Daniel has made a demonstration video using the Parrot Airborne Cargo Mars drone. The video demonstrates some of its features as well as explaining the app Tynker which can be used to program and control the drone. This app is on our class set of iPads. While the app allows you to control Parrot brand vehicles it is also a coding app that teachers may find useful as alternatives to Daisy the Dinosaur, Kodable and Hopscotch.
Please note: I have only recently put the app onto the iPads and did not
realise extra content had to be downloaded into the app (all the Tynker
projects). This cannot be done through our filtering. So I will need some
time to download the programs at home (15 programs per iPad x 30 iPads).
Once these programs are downloaded they will work without the need to
access the Internet so our school system will not be a problem. I have
tried this process with the program Daniel used to run the Parrot Drone
and it worked. Students can also be save their coding locally to the app.
To find out more about Parrots mini drones click here.
“The Power Anchor is a smart way of delivering power to car, ground effect vehicles and aircraft deign projects. The beauty of this is the vehicles aren¹t weighed down by batteries. You don¹t have to worry about any steering either because the vehicles are pulled around the Power Anchor by the same cable that delivers the current. The vehicle designs can be kept simple and when it comes to testing, results can be reliable because many of the variables are removed.
It is portable with the four 6V batteries fully enclosed in the base, there is no need to plug it in.
It is sturdy, made from tough materials.
It is easy enough to use that even young students can work independently.
And it looks great which adds to the classroom excitement when doing project work.”
The Power Anchor comes with five classroom ready STEM projects which all use the Power Anchor to control and test the project.
What is the Power Anchor?
Power Anchor includes tether cables and hand controls (4 x 6V batteries not included) $950
Full set of 5 Teaching Resource Packs $450 ($185 each if bought separately)
Equipment: Rasping file, hot glue, soldering iron, Power Anchor, teacher resource pack $185, Class pack parts 25 students $240, class pack modelling foam 25 pieces $95.
Equipment: Scissors, hot glue, soldering iron, Power Anchor, teacher resource pack $185, Class pack 25 students balsa sticks and sheets $185, class pack of parts 25 students wheels/axels/motors/propellers $195.
Concepts: lift, drag, centre of mass, control surfaces, thrust.
Equipment: Screwdriver, hot glue, soldering iron, Power Anchor, teacher resource pack $185, Class pack 25 students Forex car parts cut to size (or templates for schools with CNC or Laser Cutter technology) $165, class pack of parts 25 students wheels/axels/motors/gears, gear box, spares $345.
Concepts: friction, power, gear ratio, acceleration, down force, drag.
DECD have opened registration for their STEM Lead Learning Expo which will be held twice – 8th Sept and 3rd October. You can register through the PLINK site. Click here to go to the registration page.
The Expo will allow teachers and leaders to hear about how lead sites:
design STEM learning shoulder-to-shoulder with kids
develop self-directed questioning techniques
leverage learning ‘huddles’ to drive engagement and stretch thinking
foster deep learning through nature play
enable learners to identify real world problems for rich inquiries
foster industry links that build positive STEM dispositions
use design thinking to critically and creatively solve real world problems
use a community of inquiry approach to inform their STEM learning design processes.
For a quick look at each school presenting at the Expo see the videos below.
This is a great app for creating teams in PE lessons or learning groups in your classroom. One of the powerful functions of this app is the ability to group students based on strengths. It can also be set up so that:
certain students will never be in the same group
certain students will always be in the same group
groups can be all male, all female or a mix
the teacher can randomly select one student.
These two videos provide a good overview of the app and its functions.