116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Linn-Mar students win Future Cities regional competition
Thirty-four Iowa teams competed in Cedar Rapids; winner advances to national competition in Washington, D.C.
CEDAR RAPIDS — More than 30 teams of middle school students from across Iowa competed at Maple Grove Elementary School Jan. 20 in the annual Future Cities contest.
Their goal? To show how to design a 100 percent electrically powered city, using energy generated from sources that keep their citizens and the environment healthy and safe.
And, of course, to take home the top trophy.
“Our goal at NewBoCo is to give students access to innovative and engaging STEM education,” said Samantha Dahlby, NewBoCo director of K-12 Education and Future City Iowa Regional co-coordinator. “I really love the enthusiasm from the middle schoolers and the creative ideas that they come up with in this competition.”
Starting with the question “How can we make the world a better place,” sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students imagine, research, design and build cities of the future that showcase their solution to a citywide sustainability issue.
Throughout the fall, competitors work in teams of three students or more, along with a teacher and mentors, to bring their vision of their future city to life. During the competition, students are required to share a city essay, to build a physical model of their city using recycled materials and prep a seven-minute presentation.
In the end, students from Linn-Mar Oak Ridge took first place overall on Jan. 20 with their city “Kota Kawah.” Cedar Rapids Taft finished second, followed by Waukee South, Center Point-Urbana, and Innovation Initiative.
Linn-Mar Oak Ridge advances to the National Future City Awards competition in March.
Dahlby noted that the students who compete in Future Cities have far more to gain than just learning about engineering.
“If you’re curious about researching things, building things, being creative, working with a team, there’s a role for everyone in this competition,” she said.
Future City Iowa is made possible by the support of regional sponsors Shive Hattery, Bankers Trust, Iowa Solar Pros, ITC, and the McGrath Family of Dealerships. Special award sponsors include National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying, Society of Women Engineers — East Central Iowa, The Curiosity Path, IEEE, PMI Education Foundation, Alliant, Benchmark, Women in Aviation, ITC Midwest, Paychex, and Future City Iowa.
NewBoCo serves as the coordinator for the regional Iowa Future Cities event. To learn more, visit newbo.co/education/k-12/future-city.
Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com
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