Today we officially started our drone study! We began by analyzing this Cirque du Soleil video called Sparked!  since it was the inspiration for our drone unit. The students determined how drone costume design and programming could create a personality for the drone and tell a story. For this unit, the students will be exploring the relationships (the theme of our year) between technology and art by incorporating a drone into a musical or theatrical performance. The drone will be programmed using block coding (or Python if there are any really ambitious students...) and will have to wear a costume that incorporates interesting movement. The performances will also be filmed and edited, so our study will end with a drone film festival. It is going to a multi-layered, challenging, and creative endeavor!

At the end of the day, the students were able to learn the safety protocol and take their first test flights. The practiced coding the drones to takeoff, take a photo, yaw, flip, and land. Next week, we will begin the iterative design process as the students start designing costumes for their drones.

I also was able to tell the students some exciting news today... I'M PREGNANT! for an ultrasound photo and other snapshots of my winter break, be sure to check out the site homepage.