Youths craft bright ideas for future cities

SANDPOINT — Nine Washington Elementary sixth-graders made their way to Boise last month where they competed against teams of seventh- and eighth-graders at the regional Future City competition.

Despite the age and grade difference, however, both teams brought home awards.

“We were one of the only solid sixth-grade teams,” said Jeanne Warwick, sixth-grade teacher at Washington. “So that’s really impressive.”

There were 25 awards and 36 teams, she said, and the two Washington teams took two of those awards.

Jett Longanecker, Eoin Eddy, Etta Francis and Klein Fragoso were awarded overall “Best City Presentation” for their city of The Bright Idea. The award was sponsored by the Idaho STEM Action Center. The city of Cambria — Pierce McDermott, Noah Narsky, Miles Landrum, Blayne Kanning and Sawyer Treadaway — won the “Most Multimodal Transportation Network” award, sponsored by the Institute of Transportation Engineers, Idaho Chapter.

The Daily Bee caught up with the nine sixth-graders this week and briefly discussed what they learned throughout the project.

The theme of this year’s competition was “The Age-Friendly City,” so while it was focused on senior citizens, the kids said they also had to incorporate aspects for people of all ages — schools, homes, recreation and more.

The sixth-graders started their projects in September with learning about the scientific method and Isaac Newton’s three laws of motion, followed by a tour of Sandpoint. The students then spoke with the city’s planning and economic development director, as well as others in the community, including several seniors from Luther Park.

They created virtual models of their cities using the SimCity computer game, and subsequently built scale models of their cities using 99 percent recycled materials. Semi-finals were held at the school in December to determine which two teams would take their cities to state. Community members who came in as judges chose Cambria and Bright Idea as the stand-out teams.

For their award-winning mode of transportation, the city of Cambria team said they had several different modes of transportation. The Bright Idea builders had a monorail system, Etta said, with Jett adding that the monorail actually moved through the copper tubing across the city.

One thing the kids learned is that city building and team building go hand in hand. Some of the kids found it challenging to work together, while others said the most challenging part was the public speaking.

During the state competition, Sawyer said about 30 judges came through “back to back, all day long,” so while they only officially presented their city twice, they were engaged in public speaking throughout the day.

“Some judges were asking about transportation, about your area, about your smart grid …” Noah said.

A smart grid is a way to distribute electricity, Eoin explained.

The kids said that was another challenge — they didn’t know the answers to all the questions posed by the judges.

The students agreed that presenting at the semi-finals, as well as for the seniors at Luther Park, helped prepare them for the competition.

“We were better in Boise,” Sawyer said.

“We practiced so much in the hotel room,” Klein added.

Despite a few issues, such as having to change some things in their script, making a new poster at the last minute, burns from a hot glue gun, and receiving bad service at a burger joint, the kids said they enjoyed the project.

Many of them said the best part was the trip to Boise and the overall experience.

Warwick said what she loves about Future City is that it incorporates all of the STEM activities — science, technology, engineering and math.

Because the program is focused on STEM activities, i-STEM — a partnership of educators, government agencies, organizations and private companies working to improve STEM education in the state — provided the group with a $1,000 grant, she said.

“We are so thankful to them, because that paid for our trip,” Warwick said.

The Future City program gives students an opportunity to do the things that engineers do, such as identify problems, brainstorm ideas, design solutions, test, retest and build, and share their results, according to the Future City website. The process is called the engineering design process.

The goal is to build students’ 21st century skills, according to the website, by applying math and science to real-world issues; develop writing, public speaking, problem solving and time management skills; research and propose solutions to engineering challenges; discover different types of engineering and explore career options; learn how communities work and become better citizens; and develop strong time management and project management skills.

Information: futurecity.org

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.