My team just won 5th place in state at the FPS state bowl!!!!

[StarLover21]

I'm so happy!!! We just competed at the FPS, or Future Problem Solvers, a long competition. We were very excited to make it to the state bowl for the second time, although last time we didn't win anything. This time, my team, made of of four people, placed fifth in state! We competed agains 1,600 other teams to make it to the state bowl and place fifth!!! We also placed second in state for Presentation of Action Plan, another competition that is part of the Future Problem Solvers. The other team we went with that had the same coach as us also ranked as sixth, although they were in a different age level. I am also proud that we were the only homeschool teams, as well!

 

[Bunnylady]

 

[redhen]

Wow! Out of 1,600 other teams!
NOw what exactly do the Future Problems Solvers do??

 

[StarLover21]

Wow! Out of 1,600 other teams!

NOw what exactly do the Future Problems Solvers do??

Thanks! It's a six step proccess that we have two hours to complete. First, we are given a senario, or a 'future scene'. It basically talks about what's going on in the world, and it is usally around the date of 2050 or so. Each senario has a topic- this year it was Trade Barriers. So the competition was based around Trade Barriers, this year. After we read the senario, we brainstorm 'challenges', that are in the senario. We try to shoot for 16 challenges. They have to be written in a certain type of format. For example:

In the year 2052, Italy has passed a huge emargo over the country, and the only materials legally able to be imported into the country are military equipment, and technology that is too complex for the Italians to make. This may be a problem because Italians may not be able to make all the materials that their country needs, possibly causing food shortages or lack of acess to basic needs materials.

After we have written all of our challenges, we pick one that we think is the most important, and we write a 'underlying problem', where we elaborate that challenge and talk more about why it is so important. Then comes step 3. In step three we write solutions to our underlying problem. They ALL have to solve the underlying problem. We can get a little goofy with the solutions, that's okay. Some of them may be a stretch. They also have to be written in a specific format. We also try to write 16 solutions. We pick the solution we think is the best, and fully elaborate it, and write our 'action plan' based on this solution, basically, what we are going to do. The action plan is usually about two pages long, and fully elaborates the solution.

There are a few other confusing steps I've left out, but that's basically how it works. We have to do it all in two hours! But it's really fun and intresting!