Mars Area Centennial School students are getting their first look at drones, which are being implemented into the school’s STEAM curriculum.

In their STEAM classes, all fifth- and sixth-graders will complete a drone safety lesson, before they eventually learn how to code and program the drones to complete specific tasks.

For the first half of the school year, the students will experience the drones in a small group setting. The drones will be incorporated into culminating activity as part of the student’s Coding & Programming Unit.

“Coding, programming and robotics have been one of the essential learning activities for our STEAM program,” says Chris Churilla, STEAM teacher. “By implementing drone technology into our STEAM Curriculum, students are learning the science and technology behind how these drone shows are created and may get inspiration to take their knowledge into a future career.”

The drones were purchased through a Mars Planet Foundation Teaching Enrichment Grant. For more information, call (724) 625-2601.