NASHUA – Fish were being caught, photos were being taken, pancakes were being grilled, bread was being sliced and guitars were being strummed during Nashua Catholic Regional Junior High School’s annual eighth-grade Science Fair – not by the students, but rather by the machines they had invented.

More than 110 machines inspired by cartoonist Rube Goldberg were on display in the school’s auditorium that could complete various tasks in a minimum of four steps using such simple machines as a pulley, wedge, lever, screw and wheel from things that they found around the students’ houses, garages and even in their garbage.

Goldberg, an American cartoonist, was educated as an engineer but is best known for a series of popular cartoons depicting complex gadgets that perform simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways that usually include a chain reaction. Most students remember playing the popular 1963 board game Mouse Trap, which was based on Goldberg’s machines. Goldberg won a Pulitzer Prize in 1948 for his creative and entertaining cartoons.

“A lot of work goes into making these machines. The idea is to come up with a simple task and make it extraordinarily complicated,” said Susan Paoni, OFS, science teacher at Nashua Catholic. “It’s not as easy as it looks, and students discover after several failed attempts which type of machine works best to accomplish a particular task.

“Our students have fun with this project. This project challenges their creativity and helps to develop their engineering skills.”

Nicole Petry, of Hollis, made a machine to take photographs, as she hopes to be a photographer one day and wanted to make her life easier.

“It was fun making my Rube Goldberg machine,” she said. “I learned that you have to be very precise. If one thing is in the wrong place, nothing works.”

When asked how often her machine worked successfully, Nicole said, “It works about 95 percent of the time.”

Tara Duffy, of Merrimack, made a machine to slice a piece of bread.

“I learned that it’s not easy to make different machines work together precisely every time,” she said. “My greatest challenge was getting the wheel and axle to work right.”

When asked how often her machine worked successfully, Tara said with a smile, “It works every time!”

Grace Camacho, of Amherst, made a machine to water a flower.

“I learned that it’s a lot harder than it looks,” she said. “I used four machines in eight steps and worked on my pulley over and over again to make it work.”

When asked how often her machine worked successfully, Grace said, “It works every time.”

For more information, call 882-7011 or visit www.ncrjhs.org.