner: Redstone Revolutionary from Prairie Grove, Arkansas, United States

Throughout Fall 2020, teams watched livestreams and learned how to create simple machines like levers, wheels & axles, and pulleys in Minecraft Education Edition. There were six pre-season challenges involving those machines, then “The Big Build” challenge was revealed: create an elaborate machine to put sprinkles on a cake. Students made their creations in Minecraft, then submitted videos where they showed what they made and explained their design ideas.

“The student submissions demonstrated a great blend of creativity and a solid grasp of STEAM principles,” said Gerald Solomon, founder and executive director of NASEF. “Our Minecraft competitions are very popular with students around the world. We’re thrilled to provide this as one of our many free events to help students learn as they participate in their favorite games.”

Jennifer George is legacy director of Rube Goldberg, Inc. Her grandfather, Rube Goldberg, was a cartoonist who drew wonderfully elaborate machines. The Rube Goldberg Machine Contest has inspired kids to tap into their creativity to design physical contraptions for years.

George said, “This was the first year offering a digital version of the Rube Goldberg competition, and response was fantastic! We loved working with NASEF to make the event available to kids on their computers with Minecraft. NASEF does such a great job of using popular video games and esports for meaningful education for kids, and they did exactly that on this competition. Entrants from all around the world created really elaborate and fun Rube Goldberg machines in Minecraft.”

NASEF also hosted related Beyond the Game™ challenges for students to compete in additional areas such as cartooning, graphic design, social media, story-telling, and engineering.

NASEF streamed the announcement of winning teams with its partner at twitch.tv/INSIDEPARTICIPATE

Winning teams in each division receive an Amazon card and mentoring in Minecraft from an expert.

About the organizers

Rube Goldberg Inc. is a family-run not-for-profit 501(c)3 focused on equity and access in STEAM education. Rube Goldberg Machine Contests inspire communication, problem-solving and teamwork while honing skills like math, physics and chemistry. What separates a Rube Goldberg Machine Contest from other chain reaction competitions is artistry, storytelling, and a sense of humor. Find them on Twitter and Facebook.

The North America Scholastic Esports Federation (NASEF) is on a mission to provide opportunities for all students to use esports as a platform to acquire STEM/STEAM-based skills and critical communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills needed to thrive in work and in life. NASEF operates under the umbrella of the World Wide Scholastic Esports Foundation (WWSEF). Find NASEF at NASEF.org and on Twitch, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram

[1] STEAM = science, technology, arts, engineering, and mathematics  

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Media Contact:
Claire LaBeaux
[email protected]
925-337-0244