Competition Rules

  1. National Engineers Week Future City ® Competition is for 6th through 8th grade students only, enrolled in a public, private, parochial, or home school. Students must be from the same school.
 
2. Schools may register in only one region per year. If they wish to transfer to a different region, they must petition and obtain the approval of both Regional Coordinators and the National Program Manager. Teams must commit to a specific region by October 31.
 
3. You may have as many students working on the project as you wish, but only 3 students can represent your school by giving their team’s presentation at the regional and national final competitions. In addition, there must be one teacher (any educational professional) and one engineer/mentor (because of the nature of the competition a mentor from the engineering community is preferred, but a mentor can be anyone involved in a technical profession) for an official team of 5 members.
 
4. The team members that compete in the national finals must be the same team members that won the regional competition. At the time of registering your team(s), for the regional competition, you may select one student that can act as an alternate for both the regional and national competitions. The alternate can only be utilized if one of the original three presenters cannot compete due to illness or family emergency. The alternate can only compete upon the approval of the Regional Coordinator (Regional) and the National Program Manager (National).
 
5. At least 20 schools must be registered in a region in order for that region’s winner to advance to the National Finals.
 
6. Home-school parents must submit a home school affidavit to their Regional Coordinator stating that the students are covering material in the 6th, 7th & 8th grade.
 
7. If deadlines are missed at the Regional or National level points will be deducted from the score.
 
8. Only one team from each of the top scoring schools can advance to the final round of the Regional Competition.
 
9. All team members must sign a Student Conduct Form and submit it in accordance with the schedule set by the Regional Coordinator.
 
10. Students must use a pre-designed region for the Computer City Design.  Pre-designed regions are available on the Future City Web site.   http://futurecity.org/all-resources 
 
11. Do not use SimCity Cheat Codes.
 
12. Students must submit a reference page citing at least 3 sources of information with the essay. (NOTE: Wikipedia is not suggested as a reference.)
 
13. The Research Essay maximum word count is 1000 words. Word count does not include the title and reference list, but does include captions of graphics and illustrations. A maximum of 4 graphics/illustrations are allowed. A 10 point penalty will apply if word count exceeds 1000.
 
14. The City Narrative maximum word count is 500 words not including the title. A 2pt penalty will apply if word count exceeds 500
 
15. Student presentations may not exceed 7 minutes. When the timer signals time, the team must stop their presentation. Teams who continue will have points deducted.
 
16. Laptop computers, overhead projectors, and DVD/video players, battery operated audio equipment (MP3 player, Discman, Walkman, iPods, etc.) may not be used for the presentation.
 
17. Visual aids, such as flip charts, foam boards, poster boards, etc., must not exceed the following limitations: one visual aid displayed at a time (e.g. a single paper of a flip chart resting on an easel)can be up to 60” (W) x 36” (H), two visual aids displayed concurrently (e.g., two posters each on a separate easel) can be up to 30” (W) x 36” (H). The size limitations do not include easel stands.
 
18. With the exception of the handouts /brochures (limited to one sheet 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper) and costumes, any other demonstration aids including pointers, small mock-ups, etc. used to assist with the presentation must collective fit within a 6” x 6” x 12” volume *e.g., a shoe box)
 
19. No perishable or food items may be used for building materials. Use of live animals is also prohibited. If water is used on the model it must be self-contained or drainable.
 
20. The model must be no larger than 25” (W) x 50” (L) x 20” (H), including all supporting braces, materials hanging below or beyond the tabletop, and all fully extended parts, such as access doors and hinged pullouts.
 
21. Vertically oriented models are not accepted.
 
22. The model must contain one or more moving parts.
 
23. Any electrical power source must be self-contained. (e. g. a household battery and sample circuit.) Uses of electrical wall or floor outlets are not allowed.
 
24. The total value of the materials used in the model, as well as those used in support of the presentation (including visual aids, costumes, and other demonstration aids) may not exceed $100.
 
25. All materials used must be listed on the competition expense form and their value documented.
 
26. Failure to comply with the Future City Model size and expense constraints will result in the loss of up to 50 points, as indicated on the Scoring Deduction Sheet. 

Arizona Supplemental Rules
  1. The registration fee is $25 for those schools that want to register and will need to order the SimCitytm 4 software.
  2. The team must cooperate in designing the city. Each student must have a turn in using the computer. In the case of disagreement, the team will vote: majority rules.
  3. Deadlines, once determined by the regional coordinators, will not be extended. See the Arizona Region schedule.
  4. Models must contain a moving part, built to scale (as determined by the team), and contain no live animals. If a power source is used, it must be self-contained, i.e. no plugs.
  5. The regional coordinator must receive these items as Email attachments by the scheduled due dates, see schedule
  6. Computer file of your SimCitytm 4 City design
  7. Completed Virtual City Benchmark Score Sheet
  8. A Narrative describing your City
  9. An Essay on the assigned topic
  10. The model must be no larger than 25" (width) x 50" (length) x 20" (height).
  11. The team will decide what materials to use to build the city. The total cost of all materials used to make the model and including any other materials used in support of the oral presentation, must not exceed $100 cash or in-kind. An expense listing must be completed on the city model expense. This completed form must be brought to both the regional and national competitions.
  12. The completed essay form will include the name of the future city, the names of the team members, a narrative of the city describing its function (500 words maximum), and the student essay on a topic designated by the national competition (1000 words maximum). The narrative and essay must be written solely by the students. Both documents must be in either MS Word or WordPerfect files.
  13. The City model expense form must be brought to the physical model delivery location.
  14. Any conflicts will be resolved locally. There is no appeal.
  15. Prizes are neither transferable nor exchangeable.
  16. The judges' decisions are final.

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