Future City: Bringing Engineering to the

Middle School

Joe PercefullFuture City Kentucky

Regional Coordinator

How I became the Regional Coordinator of Future City Kentucky…

What is Future City?• The Future City Competition is a

national, project-based learning experience where students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade imagine, design, and build cities of the future.• The program culminates with a state-

wide competition in January at the University of Kentucky.• The students compete in 5 component

areas:

The Project Plan (10 points, no rubric)• 4 part plan to manage their work in Future City. This is not meant to

be a “judged” piece…it is meant to assist you and the students. BUT, it is required and is an “all or nothing” piece.• Follows the four stages of project management: Define, Plan, Do,

Review.• Part 1—Set Goals (Form is on p. 35)• Part 2—Create a Schedule (p.48)• Part 3—Check-In Sessions (p. 60, only submit one)• Part 4—Reflect (p. 66)

The Virtual City (in the past)• Students use SimCity™ 4 or New

SimCity software to design a city in the future with at least 50,000 residents.

• This component is worth 60 points and follows the rubric in your handbook.

Virtual City Slideshow (54 points)

• Refer to your Virtual City Template and Sample Presentation.• Can be done in Powerpoint or Prezi. I would recommend Powerpoint

for now…template is not complete for Prezi, but you CAN see what it would look like if you want to try to stand out.• Create your city just as you did in the past, but now you will come up

with two goals for your city. The kids will work towards accomplishing these goals (samples p. 44).• After goals have been determined, students will need to come up

with SIMCITY evidence to show that the goals have been met (how will we know from the game that the goals have been met?)

Virtual City Slideshow• There will be 3 phases the students will “check-in” on their goals.

2,500-5000 Sims, 5,000-15,000 Sims, and >15,000 Sims (suggested ranges).• During these check-in’s you will take 4 screen shots:• City Zones• Budget• Population Detail (2 pictures)

• You will also fill out your “Benchmarks page” (all from the game)• Kids will assess their “Progress Towards Goals”.• Finally, kids will come up with their next “Strategies” moving into

Phase 2/3.

Virtual City Slideshow

• After Phase 3, students will do an “Evaluation of Overall Progress on Goals”.

• Conclusion:• Learning Outcomes (what we learned)• Engineering Design Process (p. 12 in the handbook)• Applying Sim City to other Deliverables (VERY important…this is the WHOLE

point!!)

The Research Essay (in the past)

• With the help of teachers and mentors, students research all aspects of a city with respect to a central theme. Solutions have to be research based…FUTURISTIC, but REALISTIC. Students have 1,000 words to cover their solution.• Some past themes:

• 2012…Renewable Energy• 2013…Water Runoff• 2014…Transportation• 2015…Urban Agriculture

The City Narrative (in the past)

•Why would anyone want to live in your city? Sell me on why I should want to come there…• Students have 500 words

to give ALL the amenities available in their city.

City Description (60 points)

• Combination of the two previous written components.• Total 1,500 words.• Most if not all of the previous requirements are the same.

• The City Description is an essay that describes the unique attributes of your city, while providing a solution to the yearly challenge:

Design an innovation citywide solid waste management system for your future city that is safe, environmentally sound and energy efficient.

The Physical Model (70 points)• Students build a physical model of a

section of their city using recycled materials that has at least one moving part. The model does not need to be an exact building-by-building duplication of the virtual design. Rather, the purpose of the model is to give a three-dimensional, creative representation of an area that best represents the team’s vision of their future city.

The Presentation (70 points)• Students give an (up to) 7 minute presentation

discussing features of their future city followed by a 5 - 8 minute question and answer period from the judges (overall time will not exceed 15 minutes).• Students are expected to be able to:

• Identify and explain features that best describe their city design.

• Illustrate city design features using the physical model, props, and visual aids.

• Demonstrate teamwork (such as sharing presentation tasks, supporting each other during the presentation, displaying equal amount of knowledge).

• Explain the role of engineering in their city design.

2014-2015 Future City Essay Theme

• Waste Not, Want Not:

• Design an innovative citywide solid waste management system for your future city that is safe, environmentally sound and energy efficient.

• Humans create a lot of trash. Each of the nearly 320 million citizens of the US for example, generates an average of 4.3 pounds of trash per person, per day. That makes solid waste management (the collection and processing of trash) one of the most important health, safety, and environmental services a city provides for its residents.

• Over the years, cities and towns have managed their trash in a variety of ways, including dumping it into landfills, burning it in incinerators, or shipping it off to other states or countries in trucks and barges.

• If improperly designed or managed, such waste management systems have the potential to contribute to air and water pollution and can be expensive and energy intensive. Today, engineers around the world are focused on the four R’s of waste management (reduce, reuse, recycle, and rot) in an effort to design new ways to deal with solid waste that treat it not as trash destined for landfills or incinerators, but as a resource.

Future City Kentucky—Where we have been.• 2011-2012 3 teams from 2 schools competed.

• 2012-2013 13 teams from 6 schools competed.

• 2013-2014 26 teams from 12 schools competed.

• 2014-2015 42 teams from 13 schools competed.

We can continue to GROW!

Future City Kentucky—Where are we now?• We currently have teams competing from Oldham County,

Cumberland County, Pikeville, Nelson County, Ft. Knox, Jefferson Co. and Bowling Green. We have many other teams who have done various parts of the competition but may not have made it to UK for the competition.• We recognize teams for several awards aside from the Regional

champion and runner up:• Best Writing• Most Futuristic Ideas and Design• Best Newcomer School• Next Level Award

• We have multiple special awards that are given.

Tips…

• Check out the Special Awards on page 71. We don’t give all of them, but several we do. As I send out the special awards list, try to hit a few of them and be prepared!• Look on YouTube for old presentations. They can be a little

intimidating, but they are great resources for what the possibilities are.• Look on www.futurecity.org and search the gallery for pictures of past

models.

Questions?