The following article has been excerpted from Science Education for Gifted Students, one of six exciting books in the Gifted Child Today Reader Series. This series brings together the best articles published in Gifted Child Today, the nation's most popular gifted education journal. Each book in the series is filled with exciting and practical classroom ideas, useful summaries of research findings, and discussions of identification and classroom management, and informed opionion about educating gifted children.

Gifted students love the challenge of working with a technology so new that it’s still in the experimental stages. One such technology is Magnetic Levitation, or Maglev, which has the promise of becoming the largest development in transportation since the wheel. As a matter of fact, Maglev does away with the wheel and all the problems inherent with it (friction, noise, energy use, safety, and so forth) by using magnetism to levitate a vehicle above a track and to move it from one place to another. The greatest advantage to this is the absence of friction. Since Maglev vehicles float above tracks instead of riding on wheels, the vehicles do not come into contact with the track or roadbed; thus, they eliminate friction. Transportation systems that use Maglev have been implemented in airports for ground transportation and in major metropolitan cities for light rail systems.

This chapter focuses on how on Maglev can be taught to students in grades 4–9 using hands-on activities aligned to the National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996).

How was Stone Hinge constructed? How about the pyramids? The history of transportation studies how humans have moved goods, materials, and passengers for thousands of years. Although modes of transportation can vary (land transportation, air transportation, water transportation, travel in space through rocketry), the history of transportation typically begins with the wheel. As students learn how early humans reduced friction from dragging a load by placing it on a wheeled cart of some type, they identify the progressive improvements of transportation methods.

Throughout time, there have been a variety of ways in which objects have been transported. Land transportation can include discussions about dragsters, car designs, vehicle safety, go-carts and push carts, the use of small gas engines, and Maglev systems. Air transportation may encompass topics such as hovercrafts, airplane design challenges, lighter-than-air vehicles, gliders, and even the concept of aerodynamics. The ever-changing ideas of space travel allow students to explore the developments of rocketry and jet propulsion. Travel across waterways may include research on boats, sails, and water channels.

Once students identify the basic components, they will begin to see similarities and differences among the various types of transportation systems. When learning about each type of transportation, students analyze each in terms of construction and maintenance costs, spatial requirements, safety regulations, and environmental impact. Specific discussions regarding the effects of friction in existing transportation systems may focus on the wear and tear on parts and the required maintenance costs and power (through breaking, aerodynamic design, etc.), which is needed to overcome friction.

As students explore the principles of magnetic levitation, they identify how these concepts may be used in vehicle design. The role of magnets, electromagnets, and electrical current as used in Maglev propulsion help to solidify students’ understanding of how the properties of attraction and repulsion result in levitation (see Figure 9.1).

Figure 9.1 Maglev propulsion

During this process, the vehicle is placed on a track with alternating north and south polarity magnets. Electrical current passes through a coil of wire that touches the magnet, thus creating an electromagnet. Reversing the electrical current changes the polarity of each electromagnet.

For example, during electromagnetic suspension, magnets under the track draw on magnets attached to the body of the vehicle and propel the vehicle forward. This results in the body of the Maglev vehicle moving down the track. Electrical currents used to pull the vehicle along the track leave a constant gap between the rail and the vehicle (see Figure 9.2).

Figure 9.2 Electromagnetic suspension (EMS)

Electrodynamic suspension uses repulsion forces, rather than attraction forces. During this process, the magnets on the vehicle have the same polarity as those on the track, which forces the vehicle to float above the track (see Figure 9.3).

Figure 9.3 Electrodynamic suspension (EDS)

Using model vehicles on a Maglev track, students have the opportunity to discover the benefits of Maglev-based transportation systems. The virtual elimination of friction through the use of electromagnetic and electrodynamic suspension allows the Maglev vehicles to travel at high rates of speed and use little energy during this process. Maglev vehicles run on a unique wrap-around elevated track, which makes them safer than many rail systems because there is little chance of derailment. In addition, Maglev vehicles are comparably more quiet than existing transportation systems, and they provide a smooth, cushioned ride.

While studying existing test systems in Japan and Germany, students found that Maglev vehicles have a smaller turning radius. This means that less room is needed to change directions or turn a corner. In addition, Maglev vehicles are able to traverse more steep inclines than conventional rail systems.

When considering the environmental impacts, the Maglev system uses less energy for operation and produces little white noise (because of its reliance on electromagnetic power as opposed to internal combustion or jet engines). Video footage of the Maglev system shows a test train passing through the countryside without disturbing livestock.

When given the opportunity to design, construct, test, and evaluate their own Maglev vehicle, students decided to create a small classroom model of a Maglev transportation system. Each student made technical, to-scale blueprint drawings of his or her vehicle on graph paper (including a side, front, rear, and top view). The students shared their visions and discussed the strengths and weaknesses of each design.

Students received a kit of raw materials, including a motor, propellers, wire, straws, various pieces of wood and dowels, two pieces of Styrofoam (for the body of the vehicle), contact paper (for decoration), a plastic base (which fit the track), magnets (for the bottom of the vehicle), and Velcro (for attaching the vehicle to the base).

When considering their Maglev vehicle, students glued small magnets to the bottom of the plastic base, mounting them with the same, or like, poles facing the magnetic strips in the track. The opposing magnetic force allowed the plastic base to float above the track, and the side rails helped to maintain the vehicle’s lateral position. Using sandpaper and saws, students shaped the body of the vehicle, conforming it to their blueprint designs. Using Velcro as a connection base, students were able to redesign and make modifications to both motor-powered and wind-powered vehicles. The use of colored contact paper encouraged students to be creative in the final design and decoration of their vehicle. As students tried different body types, as well as power and propulsion systems, they found that the Maglev system required the least amount of force needed to move the vehicle.

When conducting tests, students placed their vehicles on an 8-foot long and 6-inch wide track. The track had two strips of magnets separated by a 1-inch aluminum strip. There were two L-shaped guide rails next to the magnetic strips, which kept the vehicle on the track above the strips. The two magnetic strips repulsed the base of the vehicle, providing levitation, and propulsion was provided typically by an electric motor and propeller or a sail mounted on the vehicle and a handheld hair dryer to simulate wind power.

Students were encouraged to try new, innovative techniques in their propulsion system. If they used electric power to run a small DC motor and propeller, the two guide rails were connected to a small DC train transformer and they had to devise a system of wires that would contact each guide rail to complete the circuit and supply power to the motor and propeller. This was one of the biggest problems to overcome because, when they made the wires contact the side rail, they introduced friction into the system.

Students tested their vehicles, evaluated the results, made modifications to their design and then tested the vehicles again. In most cases, the wind-powered vehicles performed better than the motorized ones due to the friction in the wiring setup.

Careful planning on the part of the teacher can make the Maglev unit a positive experience for students. Two areas where they may need assistance are during the cutting and sanding of the vehicle’s body and in gluing parts to the body. The safety issues should be handled by teachers or by responsible students.

Individual magnets must be glued to the plastic base in each student’s kit. This can be done with a hot glue gun. Students can place the magnets on the track, observing the correct polarity, and hold the magnets up for glue. Magnets should be placed as close to the edge of the plastic base as possible because anything beyond the edge would impede the movement of the base; magnet placement is critical to the operation of the vehicle. The base should be tested for smooth movement on the track before attaching the body. When gluing propellers onto the shaft of the motor, caution should be used to prevent them from flying off during the testing phase.

The body of the Maglev vehicle is constructed from a large piece of Styrofoam. This piece will have to be cut and sanded down to the shape specified in the student blueprint. This is an extremely messy task, and students invariably scatter Styrofoam bits about the room. This mess can be minimized by having the students do all cutting, sanding, and shaping inside a large cardboard box. The body of the vehicle should not be designed to extend out over the edges of the base. If a vehicle has this design, it might rub against the side rails and introduce friction into the system.

This hands-on approach to learning requires that students research, design, experiment, and problem solve. The study of Maglev technology meets the National Science Education Standards by helping students

• develop the ability to identify and state a problem (need for improvement in transportation),
• design a solution, including a risk-and-benefit analysis (design a vehicle for the project and discuss the risks and benefits of the system),
• implement a solution (construct, test, and modify the vehicle), and
• evaluate the solution (discuss the results of the experiment).

Students planned, measured, and constructed their vehicles using great care—making modifications if their test vehicle did not operate as planned. In general, those vehicles using sails and wind power performed better than those using electrical or kinetic energy. When a project was not successful, there were many opportunities to discuss potential modifications and corrections.

Depending on the time available during the day and students’ ability levels, there are a variety of formats in which the Maglev concepts may be presented: multiweek periods of study, intensive weeklong projects, 1-day concentrated efforts, or hourly workshops. The discussed Maglev unit has been successfully presented to gifted students in grades 4–6 in a series of seven 45-minute sessions:

1. During the first session, students investigated various transportation systems’ advantages and disadvantages.
2. The second session was an investigation, with hands-on activities and experiments, of the principles of magnetism and levitation and how they apply to the Maglev technology.
3. In session three, students discussed the advantages of Maglev over conventional transportation systems and began designing their own Maglev vehicle on graph paper.
4. During the fourth session, students completed their designs, discussed any design weaknesses with the teacher, and began construction of their test vehicle.
5. In sessions five and six, students completed the construction and began testing the vehicle on the Maglev track.
6. During session seven, they continued the process of testing, modification, and testing again to fine-tune the performance of their vehicle. Session seven wrapped up with a discussion and evaluation of the results of the students’ experiments.

The Maglev unit has been presented in an abbreviated version for 1-day workshops for gifted students in grades 5–7. The workshops were 3 hours in length, so less time was spent on the various discussions and the design phase of the project.

If this unit were presented to older gifted students, magnetism and the experiments associated with it could be presented in much greater detail. Older students could also explore the possibility of using linear induction as a means of propulsion, rather than the more elementary systems employed by the younger students.

In all cases, the Maglev unit could and should be expanded by having students design, build, and test more than one vehicle, thus allowing them to compare different means of propulsion, as well as different body styles.

National Research Council. (1996). National science education standards. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Most of the materials discussed in this chapter can be purchased from Kelvin (http://www.kelvin.com). The construction of the test track is simple with good instructions and an accompanying video. Purchase of a variable power supply from Kelvin is recommended for adequate control of motor-driven vehicles.