Yesterday’s goal was to carry as many beads as possible on the train without falling off or the train ceasing to levitate. We put more magnet on the track. We did this because we learned from a previous experiment that two magnets can hold one higher. We put two ring magnets on a pencil and it levitated. Than we added a ring magnet on the bottom. The magnet on the top floated higher. Therefore two magnets are stronger than one.

Our final track was two strip magnets on each side, doubling the magnetic field. Our train had two tiny strip magnets on each side. This makes the train levitate across the track with weights on it. I think the train was successful because the weight on it was even and the poles were alike on either side.

This was our final drawing for our train.

We used the EDP (engineering design process) to help us. The first stage “Ask” is a stage where we ask questions that relate to our problem. The next stage, the “Imagine” stage, we brainstorm some ideas and chose the idea the we think is right. The next stage, the “Plan” stage, we draw our final idea out and get some things we need. The next stage, the “Create” stage is when we, well, create it! The last stage, the “Improve” stage is when we look at our design and say, “Did it work?” and “How can I make this better?” My experience with my group was great. Thank you to Mrs. Luciano for teaching us about this and helping us along, and thank you to the school district for the magnets! I had a wonderful time. Thank you.

Today we went all the way back to the imagine stage. Then we drew our plan out. We put two strip magnets on the track and two strip magnets on the train. We took a long time placing and making the magnets face the right way. We had to make sure the magnetic poles on the train were facing the same poles on the track. I never realized how important tape was for mini maglev trains. Then we talked about it and moved the magnets a little… AND IT FLOATED ACROSS THE BOX!

Sadly, we failed to get it right away, but after a long time it finally worked. Yay! We learned that sometimes it takes one little millimeter push to change everything. We had to put tape in certain places because if we did not, the magnets will fall! The north and south poles were very important to us.

Next time we are going to carry “people” across the box on the train. We are going to modify our train to carry as many as possible. I look forward to working with my group and I already have a big fat idea to crush Monday’s goal!  

In class we have been working on “Maglev trains”. You might wonder: “ What is a maglev train?” A maglev train uses magnets to levitate on the tracks instead of rolling on the track. On the bottom of the train, there are magnets that are facing north or south. On the top of the track, there are magnets facing the SAME way that the magnets on the train are facing. The magnets will repel and the train will levitate. With a push, the train could go up to a speed of 3500 k/h. We are creating mini ones inside our classroom. My group used the “ Engineering Design Process” to create it. We put three strip magnets on the track and five disk magnets on the train. 

This is our train now

But, it did not work. We took it apart, took stuff away, planned more things, put stuff together and cut some foam. Now we have one side up but the other side is down. We failed on getting the train to float but got our main design. Now we have to flip some magnets and add more tape. Now we need to go back to the planning stage. I saw that we needed to work on how to find our poles and put them the right way. Next time we are going to level our train out.

My experience with my group was awesome. I think we work great together. We had some disagreements but we kept going and now we are going to plan our design again. My group is wondering if our original idea was correct and our magnets were not placed the right way. I look forward to work on our maglev train again.