Our 6th-grade team has begun to meet and prepare for the January 23 Future City Competition.  Do you know an engineer who can help us prepare?  The theme this year is Waste Not, Want Not and the kids are challenged to design a city 100 years in the future with an innovative citywide solid waste management system that is safe, environmentally sound, and energy efficient. The system is for residential use and small businesses only. It does not need to address industrial waste, construction debris, wastewater, or sewage.

Our team meets every Thursday from 2:45 to 4:00.  Can you help?  Email Ellen Cavanaugh at medialab@badenacademy.org to find out more.

Mentors make connections to real-life experiences, serve as a technical coach, and help students translate the academic to the real world of engineering.

The Future City Competition is a transformative, project-based learning experience that asks 6th, 7th, and
8th graders to imagine, design, and build cities of the future. Student teams spend four months:
• developing a virtual city (using SimCity),
• researching a city-wide issue and designing a solution (this year’s challenge— Waste Not, Want Not—asks students to design a waste management system for their city that is safe, environmentally sound and energy efficient), and
• building a scale model of their city. In January teams present their vision to a panel of volunteer judges.

Future City is a powerful tool that strengthens students’ 21st-century skills, teaches them citizenship, motivates them to study math and science, and introduces them to potential careers.

Working with the team’s educator (a teacher, parent, or afterschool leader) the Future City mentor provides advice, guidance, and technical assistance as students develop their city.

You may interact with your team in person, via email, or even via skype! Ideally, mentors volunteer an hour a week with their teams. Typically mentors dedicate at least 12-14 hours between September and January.

In the early weeks, you’ll meet with the team to get to know the students and focus them on the big picture: good urban design, an overview of the essay topic, and brainstorming possible solutions. Later, you may help students establish a scale for their model and work with them to polish their presentation.

Your students may compete in their regional competition (Saturday, January 23 at the Carnegie Science Center) and, if they win, you’ll join them for the National Finals in February in Washington, DC!

Anyone who works in the engineering community – including engineers, technical professionals, architects, and city planners – would be a great Future City mentor.

We think you’ll enjoy it, too! Last year, 98% of mentors said they’d recommend Future City

For more information:
Visit: www.futurecity.org