Inspired by cartoonist Rube Goldberg, eighth-grade students at Nashua Catholic Regional Junior High School created and demonstrated over 125 different whimsical machines for their annual science fair.

These machines complete simple tasks like watering a plant, feeding a fish, pouring a bowl of cereal and even cracking an egg. The students had to include a minimum of four steps, using such simple machines as a pulley, wedge, lever, screw and wheel.

“When I thought about building a Rube Goldberg machine, it sounded like something that I couldn’t do,” said Caroline “Kiki” Murphy, of Bedford, who built a machine to apply makeup. “But I just kept at it, and eventually, I had each machine part working in order. It was a good feeling to see it all come together.”

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.

When asked how consistently her makeup application machine worked, Murphy smiled and said, “A lot of the time!”