Future City Competition
2022 Future City Theme: Design a waste-free city that utilizes the principles of a circular economy.
Morganton Day School middle school students spend several months preparing for the Future City state competition each year. They tackle a theme based on a STEAM-related topic, think about a city's infrastructure, and design a futuristic solution—this year's challenge is to design a waste-free city that utilizes the principles of a circular economy.
The Future City competition fully encapsulates the STEAM learning process. Students research a current engineering problem, develop technological and futuristic innovations and use technology and prototypes to implement a solution. The team writes an essay explaining their process, prepares a presentation, and utilizes math and art skills to build a scale model.
Last weekend, MDS 6th-8th graders virtually presented their projects to engineers, scientists, students, teachers, and parents. After submitting a pre-recorded video and slideshow outlining the infrastructure and solutions for their future city, students had scientific conversations with engineers throughout the judging process. All three teams did a fantastic job!
The skills and confidence developed throughout their years at MDS were evident and impressive! Our 8th-grade students placed in the top five teams of North Carolina. This weekend, we wish our students all the best as they head to Raleigh for the final round of judging. They will present their skit on stage and answer rigorous questions before a panel of engineers. We will post the results in next week's Wednesday Word. Good luck, 8th Graders!
