Airblock Drone and Hovercraft

Lots of middle schools have Drone classes, but have you seen the Airblock Drone? It is like nothing else before it, and is simply the most amazing, versatile drone for education.  It is easy to use inside in a gym, hallway, or classroom with high ceilings. Our Drone Curriculum makes it easy for any teacher to become a STEM teacher, with little to no background in drones.

Exploring Robotics has searched for a drone that can be used safely in the classroom over several years and is rugged enough to withstand use, and we have finally found it. It is the brand new Airblock Drone. Not only can this kit be assembled as a Drone, but it can also be assembled as a Hovercraft. The multiple configurations that can be made are magnetically snapped together in seconds to create both aerodynamic and hydrodynamic science experiments. The Drone is made of a rugged type of Styrofoam with the mechanical parts tucked safely inside. The Styrofoam parts snap together with magnets, meaning it can be reconfigured easily in just a few minutes. When it hits a wall, it just bounces. If it falls, it can easily be snapped back together. Students are excited to use it, and teachers are excited by all the science topics they can teach with it.

The Airblock drone fits well into the Middle School part of our STEM Robots and Coding Pathway of products. It works well for grades 7 to 9 with the physical science and math concepts that can be taught. By using the Airblock drone as the hardware piece to our Exploring Drones Curriculum, we are able to explore several different aspects of drone technology covering land, sea and air. The modular hardware and easy assembly allows us to cover more topics and concepts than a traditional drone course, while still creating a safe environment to learn about the latest drone technology.

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Curriculum Resources

Student self-directed learning includes over 20 hours of online lessons with 15-30 min activities, videos, step by step instructions, worksheets, handouts, enrichment exercises, science logs, and links to online resources.
Teachers are provided PD, support, lesson plans, comprehensive lessons, answer keys, grading rubrics, handouts, standards, and links to online resources.

A Drone and Hovercraft in one!

The Airblock Drone STEM education kit is an easy and fun way to create both aerodynamics and hydrodynamics science experiments. It can easily be assembled as a drone or a hovercraft in minutes, with no tools required.

Engage in STEM Lessons

While planning a flight route, students will use math to calculate weight, height, angles of rotation, and speed. They will also consider physical science concepts of air lift, force, and energy transfer. Concepts such as friction and buoyancy are easy to grasp with activities in air, on land, and in water. Other topics include safety, flight physics, mimic drones in industry, systems, coding, career opportunities, and lots of fun competitions!

Control with Apps and Code

Students use Apps on a Tablet to control the Airblock Drone or Hovercraft. They can also customize the actions with Scratch code with a drag and drop puzzle-like interface in Windows or Mac OS. Send code to the Arduino on the drone with a Bluetooth connection for easy control in activities and competitions.