DRONES PUT SPYING EYES IN THE SKY by Stephen Ornes

Context: A drone is a flying robot that does not require a pilot inside of the vehicle. The U.S. military has implemented drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for spying. As technology advances, researchers and scientists are exploring how drones can be used for many other uses. As you read, identify all of the potential uses for drones. According to the provided context, our reading focus is...

Context: A drone is a flying robot that does not require a pilot inside of the vehicle. The U.S. military has implemented drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for spying. As technology advances, researchers and scientists are exploring how drones can be used for many other uses. As you read, identify all of the potential uses for drones. Important Vocabulary: surveillance: the careful and continuous watching of a person or group in order to collect data catapult: a device for throwing or flinging something into the air Prediction: Why might a society feel the need to use drones?

Context: A drone is a flying robot that does not require a pilot inside of the vehicle. The U.S. military has implemented drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for spying. As technology advances, researchers and scientists are exploring how drones can be used for many other uses. As you read, identify all of the potential uses for drones. Important Vocabulary: surveillance: the careful and continuous watching of a person or group in order to collect data catapult: a device for throwing or flinging something into the air Match the image to one of the two definitions above.

Context: A drone is a flying robot that does not require a pilot inside of the vehicle. The U.S. military has implemented drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for spying. As technology advances, researchers and scientists are exploring how drones can be used for many other uses. As you read, identify all of the potential uses for drones. Important Vocabulary: surveillance: the careful and continuous watching of a person or group in order to collect data catapult: a device for throwing or flinging something into the air Match the image to one of the two definitions above.

Context: A drone is a flying robot that does not require a pilot inside of the vehicle. The U.S. military has implemented drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for spying. As technology advances, researchers and scientists are exploring how drones can be used for many other uses. As you read, identify all of the potential uses for drones. Important Vocabulary: surveillance: the careful and continuous watching of a person or group in order to collect data catapult: a device for throwing or flinging something into the air Thomas Snitch is no ordinary spy. On a May night last year, Snitch gathered his surveillance team in a wild corner of South Africa. They waited until well after sunset before stealthily beginning their mission. Using a catapult powered by a bungee cord, the experts launched a small airplane over the deep and dark landscape, thick with acacia trees sporting 5-centimeter (2-inch) thorns. According to the text, what's the setting of Snitch's surveillance team?

Context: A drone is a flying robot that does not require a pilot inside of the vehicle. The U.S. military has implemented drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for spying. As technology advances, researchers and scientists are exploring how drones can be used for many other uses. As you read, identify all of the potential uses for drones. Important Vocabulary: surveillance: the careful and continuous watching of a person or group in order to collect data catapult: a device for throwing or flinging something into the air Thomas Snitch is no ordinary spy. On a May night last year, Snitch gathered his surveillance team in a wild corner of South Africa. They waited until well after sunset before stealthily beginning their mission. Using a catapult powered by a bungee cord, the experts launched a small airplane over the deep and dark landscape, thick with acacia trees sporting 5-centimeter (2-inch) thorns. Select the image of "landscape".

Context: A drone is a flying robot that does not require a pilot inside of the vehicle. The U.S. military has implemented drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for spying. As technology advances, researchers and scientists are exploring how drones can be used for many other uses. As you read, identify all of the potential uses for drones. Important Vocabulary: surveillance: the careful and continuous watching of a person or group in order to collect data catapult: a device for throwing or flinging something into the air Thomas Snitch is no ordinary spy. On a May night last year, Snitch gathered his surveillance team in a wild corner of South Africa. They waited until well after sunset before stealthily beginning their mission. Using a catapult powered by a bungee cord, the experts launched a small airplane over the deep and dark landscape, thick with acacia trees sporting 5-centimeter (2-inch) thorns. Based on their actions, what is Snitch's surveillance team preparing to do?

Context: A drone is a flying robot that does not require a pilot inside of the vehicle. The U.S. military has implemented drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for spying. As technology advances, researchers and scientists are exploring how drones can be used for many other uses. As you read, identify all of the potential uses for drones. Important Vocabulary: surveillance: the careful and continuous watching of a person or group in order to collect data catapult: a device for throwing or flinging something into the air Thomas Snitch is no ordinary spy. On a May night last year, Snitch gathered his surveillance team in a wild corner of South Africa. They waited until well after sunset before stealthily beginning their mission. Using a catapult powered by a bungee cord, the experts launched a small airplane over the deep and dark landscape, thick with acacia trees sporting 5-centimeter (2-inch) thorns. Their robotic aircraft — or drone — is about as long as a bicycle and sports a 2.4-meter (8-foot) wingspan. In recent years, scientists have begun putting drones in the air to do many kinds of groundbreaking research. Drones carry no pilot, passengers or crew. They are often small and light. Some fly like an airplane, others like a helicopter or a blimp. Drones may fly autonomously (along a preprogrammed path) or under the control of a pilot on the ground. That night in South Africa, Snitch and his team flew their drone by remote control over Kruger National Park. High in the sky, and under the cover of darkness, the Terrapin 1 flew undetected over the landscape. Though unseen, it could see perfectly. The experts scanned the ground using a special camera attached to their drone. This camera was designed to see anything that gives off heat, including elephants, rhinos — and people. According to the text, why did scientists place drones in the air?

Context: A drone is a flying robot that does not require a pilot inside of the vehicle. The U.S. military has implemented drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for spying. As technology advances, researchers and scientists are exploring how drones can be used for many other uses. As you read, identify all of the potential uses for drones. Important Vocabulary: surveillance: the careful and continuous watching of a person or group in order to collect data catapult: a device for throwing or flinging something into the air Thomas Snitch is no ordinary spy. On a May night last year, Snitch gathered his surveillance team in a wild corner of South Africa. They waited until well after sunset before stealthily beginning their mission. Using a catapult powered by a bungee cord, the experts launched a small airplane over the deep and dark landscape, thick with acacia trees sporting 5-centimeter (2-inch) thorns. Their robotic aircraft — or drone — is about as long as a bicycle and sports a 2.4-meter (8-foot) wingspan. In recent years, scientists have begun putting drones in the air to do many kinds of groundbreaking research. Drones carry no pilot, passengers or crew. They are often small and light. Some fly like an airplane, others like a helicopter or a blimp. Drones may fly autonomously (along a preprogrammed path) or under the control of a pilot on the ground. That night in South Africa, Snitch and his team flew their drone by remote control over Kruger National Park. High in the sky, and under the cover of darkness, the Terrapin 1 flew undetected over the landscape. Though unseen, it could see perfectly. The experts scanned the ground using a special camera attached to their drone. This camera was designed to see anything that gives off heat, including elephants, rhinos — and people. According to the text, how do drones fly?

Context: A drone is a flying robot that does not require a pilot inside of the vehicle. The U.S. military has implemented drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for spying. As technology advances, researchers and scientists are exploring how drones can be used for many other uses. As you read, identify all of the potential uses for drones. Important Vocabulary: surveillance: the careful and continuous watching of a person or group in order to collect data catapult: a device for throwing or flinging something into the air Thomas Snitch is no ordinary spy. On a May night last year, Snitch gathered his surveillance team in a wild corner of South Africa. They waited until well after sunset before stealthily beginning their mission. Using a catapult powered by a bungee cord, the experts launched a small airplane over the deep and dark landscape, thick with acacia trees sporting 5-centimeter (2-inch) thorns. Their robotic aircraft — or drone — is about as long as a bicycle and sports a 2.4-meter (8-foot) wingspan. In recent years, scientists have begun putting drones in the air to do many kinds of groundbreaking research. Drones carry no pilot, passengers or crew. They are often small and light. Some fly like an airplane, others like a helicopter or a blimp. Drones may fly autonomously (along a preprogrammed path) or under the control of a pilot on the ground. That night in South Africa, Snitch and his team flew their drone by remote control over Kruger National Park. High in the sky, and under the cover of darkness, the Terrapin 1 flew undetected over the landscape. Though unseen, it could see perfectly. The experts scanned the ground using a special camera attached to their drone. This camera was designed to see anything that gives off heat, including elephants, rhinos — and people. A drone is best defined as...

Context: A drone is a flying robot that does not require a pilot inside of the vehicle. The U.S. military has implemented drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for spying. As technology advances, researchers and scientists are exploring how drones can be used for many other uses. As you read, identify all of the potential uses for drones. Important Vocabulary: Poachers: people who hunt wildlife illegally Computer software: a general term to describe computer programs Remnants: something small left over Snitch was looking for all three. “We’re trying to own the night,” he says. The team’s mission was simple: protect the animals from poachers — illegal hunters — all the while huddled inside a hut tucked in the African bush. It was no easy task. But it was an important one. Poachers kill 1,000 rhinos a year in South Africa. That translates to one every 8 to 9 hours. Monitoring endangered species, including the rhinoceros, is becoming an increasingly common use of drone technology. Snitch, a computer scientist at the University of Maryland in College Park, combines a drone’s view with math and computer software to find and catch poachers before they strike. The list of other uses in science for such flying spies in the sky is long and growing. In April, archaeologists reported they had used drones to find the buried remnants — including houses and walls — of a 1,000-year-old settlement in the New Mexico desert. In May, storm-chasers sent a drone into a supercell. They wanted to learn more about twisters, and this type of storm cloud can produce a tornado. In July, the state of Washington received federal government approval to use drones to monitor wildfires. Drone researchers are just getting started. Snitch is using drones to...

Context: A drone is a flying robot that does not require a pilot inside of the vehicle. The U.S. military has implemented drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for spying. As technology advances, researchers and scientists are exploring how drones can be used for many other uses. As you read, identify all of the potential uses for drones. Important Vocabulary: Lethal: deadly SPYING ON EVERYTHING The U.S. military has flown spy drones over battlefields in foreign countries since the 1990s. (Dozens of other countries now use them too.) In the early 2000s, military drones became lethal. They began carrying and launching powerful missiles. Military drones tend to be big and expensive: A Predator drone measures as long as a school bus and costs about $4 million. These drones can fly as high as piloted jet aircraft and fire missiles. Between 2009 and 2013, the U.S. government spent between $25 billion and $30 billion on drone technology, according to a study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). More recently, smaller and cheaper drones have become widely available. A drone suitable for research usually costs at least $1,000. Hobbyists can buy simpler models for just a few hundred dollars. Amazon, the online retailer, sells drones. Next it wants to use drones to deliver orders. So does a beer company in Minnesota and a pizzeria in Syktyvkar, Russia. Martha Stewart uses a drone to take aerial pictures of her farm in upstate New York. Select the image with military drones.