Gwen Foote Coaching Nautilus Middle School Future City Challenge

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

Last year's model city for Nautilus M.S. focused on alternative energy and received a special award for transportation with alternative energy.