Students focus on warming in competition
Middle schoolers from across the Houston region tackled global warming and other environmental crises during the Future City Competition on Saturday at the University of Houston-Clear Lake.
The competition showcased homemade utopias that 18 teams spent four months planning, designing and creating with the goal of creating a wellfunctioning society for citizens in a world nearly destroyed by climate change.
Take the city of Teiraki Karawa, or Rising Heaven, set on an island in Micronesia. It’s home to gorgeous beaches, self-driving vehicles and water gliders, and it obtains a fresh water supply through a system of desalination. “I’ve been in this competition for three years, and every time I do it I learn about a new disaster the world is facing,” said 13-year-old Zahra B. Rizvi. “This has taught me to learn more about what’s going on in the world and to find solutions to help it.”
Rizvi and his teammates — Zahra Shahnawaz, 13, and Zunaira Fatima, 12 — represented the Al-Hadi School in southwest Houston and were entered and mentored by Shahnawaz’s father, Shahnawaz Sabuwala.
Another team of eighth graders from San Antonio created a city called Waterstad, meaning City of Water in Dutch, and designed their city to be in an underwater dome.
“The reason our city is in a dome is because of global warming,” said Texas Military Institute student Amaris Tucker, 13. “People are unable to live outside anymore because the sun is too hot for them. So, we built a dome so they are able to continue living their lives.”
To make their city more fun, it includes a shopping mall and Disney-like water park.
The students’ mothers chatted about how much confidence the competition has given their children as the team interacted with the judges.
“Every mom wants to give their child every opportunity that will empower them to be better and inspire them to do their best; and I think that is what this provides,” said Tahira Alves, mom of Walter Alves, a 13-yearold from BASIS San Antonio.
The competition forces middle school students to mix creativity with basic engineering principles, as they were tasked with creating their city with recycled materials and a total supply cost under $100.
“For the kids, we want to encourage them in the STEM program, get them to see what engineering is about and see if they have an interest in pursuing this,” said Moiz Husain, Houston’s regional coordinator.
The top five teams will advance to the final round, and a first-place winner will represent the region at the national championships in February.
With their own awareness of environmental issues the plague society, students will hopefully gain the tools to create a better future when they grow up.
“The reason we are doing it is because it’s time for the digital world, it’s time for STEM,” said Zafar Taqvi, adviser of the Houston Future City Competition. “And we believe these students will not only help society, but the future of the country.”