City Planning

In this design challenge, students will be presented with flooding as a problem that needs to be addressed by city planners. Students will get to look at an AR Sandbox demo to demonstrate how rainfall can impact a city and are will then be presented with the following problem. “The city of Teastem has hired you, a city planner, to assist in dealing with the city’s problem of flooding. You have brought in an AR Sandbox to lay out the topography of the city to analyze the layout of the city and design a solution for the flooding problem. Today, you will put on your engineering hat to prevent flooding in the town of Teastem.” Students will engage in a STEM challenge to design solutions for the city of Teastem that provide multiple methods to address flooding without causing further damage to the city. Teams will receive bonus points if their solutions hold up against slow earth changes from weathering and erosion occurring gradually over time and fast earth changes from weathering and erosion that cause sudden damage like a landslide.