Running Head: Future City Engineering Competition

SED 464 Signature Assignment

Instructor Bartlett
Grant for Teacher Technology and Software Classes
Richard Williams
Future City Engineering Competition

Future City Engineering Competition

Project Narrative:
This year, the competition asks students to find a solution to the Waste Not,
Want Not challenge, by designing an innovative citywide solid waste management
system for their future city that is safe, environmentally sound, and energy efficient.
Math, Civics, History, Science, and English standards are all at work in this
project, which is open to both the 7th and 8th grade students. The social studies class
and Mrs. Pitts English class will be the primary home for this project, spending class
time researching relevant material and writing the component research essay
required by the competition board. All of the 7-8 th grade team will be devoting some
after school tutor time to the project as well, which will be very helpful when the
students must do the math and science required to apply their research. All of the
115 7th and 8th grade students will be able to take part in the project, and the 6 th
graders will introduced to it when the final models are presented in a science-fair
like atmosphere the week the 7-8 students practice their presentation speeches for
the competition. The competition requires a Sim City virtual model, a physical
constructed model, a research/problem-solving essay on the project topic, and a
speech/presentation to the judges at the competition. Teacher understanding of
software and computer hardware will insure successful implementation of the
projects. Having computers in the classroom will also allow to maximize in-class
work by allowing students time to research and work in groups.
Project Need and Impact:
With the reading and math scores so low, and both disciplines integral to
higher education and learning, teachers need a project that can expose the children
to higher-order material without being based on grade-level or above reading. The

Future City Engineering Competition

focus problem, though complex and involving math, science, and civics at a
minimum, is still accessible through lower-level reading sources, like newspapers
and government websites. The education grant will allow the teachers to better
entice students, many of which do not have regular access to technology and the
internet, to participate in the project and learn the modern tech and research skills
integral to later life and collegiate learning.
Because of the competitive nature of the project, and the problem/solution
focus involving a real-world concern, the students are sure to be active and
engaged in the learning. Whenever current important social and political issues are
brought up in class, the students are always interestedespecially when given the
chance to talk about how they think a problem can be solved, or a crisis averted.
They also really like the CNN Student News, and have good reflections and debates
after watching those clips. Using this current event curiosity and desire to input on
something they see as important and relevant, teachers can teach the math,
expose them to higher-level reading and thinking, and get them asking questions
about how people in the past dealt withor made worse by ignoringthe focus
problem. All the 7-8th grade instructors will be collaborating to demonstrate how the
different academic disciplines are intertwined in this project, and life in general,
removing the compartmentalized feel of the traditional class structure. Also, the
students are working in teams and will get a chance to do a little bit of everything,
but pick an area of interest to focus onlike model construction, essay/speech
writing, or scientific research, etc; this will further help engagement by allowing
students to have choice in their roles and guidance on how to divide the tasks. The
students also desire to better their community, and this project will help teach them

Future City Engineering Competition

ways to identify, think about, research, and take steps to solve problems that affect
the world around them.
Activities/Assessment:
Several students will be selected as the leaders of the various teams, the
other students will then choose which group leader they want to work withgroups
of three. The groups will pick a city name, encouraged to base it on the region they
have chosen or something to do with their research, and begin brainstorming
potential solutions; or at least some questions about the problem that will guide
their research. The students will use enrichment class hour to communicate and
work, and will also have meeting time available before and after school regularly.
For the students who do have technology access at home, teachers will help them
set-up a google doc so they can work outside of class. Direct instruction on research
methods, proper use of technology tools, and guest speakers/videos on agriculture
and engineering will provide the background for the student-led research and
problem solving. During the research and Sim City building phase, the instructors
will pose guiding questions about research conducted and team goals to ensure that
the teams will always have something they are working towards and that the
simulation program, the research, and the writing components are being thought of
as an integrated project, and not separate things that have nothing to do with each
other. After compiling the research and evaluating their proposed solution against
the research and the Sim City, they will start preparing their presentation speeches
and essay. A writing workshop will be performed on the 2 nd draft of speeches and
essays, where the writing will be passed to two other groups for critiquing after the
English teacher models how to critique a speech/essay. Simultaneously, the
students will be responsible for constructing the physical model and practicing their

Future City Engineering Competition

presentations as homework. Before the regional competition team-selection

deadlinewhere teachers can sign up only three teamsteachers will have or own
intra-school competition visited by all the other classes on campus. The 6 th-8th grade
teachers will vote from the rubric used at the real competition to determine the best
presentation/model combination from the 7th and 8th grade. The students and
teachers from the visiting classes will vote on the best presentation and model on a
two category 1-5 scale based on their opinions. The highest score from the popular
vote will join the other two as the third team.