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Goal

My goal is to expose my students to the expanding world of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and their future uses in our ever-changing world. In working with the UAV’s students will also expand their communication, critical thinking skills and technological vocabulary. 

What will be done with my students

I will be utilizing the drones this year with my 4th and 5th grade students. An important part of this project is the students will be grouped with 3 students to each team. The purpose of this is to develop communication skills with in a team environment. Students will need to explain their thinking and as a team they will make the best choice for flight patterns and the design of the landing pad.
My students will be provided with background information as to what a drone is, what are the parts of a drone and what is the function of each part. Students will compare the similarities are differences between other aircraft, such as an airplane, helicopter, or glider. Students will also research where drones are currently being used in our society as well as think of other creative uses for drones. Prior to the students taking their drones to the air, they will be instructed on flight safety and rules to follow for their indoor drones. I plan to have the students fly the drones in the cafeteria or media center, both are rooms with high ceilings and lots of room.
After their initial flight, students will design a landing pad for their drone utilizing building blocks; they will utilize previously taught math skills to determine the perimeter and area of their landing pad. Each student will have an opportunity to startup, take-off, hover, climb, descend, turn, land and shutdown the drone. The students will also design an obstacle course for their drones to fly through, in doing this they can measure the distance the drone travels and measure the time which will lead to a speed calculation. So far the drones have been controlled by an app on an i-pad for both grade levels. The fifth grade students will now be introduced to Scratch a coding program that can control the Tello mini-drone I plan on purchasing.

At the conclusion of this project I hope to have this coordinate with a STEM night at Manatee Elementary, I would like the students to demonstrate their knowledge and flight skills to their parents and siblings. I would also like the students to create presentations with in their team and share knowledge of how drones are utilized in our world and what they think drones will do in the future
 

Benefits to my students

One important benefit of this project would be to improve attendance at school, students would not want to miss their opportunity to work with the drone. Since the students will be working in teams they will improve their technical communication skills and learn how to come to a consensus when designing a landing pad or obstacle course. Both of these social skills are important in school and in the “real world”.
Students will also learn how math skills are utilized in construction and travel, this fun review of these skills will reinforce their math knowledge.

It is my hope that a few students may see a future in the area of aviation and further explore careers in this area.
 

Budget Narrative

I would like to order 7 mini-drones due to my class size, I want to maximize student hands on drone time. This particular mini-drone manufactured by DJI is the Tello Quadcopter Drone Boost Combo with HD Camera and VR. It comes with 3 extra batteries since the life span of a battery could be 10 minutes. I would also like the extra spare parts in case of accidental crashes. This model can be controlled by an App or by utilizing the Scratch coding program. The cost per student is $5.56, however this item can be used for years in the future. 

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