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Future Problem Solvers Soar to International Competition
FPS SOAR AT VIRGINIA VIRTUAL BOWL
Teachers Marijia Raskovic and Pinky Agarwal, sponsors of the Future Problem Solvers International program at Granby, are very proud to announce that at the very first Future Problem Solvers of Virginia State Bowl, held the weekend of May 8, five Comets placed first and one took second place.
Fifty-four teams and 20 individuals competed to creatively solve the problem of “Living in Poverty.” Winners from Granby were Adam A., who took First Place in the Middle Division Global Issue Problem Solving (Individual); and Tina L., Kara C, Spencer V., and Miles M., who garnered First Place in the Middle Division Global Issue Problem Solving (Team Competition). All of these students will continue on to the Virtual 2020 International Conference to be held June 3-7.
Additional winners were Gabi T., who earned Second Place in Senior Division Scenario Writing (Individual), and Aliya O., Sadie P., and Roger Z., who received Honorable Mention for Middle Division Global Issue Problem Solving (Team Competition).
For this initial virtual State Bowl, students worked for two hours in virtual study rooms under the supervision of their parents. The procedure is such that students are first given a short story or scenario set 30 years in the future, written by a futurist. Scientist Michio Kaku, author of books such as The Physics of the Future and a frequent and entertaining guest on television, is a futurist. They must develop 16 challenges presented by the scenario. Of those 16 challenges, they agree on one they see as the most important underlying problem of the story. But they have to solve that problem, so they must come up with solutions, criteria, and an action plan—all set in the future. Their solutions can contain technology, governing structures, and ethical norms that may not exist now but they anticipate will exist in the future.
Thorough research helped Granby’s students place so highly in the competition.
Those students advancing to the International Conference will spend three weeks researching terraformation, defined by Wikipedia as, “[of a planet, moon, or similar structure]the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology to be similar to the environment of Earth to make it habitable by Earth-like life.” NASA concurs with this definition. This will be the topic they will need to master in order to win internationally. We know they can do it!