Idea:

Materials:
Ping pong ball
Foam
Mousetrap
PVC pipe
2 funnels
Tubing to connect funnels
Beaker
Marble
Wood platforms
Dominoes
Play Doh
French Press
2 rockets
Large marshmallow
Balloon
Confetti
Dart board

Details:
1. To start, we will place a ping pong ball on two pieces of foam slanted inward, acting as a ramp.
2. The ping pong ball will roll onto a mousetrap which will activate the trap.
3. When the trap closes, it will pull a string attached to a glass beaker filled with water.
4. When the beaker tips it will pour the water into a smaller funnel.
5. The water will move from the small funnel through a tube into a bigger funnel.
6. Once through the bigger funnel, the water will be pushed upward through another tube and will
circle back into the funnel.
7. As the water falls back into the funnel, it will hit a foam water wheel.
8. Attached to the water wheel is a small wire which will circle around and knock a marble.
9. The marble will roll down a foam ramp where it will knock a domino.
10. The domino will then fall and start a domino effect.
11. The dominoes will come to the last domino which will be a much larger domino. The last domino
will have some play doh on it to help weigh it down more. It will fall onto a switch to activate a
spark generator.
12. The spark from the generator will light a rocket attached to the top of a french press. Then, the
rocket will spin down around the french press, pushing the top down and brewing a cup of coffee.

Cause and Effect Machine Energy Transfer Form

Megan Kirk and Merrick Moriel

No.

Starting
Energy Form

N/A

Task

Ending Energy
Form

Points

Ping pong will roll down ramp and trigger a

mouse trap

Mechanical

Mechanical

Mousetrap will pull a string, tipping a beaker

filled with sand

Mechanical

Mechanical

Sand fills cup that acts as a pulley, lifting a

weight off the cardboard wheel

Mechanical

Mechanical

When the weight is lifted from the wheel, the

jumbo marshmallows will move causing the
wheel to spin, which will then hit a marble

Mechanical

Mechanical

The marble will roll down a ramp and hit

dominos

Mechanical

Mechanical

The dominos will knock each other until the

last one

Mechanical