Gwen Foote is Science Department teacher for Nautilus Middle School and this year's coach for Future City Challenge. This engineering competition is sponsored by National Engineering Society. The Nautilus team is focusing on competing in Regional Competition at FIU in Miami, Florida.
Press Release:
Middle School
Students from the South Florida Region to Take on This Challenge as Annual
Future City Competition® Kicks Off Over 35,000 Students Nationally Asked To
Rethink Runoff and Design Clean Solutions to Manage Storm water Pollution
IS
EXTREME WEATHER BECOMING THE NEW NORMAL? DROUGHT/DELUGE CYCLES LEAD TO
INCREASED FLOODING AND POLLUTED WATER SYSTEMS
Whether the
result of man-made climate change or something else as yet unexplained, most
people agree that extreme weather is becoming all too common. When it’s colder
in May than in February, or when the season’s biggest snowstorm comes in
October, something unusual is upon us.
One of the most
potentially damaging aspects of extreme weather is radical swings in
precipitation. Regions throughout the world find themselves experiencing
prolonged drought, then are suddenly hit with torrential storms. When this
happens, rainwater quickly turns into runoff, especially in cities, where hard
surfaces—like roofs, sidewalks, and parking lots—prevent rain from soaking into
the ground and leads to damaging and sometimes catastrophic flooding.
Until now, the most
common response has been to channel water away from urban areas. But, as it
moves, runoff carries pollutants into storm drains which empty directly into
the waterways used for recreation, fishing and drinking water. Now engineers
are rethinking this approach. They are beginning to imagine and design new and
creative ways to manage stormwater that make city landscapes act more like
natural landscapes. These innovations help reduce runoff, increase the amount
of water that soaks into the ground and improve water quality.
The annual Future
City challenge has received national attention and acclaim for its role in
encouraging middle schoolers nationwide to develop their interest in science,
technology, engineering and math (STEM). Participating students useSimCity™
4 Deluxe Edition software to design a virtual Future City model,
incorporating their ideas. Then they will build a physical model using recycled
materials which can cost no more than $100 to build.
Through hands-on applications, Future
City participants discover by doing how engineering is both accessible and can
make a difference in the world.
About
Future City Competition
The
Annual National Engineers Week Foundation’s Future City Competition, for sixth,
seventh and eighth grade students, is held from September, 2012 through
February, 2013. The Future City Competition is a program of National Engineers
Week Foundation (NEWF), a consortium of professional and technical societies
and major U.S. corporations. For more information on the Future City Competition, visit www.futurecity.org
