Chain Reaction is an activity inspired by

CHAIN REACTION the whimsical contraptions of 20th

century cartoonists and inventors like
Rube Goldberg, Heath Robinson, and
Bruno Munari, which often revolve
around devising an overly complicated
way of accomplishing a simple task.
Each participant is given space on a
table and a collection of everyday
materials and found objects to construct
a series of events. Then, each individual
contraption triggers the start of the one
that follows, therefore becoming a
component in a large-scale collaborative
chain reaction machine across several
tables. The relationship between cause
and effect is an intuitively simple
concept, but one that allows for an
incredibly complex and deep
investigation into something we
experience every day.

COLLECT THESE THINGS

Before you start building a chain reaction contraption, you need to collect or
assemble a core set of materials to use (most will be re-useable each time you do
this activity). In workshop settings, we have learners work in groups of two or three
people per station. Each station will result in one contraption connected to the rest
of the larger chain reaction contraption.

Objects to build with (per station):

Note: Three small wood blocks (6-inch lengths of common 2x4)
This is an extensive list of materials Three large wood blocks (10-inch lengths of common 2x4)
we found to be useful in large, Roll of masking tape
workshop settings. It’s a place to get
Two or three pre-built wooden stands
ideas and be inspired to use everyday
objects in unfamiliar ways. Whether Two large domino blocks (1x4 blocks cut to 5")
you’re working at home or in an NOTE: these blocks will act as connectors for each building station
informal learning environment the
most important element to include are
Wooden stands
the large domino blocks to connect
station to station. You don’t need
every item on this list to build a chain
Three large wood blocks
reaction contraption. Find what you
can, and use materials that feel
appropriate to your environment.

Masking tape

Three small
Domino blocks
wood blocks

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Objects to build with (in general):

Scrap cardboard
Zip ties
Different types of string and fishing line
Electrical tape
Steel and copper wire
Rubber bands
Large paper clips
Wooden clothespins
Straws
Skewer sticks
Pieces of wood or scrap building materials
Screws, nails, thumbtacks
Variety of dowels
Many more large domino blocks
Weights (such as metal nuts, fishing weights, or washers).

Tools (in general):

Hot glue guns

Glue sticks, scissors
C-clamps
Wire cutters
Hammer
Drill and drill bits (range of small to large)
Driver bits
Standard and phillips head screwdrivers
X-acto knives
Box cutter knives
Hacksaw
Multimeter

Motorized and electric parts (in general):

A slow moving motor for each station plus extras
1 battery pack for each station (4x AA) plus extras
3 alligator clip leads for each station plus extras
Roll of hook-up wire
Dissected and working electric toy parts
Other circuit board components
Roll of tinfoil
Roll of copper tape and/or other craft materials that
conduct electricity

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Objects that roll, bounce, or move:

Wooden balls (various sizes)

pulleys
Kinetic toys and models
Balancing toys
Large and small marbles (5/8” to 2” diameter)
Plastic and wood ball tracks
Hot Wheels® tracks or Haba® wood tracks
Rubber balls
Tennis balls
Ping pong balls or Wiffle® balls
Metal ball bearings
Wheeled toys

Objects to decorate, embellish, or personalize:

Googly eyes
Pipe cleaners
Craft paper
Feathers
Fun fur
Markers
Pencils

Objects to inspire:
Flyswatter
Ping pong paddle
Marble toys
Balloons
Musical toys (like xylophones, tambourines, and small
bells)
Short lengths of copper pipe
Magnets
Metal measuring spoons
Plastic spatulas
Funnels
...and any other unusual object that might be found
in a kitchen, craft store, thrift shop, or garage

Chain Reaction tinkering.exploratorium.edu Page 3 of 10

THE SETUP
Arrange your tables end to end so that each pair has
space to work. (NOTE: we use 2.5'x5' tables where 2
pairs work at each table.) When working with a large
group we create a snake-like table configuration
across the workshop floor. Creating a varied shape
with your table will keep the chain reaction dynamic
and energetic. The stations on either end of your
configuration will be the starting point and the finale.

Large, falling dominos trigger the connections

between each station. Each contraption will result
in pushing over a domino at the end of its station
(the output), causing the start of the next
contraption (the input). Place the large domino
blocks in the input and output sections of each
table so your setup can be introduced to
participants

We found it important to provide a starting point that serves as initial inspiration and helps get ideas
flowing at the beginning. It can be intimidating to walk up to an empty table and be told “make whatever
you want!” Here are a few ideas that have worked well for us.

Carefully choose an inspiring

object for each station to build
into their contraption. These
objects can be mechanical,
electrical, or thematic.

Choose a general theme to drive the narrative

of the chain reaction, like “love,” or “spring.”
Encourage participants to interpret the theme
as literally or metaphorically as they want, and
think of narrative scenes that fit the theme. It
is helpful if you provide materials that support
expressing ideas about the theme.

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 Chain Reaction playing cards
We have created a set of illustrations of inspiring
elements, and turned those into a set of playing
cards. Participants choose a random card and then
work in small groups to create a story linking their
elements together. This special deck is available for
purchase from the Exploratorium store.

We put extra building materials and tools around the

perimeter of the room on separate tables to allow
each team to utilize their station as the place to
build, test, and refine their contraption. Tool stations
include a place for using hot glue, a place to cut and
score materials with knives, and a place for drilling
and sawing.
Finally, create an example contraption at one station,
triggered by the input domino. Try to incorporate
ways to demonstrate the tinfoil switch, a
slow-moving motor, a ball rolling down a ramp, and
ultimately something that will set off the output domino at the other end. This example should indicate
possible uses for the materials and objects, but not be so complex as to intimidate learners. The ideal
example immediately suggests ways in which it could be improved!

TRY IT Getting started

The path of every participant through this activity will be unique, so it’s hard to give step-by-step guid-
ance. Be open to the inspiration that comes from the quirky movement of a particular material or to trying
an idea you’ve always wondered about but never tested.
Give yourself plenty of time to build and experiment. In the
Tinkering Studio, we set aside 2-3 hours for learners to
make individual contraptions at their stations, link them
together, and set them off as one collective contraption.
Get familiar with your set up and materials. When working
with a large group we start by showing the example
contraption and setting it off, demonstrating the use of
materials, the intended use of the input and output domino
blocks, and the orientation of the room in terms of where
the tools and materials are located.

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 There’s no one right way to build your chain reaction. You can start with the input and work to the output,
or vice versa. Some people start in the middle and build toward either end! Be patient as you build. Things
will rarely work exactly as you expect them to on the first try. Iterate on your ideas. Test often as you build,
and make observations and changes based on those tests.
As you build, here are some concepts you may want to consider incorporating into your chain reaction:

Height – are there ways to Time – what can you Materiality – how many
build vertical motion into your incorporate into your chain different ways can you use one
chain reaction? What could you reaction to slow down the object? How can you use
build above or below your progress from point to point? objects in other ways than the
worktable? How can you use the space you “normal” usage? Can you use a
have on the table to build book as a ramp? A spoon a
tension between the connected catapult? A metal cake pan part
elements? of an electrical switch?

As time draws to an end, learners can finalize their contraptions,

finish making and testing, and prepare to set off the chain reaction.
Before it is set off, we usually walk around to each station and ask
the makers to describe what they expect their contraption to do
when it is all set up and running. After looking at everyone’s
individual stations, we give five minutes for everyone to get their
contraptions set-up and ready to go. We count down from 10 (“10,
9, 8” etc…) and someone pushes over the first domino block in the
chain, triggering the first station’s contraption. It is almost
guaranteed that everything will not work perfectly as the
contraption starts to work. There will be times when you will need
to offer some help to a reluctant mechanism or rolling ball by
triggering a few things yourself. We try to pre-emptively take the
sting out of this possibility by mentioning it in a lighthearted way
and introducing the “magic finger,” a helpful last-minute tool that
everyone has to fix anything that might go wrong in the moment.

TAKE IT FURTHER
• Themes: It is fun to dream up themes for each chain reaction ahead of time in order to have appropriate
materials on-hand for people to use in their contraptions. Themes that we have explored in the past have
included TEXAS (for a group of teachers from Texas), LOVE (on Valentines Day) or Pi (for the annual
Exploratorium Pi Day celebration).
• Language: We have also explored LOVE as a chain reaction theme using language as a starting point. We
started the workshop by asking everyone to write down love-related nouns, verbs, and adjectives on
individual index cards, and then pasted them around the room with everyone else’s words. Each team
chose three words that exemplify love, and built a contraption with that specific inspiration in mind. In the
end, all of the LOVE themed chain reactions were linked together and set off. Machines included
demonstrations of “Lovesick”, “Humiliation”, and “Passion”.

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EDUCATOR ADDENDUM
A note on our philosophy:
The Tinkering Studio is based on a constructivist theory of learning, which asserts that knowledge is not simply
transmitted from teacher to learner, but actively constructed by the mind of the learner. Constructionism suggests that
learners are more likely to make new ideas while actively engaged in making an external artifact. The Tinkering Studio
supports the construction of knowledge within the context of building personally meaningful artifacts. We design
opportunities for people to “think with their hands” in order to construct meaning and understanding.

Decisions and designs that support a tinkering experience

Tinkering Studio activities and investigations are designed to encourage learners to complexify their thinking over time. The
variety of materials and variables available for experimentation allow for learners to enter at a point where they are comfortable
starting, and then alter and refine their designs as they develop new ideas. Tinkering activities are often fun, whimsical, inspired,
and surprising.

Rapid Prototyping: Chain Reaction is an activity that emphasizes the importance of “messing about” with the materials and
challenges of the contraption. Ideas and constructions come together rapidly due to the informal nature of the activity and the
time limit. Testing out a tentative idea, in the moment of discovery, is a value for the Tinkering Studio and a way to demystify
the process of rapid prototyping.
Cross-talk and collaboration: Chain Reaction allows for collaboration at many levels; small teams form ideas for the individual
contraptions, then collaborate at a larger scale when the individual contraptions are linked together. The idea of contributing
your ideas to something larger than yourself contextualizes the elements in a holistic way, and allows learners to view a
variety of different strategies and solutions to common problems.
Multiple starting points and outcomes: The whimsical and creative nature of the activity offers an entry point for people who
might be nervous about building something from scratch. Likewise, learners who are naturally drawn to constructing objects
that do something become interested in adding their expertise to the mix. It is often surprising how diverse the chain
reaction events can be even when drawing from a similar palette of physical objects. This activity reinforces the notion that
each learner develops their own path of understanding and exploration, while all are utilizing a similar set of materials. In the
end, every chain reaction is unique to the group of makers who collaborated to build it.

Environment (the elements of the space that support tinkering)

Learners often work with us for an extended period of time, so we try to create a warm and welcoming workspace with
comfortable seating, sturdy worktables, and good lighting. We often display exhibits, or examples from past projects and
current activities throughout the space to seed ideas and provide an introduction to what is happening that day. Materials are
easily accessible and in close proximity to the tinkerers, and we often work at large, communal activity stations to enable
cross-talk and invite collaboration between participants, allowing them to look to each other for answers and solutions.

Set up tables for learners to build on in the order (and location) that each contraption will ultimately be set-off. The size and
position of the tables are important to ensure that there is enough space to build at each table. The meandering design of all of
the tables connected together is another way to connect all of the contraptions at the end, and make sure that everyone has
enough room to move around the space without bumping into one another. The proximity of the individual elements (as they
take shape all around the room) offers everyone a glimpse into the variety of what others are trying to build.

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When we host a Chain Reaction workshop in the Tinkering Studio,
materials and tools are offered at tables along the outer edges of the
workshop space so learners are encouraged to move around the room
and encounter other workshop participants searching for materials or
using tools. Interesting conversations occur and solutions are often
found during these moments. We also support tools and materials to be
used at the individual stations so it forces participants/learners to look
around the entire space, and sometimes ask, “where is the hand drill,
roll of string, or other material?” that are currently in use by someone
else. It is a natural way for everyone to move around the workshop space
throughout the construction and allows ideas to cross-pollinate.

We play ambient music in the room while people are building their chain
reaction contraptions to create an environment that supports the focused
work of the learners. We often find that having background music on
during the tinkering activities helps to create a pleasant environment
that people want to spend time in, even when faced with challenging
ideas and constructions.

Facilitation (the things we say and do to support learning through tinkering)

Facilitation is a way of teaching where you support the learner’s own investigations, questions, and ideas within the framework
of an activity. In the Tinkering Studio, we strive to practice a kind of facilitation that respects the individual path of the learner.
As facilitators, we watch and wait until the precise moment to jump in and offer a hint, a material, or a new way of looking at a
problem. As educators, we allow learners to feel frustration and encounter moments of failure as they work with real materials
to try to solve their own challenges.
There are many ways that the facilitator can influence the interactions with participants in an activity. We help people get
started with the activity by giving a quick sense of the goals. We invite them into the space, and introduce the materials and
tools they might use. We spark interest and sustain learner’s engagement by asking questions about their work and responding
to their answers. We support multiple outcomes of the activity and are open to the possibility of new ideas, different solutions,
and changing goals of the individual learners. We try to practice a style of facilitation where we are not teachers who transmit
knowledge to passive learners, but rather are guides and co-learners on a path to understanding.

The most important first step for facilitating Chain Reaction is to make sure that you have spent some time experimenting
with the materials and set-up yourself, in order to develop a basic understanding about what the components do, and how
you can get them to work. You might try to build one or two connected chain reaction elements with friends or colleagues as
a way to find out what it is really like as a learner.
Chain reaction facilitation is a combination of supporting everyone’s ideas for what they want to build, and offering sound
suggestions for how to make these things work. Facilitators of this activity are constantly on their toes because everyone
tends to come up with a different challenge for what they want to make and how they might build it, so it’s important to
follow the learners path toward making something meaningful, without imposing your own ideas (as a facilitator) about how
you might do this. It’s important to let the mistakes, failures, and ultimately successes to come out of this process naturally,
and allow the learners to own all of this for themselves. Learners will pay more attention to the things that do and do not
work if their idea is being explained.

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An example chain reaction station is helpful to have ready you an opportunity to talk to the learners in a way that
at the start of the activity in order for facilitators to helps you develop an understanding about what they
demonstrate the possible use of certain materials. It’s know. If you ask for specifics about the construction or
important to show a way of creating a switch from simple why a certain thing behaves the way it does, it helps the
conductive materials (tinfoil or copper tape). We like to learner to articulate why they think it is working that way
show the switch example with a slow-moving motor to and how confident they feel about it.
show how it can create tension and ultimately trigger When the time has come to set off the Chain Reaction,
something else. We usually try to include an example of the facilitator’s role is more like that of a master of
rolling balls, objects tied to string, or other elements that ceremonies. We often walk through the entire chain
indicate innovative uses of these materials to trigger reaction with the group, asking each team what they
something else in the contraption. The example is only designed and how they expect it to work. This helps in
referenced at the beginning of the activity (because we two ways: 1) it helps to build an expectation in the rest of
often need to use the station for two participants in the the group for what is about to happen, and 2) it helps you,
workshop). We make sure to make the example simplee- as the facilitator, to refer to what is supposed to work as
nough to hint at the possible uses of the materials without you the chain reaction is underway. Sometimes a compo-
creating a high bar that others might not be able to meet. nent will fail or work more slowly than expected, so it is
Placing a compelling object at each station and asking that helpful for you to remind everyone what is supposed to
they be included in the chain reaction elements is a way to happen at each stage.
offer each group a starting point to focus on, especially for
those that might have a difficult time getting started with a Chain Reaction examples:
“blank slate” (an empty table). We often facilitate teams
A large public event
to see what they can do to get this first object working, https://vimeo.com/36385358
and then ask them how they might use other materials in Professional Development workshop
the room to trigger that object to do its thing. This is a https://vimeo.com/115017905
good way to facilitate the development of an understand- In the Tinkering Studio with visitors
ing of how the materials in the room can be used in the https://vimeo.com/122596112
chain reaction. The “making of” a Chain Reaction
https://vimeo.com/102882775
Sometimes the best early facilitation strategy is to be a
helper. You might run and grab a specific tool or material
for the learners, or you might give permission to cut, glue,
After the chain reaction has been set off, it’s time to get a
or change an object or component. And often, your willing-
few people in the group to say something about their
ness to support the learner (in what are sometimes crazy
process. What were the things that were tricky in this
ideas) will go a long way toward setting the expectation
activity, and what did they do to get themselves past the
that you are interested in helping them think outside
tricky bits? What were some of the things that others
the box.
appreciated about the elements, and what might some of
One technique that we use as facilitators midway in the them do next, if given another hour or half day? These
page is to point out some of the interesting movements types of discussion prompts can help start a conversation
and accidents that you see happening. Asking about these to reflect on the process of building the chain reaction
things indicates that you are carefully watching what is contraption.
going on and that you are interested in it. It also allows

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RELATED TINKERING ACTIVITIES
Activity Connections
Try these related activities to develop your own repertoire of tinkering experiences.
Toy Take-Apart: Collect discarded mechanical stuffed toys and dissect them to find battery packs,
switches, sensors, and motor-driven mechanical elements similar to the parts used for circuit
boards. You can use the circuit board components to test the things that you find inside, and
some of these parts can even become new circuit board blocks.
http://tinkering.exploratorium.edu/toy-take-apart

Circuit boards: Tinker with electricity using common objects: batteries, lights, buzzers, motors,
switches, and more. This activity provides an introduction to exploring circuits, especially using
switches, before building a Chain Reaction.
http://tinkering.exploratorium.edu/circuit-boards

Light Play: Use common materials in unusual ways to create kinetic light and shadow vignettes.
Individual vignettes, carefully constructed using point source lights and slow moving motors, are
eventually combined into one large light and shadow play wall. Like Chain Reaction, the final
result is collaborative in nature and unites the individual components that make it up.
http://tinkering.exploratorium.edu/light-play

ARTIST CONNECTIONS
inspiring connections to the Chain Reaction activity

Peter Fischli and David Weiss were Bruno Munari was an Italian artist, PythagorasSwitch is a 15-minute
an artist duo that had been designer, and inventor who Japanese educational television
collaborating since 1979. They were contributed fundamentals to many program by NHK, which aired since
among the most renowned fields of visual arts (painting, 2002. It encourages augmenting
contemporary artists of Switzerland. sculpture, film, industrial design, children's "way of thinking". During
Their best-known work is the film graphic design) in modernism, the beginning, ending, and between
Der Lauf der Dinge (The Way Things futurism, and concrete art, and in each corner (segment), there are
Go, 1987), described as being "post non visual arts (literature, poetry) Pythagorean Devices, known in the
apocalyptic", it concerned chain with his research on games, US as "Rube Goldberg machines",
reactions and the ways in which didactic method, movement, tactile or in Great Britain as "Heath
objects flew, crashed and exploded learning, kinesthetic learning, and Robinson" contraptions.
across the studio in which it was creativity. His Machines drawings http://www.youtube.com/
shot. are whimsical explorations about watch?v=nAWnWGaOoWc
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ making the mundane spectacular.
Der_Lauf_der_Dinge http://www.corraini.com/
munari.php?lang=eng

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