Contest Gets Students to Think Like Engineers
The Northwest Academy of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math in Fort Worth wanted its students to address issues like urban sprawl and nonrenewable energy. Its solution was an eight-week-long School of the Future design contest that required 17 teams of students to do “intense research” in the new-urbanism movement and in green technologies, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Student team members had to think like civil engineers, taking into consideration things like construction, architecture, materials and insulation. The teams were judged by a panel of local architects in six categories: oral presentation of the design, written portfolio, collaboration, creativity, work ethic, and overall content.
The judges and teachers were impressed with the results. One team came up with a space-saving robotic parking lot, while another mapped out an underground graywater management system. The overall winner was a team led by Nathan Brown, 16, that took a stacked approach — the school’s football stadium was a greenhouse on the building’s roof.
Filed under: K-12 Education News
