Competition : Getting Started

IMPORTANCE OF and OVERALL ROLE OF
THE FUTURE CITY ENGINEER MENTOR

Engineering is a professional discipline requiring the judgment necessary to adapt knowledge to practical purposes, the imagination to conceive original solutions to problems, and the ability to predict performance and cost of new devises or processes.  Middle school students are familiar with the roles of the scientists from their science classes, but the Future City Competition may very well be a student’s first contact with engineering.

The mentor should be involved in all phases of the program as an advisor to provide input and technical assistance.  It is important to tie-in real life engineering experiences as students work on the program.  Mentoring is about advising, teaching, coaching, and providing a guidance system.  The mentor helps the student make the transition from the academic to the real world of engineering.
Students must do all the actual work, such as the computer design of the city, building the model, writing the research essay, and city narrative, and giving the verbal presentation.

Program Components Overview

  1. Computer Design of a Future City.  Students use SimCity 4 Deluxe™ software to design a city that has progressed at least 150 years in the future and has a population of at least 50,000.  Students self-score their Future City computer design to ensure they have met all the required design elements.  The teacher or engineer mentor must attest to the accuracy of this score sheet.
  2. Model of Future City.  Students select an area of their Future City to be represented in the model they build with following specific guidelines found in Chapter 2.
  3. Research Essay.  Students write a 700-1000 word essay citing at least 3 sources of information.  The teacher or engineer mentor must attest that the essay was written entirely by the students.
  4. Future City Narrative.  Students write a 300 – 500 word City Narrative describing their Future City’s key features.  The teacher or the engineer mentor must attest that the narrative was written entirely by the students.
  5. Oral Presentation.  Students give a presentation describing key elements of their future city. 

Getting Started

This experience not only let me meet new people and make new friends, it                     
also allowed me to explore the career of engineering."
-Gina (7th grade), New England Region

Register

If you have not already done so, please visit the National Future City website under “Register” and register your school in the closest regional site.  If you are not geographically near a regional site you may register under the National Program Manager.

After you register please take a few minutes for your students to take the on-line pre-competition survey on the websites homepage.

Organizing Materials

Materials needed to begin the program, received upon registration, include the Future City Competition Program Handbook and one copy of SimCity 4 Deluxe.

Program Handbook – This handbook outlines the program components, guidelines, and rules are. You should become familiar with its contents and keep it for reference.  This material is also available on line from the Future City website (below).

SimCity 4 Deluxe – The futuristic city created with this software will provide the framework of the program including concepts of city planning, economy, sustainability, waste management, etc, as they pertain to engineering.

Tutorial CD-ROM (Optional) – The tutorial is an additional tool to guide you through the program components.  You may request a free copy of the Tutorial from your Regional Coordinator or view it on the Future City Web site. 

National Future City Website - www.futurecity.org -  The website can be a further resource offering  electronic versions of all program materials including the SimCity 4 Deluxe Manual, examples of past winning research essays and narratives, and Competition forms.  The website will have the most up-to-date information on the program.

If you need further assistance or have questions please feel free to contact your Regional Coordinator or the National Headquarters.  The National Headquarter’s toll-free number is 1/877-636-9578 or info@futurecity.org

Organizing Your Future City Students

National Engineers Week Future City® Competition is open to students from grades 7 and/or 8 who are from the same school or from a home school environment.  Every registered school is eligible to participate at the regional level.  However, at the Regional and National level a team is defined as the three presenting students, the teacher coach  and the engineer mentor (while a person who works in the engineer community is preferred any technical professional can serve as a mentor).  (For assistance in finding an engineer mentor please contact your Regional Coordinator.)

Single Team from One School or Classroom (Three Students)

  1. Select the three student team members.
  2. Meet with Students to discuss the overall program.
  3. Select an engineer mentor and coordinate a schedule
  4. Teacher coaches, parents, and engineer mentors can advise but the students should complete the work.

So what do you do if you have more than three students in your building interested in the program?

Multiple Teams from One School or Classroom   (Multiple groups of three students)

Check with your Regional Coordinator for the maximum number of teams allowed from each school that will be allowed to compete in the Regional Competition.

  1. Meet with all your students to discuss the overall program.
  2. Students can self-select into their teams or you can assign teams; only one team from each top scoring       school can advance to the final round of the Regional Competition.
  3. Select an engineer mentor and coordinate a schedule  It is recommended that each team have an engineer mentor for guidance but one engineer can serve as a mentor for several teams.
  4. Teacher coaches, parents, and engineer mentors can advise but the students should complete the work.

Large Group or Classroom Collective Effort (More than three students working together)

  1. Explain the phases of the competition and that it will be a group effort to complete the project.
  2. Once groups are identified, allow students to self-select (or the teacher can select) which component the students will focus their energies on, i.e., five or so students working on essay research, three or so students working on essay composition, etc.)
  3. Those  students who have self-selected as the three presenters (or have been chosen by teacher or peers) are the three “official student team members” for both the Regional and National Competitions.
  4. Select and coordinate a schedule with your engineer mentor.  When selecting an engineer mentor remember to communicate with them that they will be working with many different students throughout the course of the event or you may want to recruit more than one engineer mentor.  If you need help recruiting an engineer mentor please contact you Regional Coordinator.
  5. Teacher coaches, parents, and engineer mentors can advise but the students must do the work.

Suggested Timeline

The program runs nominally from September through January.  Deadlines will be set by your Regional Coordinator.  Regional Finals will be held by January 24, 2010.  Below is a suggested timeline that can assist you in your planning.

September – November

Hold your initial meetings for the Future City team.

  1. Decide your Future City team format:
    1. Single Team with three students.
    2. Multiple Teams from one School or Classroom with three students per team.
    3. Large Group or Classroom Collective Effort with more than three students per team.
  2. Meet with your team(s) to share the components of the program.
  3. Recruit and coordinate with your engineer mentor.
  4. Introduce students to SimCity 4 Deluxe.
  5. Work on Program Components:
    1. Plan the future City
    2. Use SimCity to design and simulate the future city
    3. Begin researching, outlining, and creating the rough draft of the 700 to 1000 word essay. 
    4. Begin gathering recyclable materials for your model
  6. Submit the SimCity 4 Deluxe™ city design of Future City to Regional Coordinator. (Check with your Regional Coordinator for specific due date.)

October – December

  1. Start building the physical model of your Future City.
    1. Decide what portion of the city you will build.
    2. Decide on the scale of your model.
  2. Write a 300 to 500-word narrative describing your Future City.
  3. Finish researching and writing the essay.
  4. Submit the  Research Essay and City Narrative to your Regional Coordinator. (Check with your Regional Coordinator for specific due date.)
  5. Celebrate achievement of milestones and evaluate progress to date.

December – January

  1. Create presentation.
  2. Practice presentation.
  3. In January, compete in the regional Future City Competition.
  4. Celebrate achievements

February

  1. Eligible Regional Winning team will attend the Future City Competition in Washington, DC, February 13-16, 2010.

 

 

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