Boss Level: Mission Complete!

On December 23, Quest to Learn's first Boss Level Challenge came to a successful close. The culmination of a semester-long investigation into the architecture of dynamic systems, the Boss Level is a two-week “intensive” where students apply knowledge and skills to propose solutions to complex problems. This trimester, Q2L students were invited to build Rube Goldberg machines or complicated machines that perform simple tasks.

After two weeks of tinkering, building, problem-solving and podcasting, it was finally time for Q2L students to not only show-off their machines but also demonstrate their understanding of rules, goals, elements and systems. Six teams introduced and ran their machines before a panel of prominent architects, game designers, television producers, designers and technologists. Joined by the Q2L community, the judges moved from room to room scoring the machines based on a predetermined set of rubrics including, performance, use of materials, ability to meet the predetermined goal, components, appearance and creativity. From toycars landing on keyboards to dominoes propelling scissors to cut string and trigger a lever, each machine was fueled by its own whimsical collection of found objects, re-purposed materials and inventive ideas.

Although each machine was worthy of celebration, the award for overall excellence went to Ameer Mourad's team which was tasked with creating a machine that turned on a water faucet. The machine stretched across four tables, utilizing inclined planes, toy cars, cardboard tubing, tightrope wires, marbles (and more), in an inventive, cacophonous symphony of falling books and moving cars, instigated by a piece of PVC tubing. Julia Wald and William Moyet's team won for exceptional creativity after demonstrating a machine that began with an oatmeal box-turned-pulley and concluded with a tubular weigh turning the page of book by Rube Goldberg himself.

To review the daily reports from the frontlines of the Q2L boss levels, check-out the archive or subscribe.