21 WR I T E T H E R E S E A R C H E S S AY

Essay Outline
I. INTRODUCTION: DEFINE THE PROBLEM
Briey introduce your future city and describe its
population, location, climate, landscape and general
layout. Explain what problem(s) your future city solved
by growing two foods within the city limits.
2. BODY: DESCRIBE YOUR SOLUTION
lrt|uJuce t|e twu uuJs ]uu'.e c|user, ure
vegetable and one protein (either plant or animal),
and explain why you selected them.
Eruloir |uw t|e uuJs aeet t|e rut|itiurol reeJs orJ
food preferences of your citys residents.
0esc|i|e t|e o|a er.i|uraert,s ]uu JesireJ tu
grow your foods. Explain how it works, where it is
located, and why its the right solution for your future
city.
Eruloir |uw ]uu| Jesir aeets ]uu| twu uuJs'
basic requirements for light, soil, water, nutrients,
temperature, air quality, and space and if these
needs change during the growing season (e.g., from
planting or birth to harvest).
S|o|e |uw ]uu| o|a er.i|uraert,s u|uJuces
enough of each food to supply all of your citizens for
at least one growing season. (Note: Your two crops
will not be the only food available to your citizens,
but you do need to make sure you produce enough
for everyone.)
Eruloir |uw ]uu| u||or o|a sulutiur is ere|]
efcient.
0iscuss t|e t|oJeuslcuau|uaises currecteJ wit|
your urban farm and how your design reduces or
eliminates these tradeoffs.
0esc|i|e t|e eriree|ir Jisciulires ir.ul.eJ ir ]uu|
solution and the role of the one or two engineers you
believe to be most useful in your solution.
3. CONCLUSION: SUMMARIZE YOUR SOLUTION
Summarize why the urban farm you designed is a good
way to provide local, healthy abundant foods for your
future city.
Draft Essay
Using the Design Process
When engineers design solutions to problems, they go through
a process of brainstorming, testing different ideas, learning from
mistakes, and trying again. This is called the engineering design
process. The steps of the engineering design process are:
Jere t|e u|u|lea tu sul.e,
||oirstu|a .o|iuus sulutiurs,
select o sulutiur,
Jesir, |uilJ, test orJ |eJesir sulutiur, orJ
s|o|e |esults.
The engineering design process is a great way to work through
any challenge that involves creating something that didnt exist
before, such as building a bridge, planning a tripeven writing
an essay. Youll use the design process as a framework to guide
students through researching and writing their essay solutions.
1. Dene the Problem
To get started, engineers dene the problem they want to solve
and the project requirements.
Help students dene the problem by reviewing this years topic
and Essay Outline together. How would they describe the
essay problem using their own words? What are the different
parts of the problem?
AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES
PRESENT, PAST, AND FUTURE
The next step in dening the problem is for students to develop
a background understanding of the topic area. Have students
research traditional farming practices, existing urban farms, and
futuristic urban farm designs. You can start with the three case
studies of futuristic farm environments on page 24 and then
start mining the resource section on page 26.
As they gather ideas and examples, have students create a
series of questions (a frame) to guide their analysis of each one.
This same frame can be adapted to analyze the teams designs
later on. Here are some questions to get them started:
wos t|is o|a |uilt rew u| JiJ it utili/e eristir st|uctu|es
w|ot octu|s we|e useJ tu JeciJe t|e o|a's lucotiur
w|ot is t|e o|a's suu|ce u li|t
|uw Jues t|e o|a et wote| ls t|e|e or eciert i||iotiur
system?
22 F U T U R E C I T Y E D U C AT O R H A ND B O O K
ls it cliaote curt|ulleJ w|] u| w|] rut
0u t|e] use uesticiJes S|uulJ t|e]
|uw o|e rut|ierts u|u.iJeJ tu t|e ulorts u| eJ tu t|e
animals?
ls t|e o|a ere|] eciert w|] u| w|] rut
w|ot er.i|uraertol iauoct Jues t|e o|a |o.e ur t|e
surrounding area and how will you lessen any negative
consequences? For example, does your farm recycle waste
product(s)?
w|ot t|oJeus Jues t|e Jesir |e(ui|e
w|ot is t|e |ule u eriree|ir ir t|ese o|as w|ot
engineering disciplines were needed to solve the technical
and design challenges?
FOOD AND NUTRITION
Before students can make their two crop choices, they need
to be aware of which plant-based crop will provide the most
vitamins and minerals and which protein-based food will
be nutritious and practical for an urban farm environment.
Students will need to understand where they get protein in their
own diet. Meat, poultry, eggs, sh, legumes, most seeds and
nuts, and several vegetables are all high in protein. But each
has different growing requirements that must be taken into
consideration.
Some foods, such as grains (wheat, rice, barley, etc.) are needed
in such huge qualities and have such unique growing and
harvesting requirements, that they are unlikely to be practical in
urban farms. Other crops require such long growing cycles that
the yield would not meet the needs of your students city. It is
also important to understand that food preferences are often
rooted in cultural or ethnic traditions, which must be considered
when choosing which foods to grow. As they research food
options, students should consider:
/|e suae uuJs eosie| tu |uw ir ]uu| utu|e cit]'s lucotiur
/|e t|e|e uuJs t|ot o|e au|e cultu|oll] ouu|uu|iote orJ
desirable to your citizens?
w|ot rut|itiurol |erets Ju t|ese uuJs u|u.iJe
|uw lur Jues it to|e tu u|uJuce o c|uu ,eit|e| ulort u|
animal)?
w|ot is t|e t]uicol c|uu ]ielJ u t|ese uuJs ur o t|oJitiurol
or urban farm?
Cor t|e] |e |uwr ir or ere|] eciert wo]
2. Brainstorm Various Solutions
Next, engineers brainstorm a range of possible solutions.
Using what they already know from the case studies and their
own research, have students brainstorm a range of foods and
urban farm designs. Encourage students to think about which
solutions interest them, including those in use today and those
being developed for tomorrow.
As they brainstorm encourage creativity, innovation, problem
solving, and futuristic thinking. Remind them that their urban
farm solution can be an improvement on an existing technology
or a completely new invention. It can be a single centralized
solution or one that involves a network of urban farms scattered
throughout the city. Whatever the nal design is, it should
demonstrate original ideas.
3. Select a Solution
Engineers choose the best solution and plan how to build it.
From their initial research and brainstorming, students must
make four key decisions:
1. Which two foods will they grow within the boundaries of
their city limits?
re aust |e o .eeto|le, t|e ut|e| aust |e o u|uteir.
T|e] aust |uw eruu| u eoc| tu eeJ t|ei| erti|e cit].
(Remember their two foods arent the only food their
citizens will eat, but there should be enough for
everyone.)
lt aust |e rut|itiuroll] |ereciol.
2. What does their urban farm design(s) look like? How will it
work?
|uw Jues it aeet t|ei| c|uus |osic |uwir reeJs u|
light, soil/growing medium, water, and nutrients?
/|e t|e|e t|oJeus t|e] will reeJ tu oJJ|ess w|ot o|e
they?
Cor t|e] |uw |ut| c|uus ir ure er.i|uraert u| Ju t|e]
need multiple designs?
3. What makes their design energy efcient?
4. Where is it located?
23 WR I T E T H E R E S E A R C H E S S AY
4. Design, Test, and Redesign
Once a design is settled on, engineers begin building, testing,
and redesigning their solution.
As they develop a design and start outlining it, it is likely the
students will need to rene their ideas and solve problems that
develop. This is part of the process.
At this stage it is good idea to rely on three resources to make
sure they are heading in the right direction:
1. Your Mentor may have expertise in this area or be able to
call upon colleagues to help evaluate the students designs.
2. The Rubric outlines the criteria the judges will use to
evaluate their research essays.
3. The Essay Outline provides a basic outline of how to
structure the essay.
5. Share Results
Engineers present their work to colleagues to show how they
solved a problem and learn new ideas from each other.
Now its time for your students to nalize their essayan
excellent way to share their ideas with a panel of judges and
kids across the country.
Remind students that the essay should be no longer than 1,000
words and free of grammatical and spelling errors. They should
cite at least three sources of information used during the idea
development process. Students should use a variety of sources
of information, such as interviews with experts, reference
books, periodicals, and websites. (NOTE: Wikipedia is not
accepted as a source of research.)
For additional tips about researching and writing the essay,
view the Writing the Essay video and read essays from past
winners. Both are available at www.futurecity.org.