Solving Problems of the Future...Today

A key aspect of PBL (project based learning) is student agency. What's student agency, you ask? Student agency means that the student has the active role in the learning. They are the driver and are doing the heavy lifting. When students have agency, they are building, making, collaborating, questioning, and creating in ways that are meaningful to them. They have a voice and choice in the what and how of learning. This very much aligns with the constructivist approach of learning, championed by Piaget, Vygotsky, Montessori and more.

Thirteen students at Marshall Math and Science Academy were able to demonstrate incredible amounts of student agency through a recent project called Future City. Future City is a nationwide competition where middle school students across the country address a real world problem involving engineering. This year's theme was "powering the future". When a city is faced with a natural disaster, it is crippling and devastating. How does one repair damages to their home if there is no electricity to power the machinery? How do the shelters keep people safe and warm if there is no energy to power the heating systems? These questions and more are those that drove students inquiry to find a solution to getting cities back "online" after a natural disaster. Students were required to determine an innovative solution to power cities of the future while working within the parameters of the competition requirements.

Learn more about the Future City Competition in this short video:

Throughout this project, students were using the Design Process: Design, Plan, Do, Review. This project also heavily emphasizes project management and collaboration. All skills which our students need to thrive in today's world!

Although building the structure may be the most fun part of the competition, the students are required to submit 5 deliverables.

1. Project Plan. This requires students to submit a timeline, goals, and reflection schedule to keep them on task.

2. Virtual City: Before building the project with upcycled materials, students create a digital prototype using SimCity.

3. Essay. Like many large projects, a proposal or overview of the project and accompanying research must be submitted. Students are required to submit a 1,500 word essay on why they chose their solution and how it will solve the problem.

4. City Model: Students bring their idea to life by constructing a city model. Students really leverage their creativity muscles in this area because they are required to stick within a $100.00 budget.

5. Presentation: Three students are required to present an oral presentation (no more than 7 minutes in length) to a panel of judges.

This project presented students with so many learning opportunities, but even more important - it gave them agency. Future City is the perfect example of a problem where teachers don't have the answer. We couldn't stand in front of the room and lecture to them even if we wanted to. This project required students to think "outside the box", truly understand the problem, gain empathy for those that have experienced natural disasters, and apply core content knowledge to their solution.

Students worked diligently during EXPLORE since September and presented their creation among another 250 students from around the state. This year's competition was held at the beautiful State Museum of Pennsylvania. Browse through a handful of the images we were able to capture during the action!

Students at Marshall Math and Science Academy were presented with the award for Most Innovative Use of Technology.