Since the start of the school year, the eighth-grade students in Tina Bardwell’s science class at Genoa Middle School had been designing a city of the future on the moon as part of this year’s Future City competition.
To get feedback on their designs, the group connected with engineering students in the National Society of Black Engineers at Ohio State University.
Bardwell said it was a good experience for her students, who learned that college students and adults don’t always know the answer and are working through problems.
“A lot of questions they were asking made it sound that they thought there was one answer,” she said. “Everybody can be innovative and have a solution that can be different and correct.”
Her students met with Ohio State students virtually last month, just weeks before submitting their city model slideshow and virtual presentation.
As part of the competition, students had to write an essay, build a model and create a video presentation about their city.