With all the great work fourth graders have done in their transportation unit, there was one last challenge to try...to build a car powered by the wind.  Using only paper, straws, tape, paper clips and life-savers, fourth graders quickly discovered it was much more challenging to build a working car than they thought!  

We discussed what would make the cars travel farther, focusing on what would catch the most wind, and also on how to reduce the amount of friction their cars experienced.  We also realized the importance of planning out our designs, as there the materials were not given out in an unlimited supply.  These are REAL problems that engineers face daily in their work.  

After completing two scientific investigations with their maglev trains, fourth graders were able to see how collecting data allowed them to make practical decisions with their trains.  Data tells us a story, and we look for trends within the data to help us understand the question we are investigating.  

Sometimes, the data we get isn't what we expected, and fourth graders quickly learned that you can NEVER change the data.  They also learned about generating explanations for the inconsistencies in the data, laying the foundation for setting up a controlled experiment.  Way to go fourth grade!  

With a few more tweaks, almost everyone's prototype is up and running.  Fourth graders are now investigating different factors that may affect the Maglev's movement, such as how the starting height of the track will affect the distance it travels.  Using investigative questions, students are working in teams to gather data from their own designs.

Fourth graders are refining their designs to maximize the number of passengers their Maglevs can carry safely without falling off.  Who knew adding passengers could affect the train's movement so much?  ;-)

So as the fourth graders followed their plans and tested their ideas, they quickly learned to evaluate what they had done and make changes.  Maybe they needed to change the width of their Maglev, the type of magnet they used, or the number of magnets on their train.  Even more important was making sure the "people" didn't fall off the train.  

Can you see the Maglev levitating on the track?  A fourth grader watches from the far end of the track to see just how successful his team's design was!  

Next goal...carry as many weights as possible on the Maglev!

Fourth graders are putting the Engineering Design Process into action!  Now that they've imagined all the possible designs for their own Maglev trains, they are working in teams to create a plan for their designs.  Knowing the criteria and constraints of the challenge, they are eager to begin creating their plans.  

Now that fourth graders are magnet experts, they put their creative juices to work to imagine all the possibilities for a Maglev design.  Here are notebook samples of students in the "Imagine" stage of using the engineering design process.  Teams will soon plan out their finalized design before they create and test their prototype.  Their plan must be approved by head transportation engineer Mrs. Brinza!  

How can the Maglev move if it has no wheels?  

There's no better way to figure out how it moves than to see and use magnets in action.

Here, a group of fourth graders used the properties of magnets to get a "ping-pong magnetic sailboat" to move across a pond.

Students also experimented with changing the number, type, and arrangement of magnets.  They drew conclusions from their observations.  Next step...designing a Maglev!

Hikaru's family has slowly been losing customers at their toy store.  Why?

Because a bigger, better toy store has opened that is attracting all its old customers.

Learning about a unique field of engineering--transportation engineering, Hikaru is inspired to design a similar system to the magnetic operated trains in Japan for his parents' toy store.  The Maglev trains, which run on repelling magnets, can quite possibly re-attract old customers back into the shop.

Using the engineering design process and LOTS of creativity, Hikaru can hopefully keep his parents' toy store from closing!  

Key vocabulary:  transportation engineer, Maglev train, magnets, repel, attract, magnetic field, experiment, engineering design process