Fifth Period
First Time Here?
Go to the first strip and
see how it all started!
Join students Sophie, Tomás, Emma, and Marcus during Fifth Period! This STEM comic strip chronicles the exciting and often hilarious adventures of a close-knit group of four friends as they learn about science, technology, engineering, and math from their kooky, inspiring, off-the-wall science teacher, Mr. Kepler. When they're not in class, these kids love to explore the vast world of STEM on their own, launching weather balloons, programming computer games, and cataloging insects, sometimes with unpredictable and highly entertaining results!
Check back on the first and third Friday of every month for a new Fifth Period strip!
Up, Up, and Away!
What was Tomás thinking—a jetpack over a quadrocopter??? Wait a second—what the heck is a quadrocopter? And why is it the best choice for your average science lab flying mission? A quadrocopter is an aircraft that has four rotors (horizontally mounted propellers) and operates on the same principles as a helicopter. The four rotors balance one another to make it very stable, while also giving it a lot of lifting power. Tomás could have taken advantage of a quadrocopter’s stability, allowing Robodog to hover and move gracefully through the science lab instead of blasting off in only one direction. Much easier on beakers and flasks, too!
Check it out!
There are lots of cool things that people are doing with remote-control quadrocopters. With a camera attached, they can be used to take pictures and video in the most unlikely places. People are even programming controls that allow two or more quadrocopters to work together. You can check out quadrocopters juggling a ball, working together to score a basket, and doing many other cool things here!
What would you attach to a quadrocopter in order to do some cool task you couldn't normally accomplish on your own?