Dowling Magnets Science Discovery Kit: Magnet Levitation, Magnetic Levitation Train Kit (Science Experiments). Item 731100

Used for a maglev science project. Easy instructions. Fun to build with my 10 year old!

Kit saved my life lol Had a catastrophic failure on the homemade one me & my daughter constructed. Had to order this one 2days before the project was due, got her an A so it gets 5 stars from me! Haha

I was having challenges collecting the contents needed for the science project for my son and I found this kit. Everything I needed was in this box. The only thing I replaced was the multiple plastic strips and I bought one long strip from ACE hardware store to replace them. We were able to glide the train smoothly on the tracks.

The idea and the concept behind the Magnets Science Discovery Kit are worthwhile exploring and potentially fun to play with. The major disappointment is the assembly part if one wants to entertain the idea of putting together the MAGLEV. The plastic corners, being 3 on each side, need to be closely aligned and properly spaced to allow for the train to move unhindered, which is a major problem. They need to be glued and aligned on the wood pieces, which also need to be aligned. These plastic corners also tend to bend and warp. A problem that could have been easily solved if, instead of 6 short corner pieces (3 for each side), the kit would include instead 2 long ones. You can mess up things with the glue quite easily since the magnetic strips also need to be glued on the train track which is made out of 4 pieces of wood. If these are not aligned (or stay aligned while mounting the rest), the all thing becomes a huge glue puddle trying to adjust all the pieces in position.

So…. we tried to build a maglev train on our own and bought this as a backup - thank goodness we did. The pieces it included were way better than we purchased on our own, and somewhat easier to do, but still a HUGE pain. Kids and adults involved all found it extremely difficult to build and the whole process was frustrating and almost led to tears and abandoning the project :( there was also no option to buy replacement parts outside of any entire new kit which was disappointing - so while it ultimately saved our project - i would not give this to someone to build unless they absolutely needed to make a maglev train and could not be talked down - that said, this seems to be the best option if you do attempt this…

This product contains IRON FILINGS, but there is no warning about this, just "small magnet hazard", and their listing as the 10th item of 11 in small print on the back of the box. There is no information about the safety of said filings, how to handle them, or clean them from the magnets back into the tube. One assumes they are safe given generic information online that filings are ok to handle for short periods, followed by washing hands, and obvious warnings against ingestion. On page 1, paragraph 3 of the preface, we learn for the first time that for using these experiments, "parent or teacher supervision is necessary". Not "advised" or perhaps implied by the nature of the material, but *necessary*. This is not mentioned on the box, there instead being a 10+ age recommendation, and "adult assistance recommended" in small print on the back. On page 5 of the manual, filings are mentioned in the text for the first time, and their first usage is on page 21, where they are described as being able to be handled by hand, with no mention of any potential hazard. Our son was very excited about being able to build a "maglev train", and so we will proceed with the experiments, but it would have been nice to have a clearer indication before starting, i.e., on the front of the box, of the standards of usage expected here, particularly the presence of iron filings. I hope we can get back to the fun and learning intended from this kit.

Got this for my kids science project. Had to get some additional items to finish project. Wish they included everything that's needed. Two sided tape and little stronger magnets would have been helpful. Gave 4 star as it needed additional items to finish project.

Item is pretty inexpensive and comes with more than what the description shows. Kit comes with the wood blocks (its not one long wood block, its multiple smaller blocks) and magnetic strips with the plastic guards as indicated in the picture. What mine came with that was not indicated in the description, is a booklet showing various types of 'experiments' to try out, additional magnets (a few round and square and one small neodymium type) , one large 'nail', and some iron filings/powder. I got this as a gift for a kid, and I am sure that they will have some fun with all that it included. Only thing that it does not include, was string for the additional experiments, and tape... Both of which most of us already have on hand. Overall, I am really happy I took a gamble on purchasing this!

Yup!! Satisfied with my product hence it will tell later on how this set will be working.