Lesson Plans

Unreal Learning Kit: Rube Goldberg Machines

Unreal Engine
Science
STEAM
The new Unreal Learning Kit: Rube Goldberg Machines gives educators everything they need to incorporate science concepts including simple machines and physics into their curriculum while learning Interactive 3D skills in Unreal Engine.

 

Subject

Physics
 

Grade level

Ages 13+

 

Lesson 1: Inclined planes

In this first lesson, students will begin in a kitchen themed Level, also known as a gameplay area. Their task is to use dynamic Inclined Planes and alter the trajectory of an orange. The goal is to land oranges in multiple buckets. Through the activity they will learn how to modify an Actor in a Level and manipulate its location, rotation and scale. Once students have an understanding of these fundamental skills they will progress and complete a series of increasingly complex challenges.
 

Students will be able to:

  • Navigate the fundamentals of the UE5 interface within the Viewport and the Content Drawer or Browser.
  • Move an Actor from one location to another within a Level.
  • Manipulate the Scale and Rotation of an Actor within a Level.
  • Duplicate an Actor in a Level.
  • Enable physics on Static Meshes.

Student Guide L1
Lesson Plan L1

 

Lesson 2: Levers

In this lesson students will begin in a kitchen-themed Level, also known as a gameplay area. They will be tasked with using simple Levers to create balanced and unbalanced forces. The goal is to understand that moving and scaling Actors will affect forces. They will also learn how to create a simple material that can be applied to Assets and Actors. Once students have an understanding of these skills they will progress and complete a series of increasingly complex challenges.
 

Students will be able to:

  • Navigate the fundamentals of the UE5 interface within the Viewport and the Content Drawer or Browser.
  • Move an Actor from one location to another within a Level.
  • Manipulate the Scale and Rotation of an Actor within a Level.
  • Duplicate an Actor in a Level.
  • Create and apply a custom material.

Student Guide L2
Lesson Plan L2

 

Lesson 3: Wedges

In this lesson students will begin in a kitchen-themed Level, also known as a gameplay area. They will be tasked with using Wedges to slice watermelons. The goal is to understand that by altering the angle of a Wedge it can apply more or less force on a surface. This in turn makes it more or less difficult to cut through the surface. Students will then work with Chaos Fracturing to shatter a watermelon. 
 

Students will be able to:

  • Navigate the fundamentals of the UE5 interface within the Viewport and the Content Drawer or Browser.
  • Move an Actor from one Location to another within a Level.
  • Manipulate the Scale and Rotation of an Actor within a Level.
  • Duplicate an Actor in a Level.
  • Apply the Chaos Destruction system to an object.

Student Guide L3
Lesson Plan L3

 

Lesson 4: Wheel & axle

In this lesson, students will begin in a kitchen-themed level. They will be tasked with using a Wheel and Axle in the form of a Lazy Susan to push a ball into Bucket A, while experimenting with other toys and devices using wheels. They will also use MetaSounds to create a looping sound that plays when triggered.
 

Students will be able to:

  • Navigate the fundamentals of the Unreal Engine 5 interface within the viewport and the Content Drawer/Browser.
  • Move an Actor from one location to another within a level.
  • Manipulate the Scale, Position, and Rotation of an Actor within a Level.
  • Duplicate an Actor in a Level.
  • Generate Blueprints to add MetaSounds to a level.
  • Activate MetaSounds within a Blueprint.

Student Guide L4
Lesson Plan L4

 

Lesson 5: Pulleys

In this lesson, students will begin in a kitchen-themed level. They will be tasked with using a Pulley to complete the chain reaction. In order to do so, they will need to manipulate the Pulley using Tools and Widgets. Students will then generate and customize their own Static Mesh to utilize in the levels.
 

Students will be able to:

  • Navigate the fundamentals of the Unreal Engine 5 interface within the Viewport and the Content Drawer/Browser.
  • Move an Actor from one location to another within a Level.
  • Manipulate the scale and rotation of an Actor within a Level.
  • Duplicate an Actor in a Level.
  • Utilize Unreal Engine’s Modeling Mode to create and edit a Static Mesh.
  • Generate and apply a Collision Mesh to a Static Mesh.

Student Guide L5
Lesson Plan L5

 

Lesson 6: Screws

In this lesson, students will begin in a kitchen-themed level. They will be tasked with using a Screw to transport a sphere from one location to another. In addition, they will learn about Splines and how they can be manipulated to create ramps and set up dominos in their level.
 

Students will be able to:

  • Navigate the fundamentals of the Unreal Engine 5 interface within the Viewport and the Content Drawer/Browser.
  • Move an Actor from one location to another within a Level.
  • Manipulate the scale and rotation of an Actor within a Level.
  • Duplicate an Actor in a Level.
  • Manipulate Splines using transformation tools and custom widgets.

Student Guide L6
Lesson Plan L6

 

Culminating Activity: Design a Rube Goldberg Machine

This project is designed to act as a final performance task once students have completed Unreal Learning Kit: Rube Goldberg lessons 1-6. Students will apply the knowledge and skills gained from the learning kit to design a fully functional Rube Goldberg machine using each of the six simple machines covered in the lessons, as well as other assets found in the Content Drawer of the project file.
 

Students will be able to:

  • Design and develop their own Rube Goldberg device in Unreal Engine through an iterative process.
  • Apply their skills to navigate the fundamentals of the Unreal Engine 5 interface within the Viewport and the Content Drawer/Browser.
  • Demonstrate the effective use of Unreal Engine’s Transformation Tools.
  • Apply their knowledge to create custom Models, implement Particle Emitters, add MetaSounds, and manipulate Splines.

Link to Student Guide
Link to Lesson Plan


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  • Course Length:5 hours 0 minutes
  • Author:Brian Dickman, Cleverlike Studios Ian Southwell, Cleverlike Studios Erik Leitner, Cleverlike Studios Samantha Terry, Cleverlike Studios David Briggs, Cleverlike Studios
  • Release date:02-2023