Schools
PTMS Eighth-Graders Create Future City
Students earn recognition from the Society of Professional Engineers.
A group of gifted eighth-grade students at Peters Township Middle School were among a group of Western Pa. students to participate in the Future Cities program, as part of National Engineers Week .
Students were under the direction of language arts and gifted support teacher, Pamela Sanders, and were among 19 school districts from the Pittsburgh area to take part in the design of a city of the future.
Students from the middle school spent several months designing the “future city,” utilizing their science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills to develop and build their creation. They developed a computer-generated city based on population, tax, education and commerce requirements.
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They then created a 3-D model of their city and an overview that they presented at a competition held at the Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland in January. The students earned the judges’ designation of “Most Effective Use of Movable Part” for the model they presented.
In addition to designing the “future city,” students at the middle school had to research and submit an essay concerning the state of health in the country, and devise a new and innovative solution for a population they selected. The students were required under the guidelines, from the Carnegie Science Center, to design “innovative, forward-looking cities that provide reliable health care that improves each patient’s quality of life.”
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The Peters Township students created a virtual reality program to aid veterans suffering from depression, as an alternative to oral medications.
Requirements for all the participants were that they write a city narrative outlining key features of their “future city,” and develop a model using recycled materials at a cost of no more than $100. The entries from all the districts were reviewed by a panel of engineer judges, who questioned students about their projects to test the depth of their knowledge.
Students Mandi Bertocci, Raashmi Krishnasamy and Amber Pferderkamper made and defended the city before the judging panel.
“All of the students from the schools that participated were winners,” said Carol Schoemer, staff educator at Carnegie Science Center. “All of the students did an amazing job, and it was inspiring to see their work.”
The Pittsburgh Future City competition is presented annually by the Carnegie Science Center and the Engineers Society of Western Pennsylvania, and is sponsored in part by Shell Oil Company.
National Engineers Week takes place between Feb. 18-22.