A Hands-on Approach to Maglev for Gifted Students

Raymond T. Budd

Gifted students love the challenge of working with a technology so new that it’s still in the experimental stages. Such a technology is Maglev, or Magnetic Levitation. Maglev 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). Maglev uses magnetism to levitate (raise or float) 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. The following content focuses on how on Magnetic Levitation can be taught to students in grades 4–9 using hands-on activities that align to the National Science Standards.

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