2009 Rube Goldberg Machine Contest:
High schools to change light bulbs in wackiest-machine contest

(Go to the list of 2009 teams)

Students from 12 Chicago-area high schools will soon be digging through basements, garages and attics, scrounging for discarded doohickeys and left-over thingamajigs, then putting them together in weird combinations.

The event: Argonne National Laboratory's 14th annual Rube Goldberg machine contest at Chicago Children's Museum on Navy Pier.

The 2009 task: To build a complicated machine that takes at least 20 steps to "replace an incandescent light bulb with a more energy-efficient light-emitting design."

The date: Friday, Feb. 13, 2009.

More information: Full information packets, including rules and entry applications will be mailed to Chicago-area high schools before the end of November 2008. If you want to be sure your school receives an information package, please click the "Receive info " link below and send us the following information, all of which is required:

• Name of faculty advisor
• School name
• School address

Receive info packet for Argonne's 14th annual Rube Goldberg machine contest for Chicago-area high schools.

Contest details:

• Entry address: Do not send your entry form to Argonne. Instead, send it to Rube Goldberg, Inc. The address is on the form. If you misplace the form, you can download a new one here or at the Rube Goldberg, Inc. Web site at www.rubegoldberg.com. Alternatively, you may fax your entry form to Rube Goldberg, Inc. at 203-557-4625. Be sure to indicate that you want to enter the Argonne contest.

• Entry fee: Please disregard the $300 entry fee requirement. Argonne will pay your entry fee.

• Stipend: In addition to paying each team's entry fee, Argopnne will provide each team with $100 to defray costs of materials and travel.

• Number of teams per school: Up to two teams from each school may enter Argonne's contest.

• Entry deadline: Argonne's contest is limited to the 12 teams on a first-come, first-served basis.

• Official rules: Please download them at the Rube Goldberg, Inc. Web site at www.rubegoldberg.com/

Illinois State Championship: Details are pending for the Illinois State Championship, but we know it will be held at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, at least one week before the National High School Contest. Past Illinois State Champions are:

• 2008 – Pekin High School, Pekin
• 2007– Wilmington High School, Wilmington
• 2006– Maine Township South High School, Park Ridge
• 2005 – Morgan Park Acedemy, Chicago
• 2004 – Maine West High School, Des Plaines
• 2003 – William Fremd High School, Palatine
• 2002 – Plainfield High School, Plainfield
• 2001 – Plainfield High School, Plainfield
• 2000 – Plainfield High School, Plainfield
• 1999 – Maine South High School, Park Ridge

National High School Championship: The National High School Championship will be held Saturday, March 28, 2009, at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind.

Winners of past Argonne contests and the tasks were:

• 2008 – Wilmington High School, Wuilmington; assemble a hamburger consisting of no less than one precooked meat patty, two vegetables and two condiments, sandwiched between two bun halves.
• 2007– Maine South Township High School, Park Ridge; take a whole orange, juice it, and pour the juice from a pitcher into a cup.
• 2006 – William Fremd High School, Palatine; cut or shred into strips five sheets of 8½ by 11, 20-lb. paper individually with a shredder and place the shredded paper in a recycle bin.
• 2005 – Morgan Park Academy, Chicago; remove both old batteries from a two-battery flashlight, install new batteries and turn the flashlight on.
• 2004 – Morgan Park Academy, Chicago; select, mark and cast an election ballot.
• 2003 – Morgan Park Academy, Chicago; select and crush an empty 12-oz. aluminum soft drink can and move it into a recycling bin.
• 2002 – Plainfield High School, Plainfield; secure, raise and wave a national flag in 20 steps or more.
• 2001 – Plainfield High School, Plainfield; select, clean and peel and apple in 20 steps or more.
• 2000 – Minooka Community High School, Minooka; fill and seal a clear glass jar (think of it as a simulated time capsule) with models or samples of significant inventions of the 20th century in 20 steps or more.
• 1999 – Maine South High School, Park Ridge; place a regulation-sized golf ball on a tee in 20 steps or more.
• 1998 – William Fremd High School, Palatine; turn off an alarm clock in 20 steps or more.
• 1997 – Marist High School, Chicago; insert and play a compact disc in 20 steps or more.
• 1996 – Maine South High School, Park Ridge; plant a seed in soil in 20 steps or more.

2009 Teams

Teams entered in Argonne's 2009 contest will be listed below, in alphabetical order, as entries are received.

• Alan B. Shepard High School, Palos Heights. Faculty advisor: Jeff Partynski,. Student team members: To be determined.

"Rube Goldberg" is a trademark of Rube Goldberg Inc.