Future City Competition is an international competition (formerly a national competition) in the United States that focuses on improving students' math, engineering, and science skills. The program is open to students in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades who attend a public, private or home school.
The Future City Competition is an example of problem-based learning with computer simulation, in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education. The program asks 6th, 7th and 8th grade students from around the nation to team with engineer-volunteer mentors to create – first on computer and then in three-dimensional models – their visions of the city of tomorrow. A program of the DiscoverE organization, it has been operating since 1992 and currently serves over 40,000 students.[1]
The aim of the Future City Competition is to provide an exciting educational engineering program for sixth, seventh and eighth grade students that combines a stimulating engineering challenge with an inquiry-based application to present their vision of a city of the future.
The Future City Competition provides a platform for students to increase their:
The Future City Competition components are strongly aligned with many national educational standards relating to STEM fields.
State Academic Standards are based on the National Academic Standards.
Team members represent their ideas and proposals in several ways:
Teams that win their Regional Competitions advance to the International Finals. Teams competing at the International Finals have the opportunity to win the following prizes:
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Theme: Fuel Cells
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Theme: Urban Disasters
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Theme: Water
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Theme: Tomorrow's Transit
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Theme: Feeding Future Cities
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Theme: Waste Not, Want Not
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This year was the 25th anniversary of the Future City competition with the year's theme being "The Power of Public Space"
Theme: Age Friendly Cities
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Theme: Powering our Future