We've added new problem solving features, better team collaboration, and improved coach and evaluation pages, along with the unmatched digital creativity tools you've come to expect from MFPSP.
Registration Now Open. To register
click on the link on the "Registration Page "
Research, access, and complete FPS topics within a cloud-based, collaborative work environment.
Download FPS resources, manage teams, and follow the progress of your students.
Score booklets using the latest online evaluation tools.
Future Problem Solving (FPS ) is a terrific way to create more creative students and improve a youngster's oral and written communication, research, and teamwork skills. FPS challenges students to apply information they have learned to some of the most complex issues facing society. Students are asked to think, to make decisions and, in some cases, to carry out their solutions. FPS is a yearlong program, open to students in grades 4-12, in which teams of four students learn a six-step problem solving process which they can then use to solve social and scientific problems set in the future. At regular intervals, the teams submit their work online to evaluators, who review it and return it with suggestions for improvement. Teams participating in the competitive aspect of the program will complete the third problem at a Qualifying Bowl in February. The top teams in the state are invited to the State Bowl in March, where they compete for the opportunity to represent Massachusetts at the International FPS Conference. Most schools participate in the team competition. Teachers can also incorporate the FPS process into curriculum units in the classroom, or participate in the Community Problem Solving, Scenario Writing or Scenario Performance components of the program. We invite you to learn more about the program by watching the video below or by contacting one of our Co-Affilaite Directors:
Bob Cattel, Co-Affiliate Director
Email: bob.cattel@gmail.com
Phone (617) 834-4743
Renée Hanscom, Co-Affiliate Director
Email: rmhanscom1@verizon.net
Phone: (781) 799-4826
For more infromation about Future Problem Solving Program International in Melbourne Florida, contact April Michele at (321) 768-0074 or check out their website www.fpspi.org
To purchase Resources/Tools and yearly Program Materials related to the Future Problem Solving Program International go to www.fpspimart.org.
| 2024 | ||||
| Fall 2024 | Registration - Early Bird by October 31'st. Final Registration - December 31'st | |||
| October 19 | Evaluation Review Session | |||
| October 25 | PP#1 Due: Food Security | |||
| October 26 | Evaluation for PP#1:Food Security | |||
| December 13 | PP#2 Due: Rising Sea Levels | |||
| December 14 | Evaluation for PP#2: Rising Sea Levels | |||
| December 31 | Final registration deadline for all components | |||
| December 31 | Community Projects Project Proposals Due | |||
| 2025 | ||||
| January 18 | Creative Writing and Storytelling Entries Due | |||
| January 25 | Evaluation for Creative Writing and Storytelling | |||
| February 5 - 9 | Qualifying Problem Competition | |||
| Locatons: T.B.D | ||||
| Topic: Agricultural Industry | ||||
| February 15 | Evaluation for Qualifying Problem: Agricultural Industry | |||
| March 7 | Community Projects Project Reports Due | |||
| March 8 | Evaluation for Community Projects Project Proposals and Reports | |||
| March 28 | Affiliate Final (State Bowl) | |||
| Topic: Nano-technology | ||||
| Location: T.B.D. | ||||
| June 4 - 8 | FPSPI World Finals | |||
| Location: Indiana University Bloomington | ||||
| Topic: (To be announced March 1, 2025) | ||||
Nutritious food is a basic human need. While global food production has expanded, approximately one in three people remain food insecure. Food availability – how much food exists – is the first hurdle to feeding the global population.
Food security is different in every place and yet impacts every society. Infrastructure, environmental conditions, and political stability can all have significant impacts on the production of food. Environmental events such as droughts and rising sea levels also impact existing food sources. Economic, legal, and social barriers may thwart access to available food. Political conflicts, for example, interrupt supply chains and divert food away from those in need. Even when there is enough food available, and people have access to it, their food security may be threatened by the safety of the food.
Two processes cause sea-level rise: thermal expansion (ocean water expansion as it heats up) and additional water flow into oceans from ice that melts on land. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) reports that sea levels have risen by 0.19m since the beginning of the 20th Century. Sea level rise will continue for centuries, if not thousands of years, after greenhouse gas concentrations are stabilized due to the long lag times involved in warming the oceans and ice sheets’ response, possibly affecting over 400 million people.
Historically, human civilizations have responded to the risk of rising sea levels with retreat and adaptation. As our cities have become more permanent in modern times, defensiveness is the preferred strategy. The adequate protection of low-lying regions and coastal cities from flooding, land loss, water-logging, and groundwater salinity is costly and technologically complex. Small island nations are most vulnerable to the relocation of coastal communities. Sea level rise is already occurring around the globe at unprecedented rates. The challenges will only continue to grow in the next few decades. It is important for scientists and engineers to work directly with communities to create policies that work for the unique circumstances of each vulnerable coastline.
Agriculture is a complex, multi-faceted industry which impacts societies worldwide via the economy, the environment, and most importantly human development. Agriculture is based on the science of cultivating plants, animals, and other life forms for food, fiber, and fuel.
For thousands of years, farming practices have evolved in the use of land, crops, and technology. Small farms, with farmers caring for the land and its inhabitants, are increasingly rare, as most of the world’s food is produced on an industrial scale. Industrial agriculture brings high-yield crops, often requiring extreme land exploitation and increased chemical applications. These advances in agriculture have made nutritious food more affordable and accessible. While the agricultural industry in place today is sufficient to feed the current population of planet Earth, it is also affecting the overall health of the planet.
Agricultural industry is not only a vital component of global economies, but also a critical driver of environmental impact and social development. It encompasses a wide range of activities, from crop cultivation to livestock management. It provides food, textiles and biofuels to a growing population. While industrial agriculture has improved crop yields and increased accessibility and affordability, past and current farming practices have raised concerns related to sustainability. As the world’s largest consumer of water and land, agriculture must seek sustainable farming practices to ensure its survival. The excessive use of these resources raises questions about the long-term viability of current agricultural practices. Addressing challenges will require innovative approaches, sustainable farming practices, and lastly, an analysis of how we produce and consume food.
Nanotechnology deals with dimensions and tolerances of less than 100 nanometers. A single strand of human hair, for scale, is typically 100,000 nanometers thick! At this scale, individual atoms of larger materials can be manipulated. Placing atoms as though they were bricks, nanotechnology has the potential to give control over the structure of matter, allowing us to build powerful, yet microscopic substances.
Nanotechnology is widely used in food industries, medicine, energy, automobiles, the environment, electronics, textiles, and cosmetics. Nanotechnology has direct benefits for medicine and the environment, but it may have unintended effects, like all technologies. Nanoparticles of typically unharmful materials, for example, can be toxic if inhaled. Not easily observed, nanotechnology poses risks to security and privacy.
Global Issues is the Individual / Team competition component of the program and is open to students in grades 4-12. An Individual student or Teams of up to four students learn the six-step future problem solving process which they then apply, along with their research on specific topics, to solve social and scientific problems. With the six-step FPS process, students are presented with a "Future Scene", which is a story set at least 20 years into the future. For the first step, students brainstorm challenges that the Future Scene presents. This step helps students refine their critical and creative thinking skills. The second step has the students focus one or more challenges generated in step one down to a clearly written problem statement referred called an Underlying Problem. In step three students brainstorm solution ideas intended on solving the Underlying Problem. In steps four and five, the students generate criteria used to evaluate their step three solutions. In step six the students take the top rated solution from step five and develop a detailed action plan.
Students using the six-step process develop brainstorming and focusing skills while working cooperatively and collaboratively in groups. GIPS Individuals and Teams work on two practice problems during the Fall and early Winter each year. Then in February, those students will complete a Qualifying Problem in two hours without their coach's assistance. GIPS Individuals and Teams who receive the highest evaluation for their Qualifying Problem will be invited to compete at the State Bowl in March.
The three grade level divisions are:
• Junior Division: Grades 4-6
• Middle Division: Grades 7-9
• Senior Division: Grades 10-12
In October and December, GIPS Individuals and Teams will either complete an online booklet. Trained evaluators will review the booklets and return the evaluated booklets to the coaches / students with suggestions for improvement.
As mentioned before in February, students complete a Qualifying Problem (QP) in one two-hour time period without assistance from their coach. The top teams in the state -- based on responses to the QP -- are invited to the State Bowl in March, where they compete for the opportunity to represent Massachusetts at the International FPS Conference.
Fee:
$55 for Individual Problem Solvers (Internet)
$140 per team
for Internet Teams (Early Birds $120 until October 31, 2024)
Deadline for submitting first practice problem: October 25, 2024
Final registration deadline: December 31, 2024
Community Projects individuals and teams identify a local or global problem, and work with community leaders and residents to research the problem and implement solutions. As an example, Leominster students have worked with town officials to explore the feasibility of a sludge composting plant, which would save the cost of trucking sludge to Fitchburg. Funds saved could pay for methane gas recovery from the closed landfill and other civic projects.
Any coach who has participated in the FPS program or who has completed a FPS training session may coach a CmPS individual or team. Up to 15 (fifteen) students may be members of a CmPS team.
Fee:
$55 for an individual
$135 per team
Deadline for submitting Project Proposal: December 31, 2024
Deadline for submitting Project Report: March 7, 2025
Creative Writing gives students the opportunity to combine their problem solving and creative writing talents. Individual students are invited to write scenarios (short stories with a maximum length of 1500 words) set at least 20 years in the future and based on one of the topics for the current competition season.
Fee:
$30 per student entry
Deadline for Creative Writing entries: January 18, 2025
The Storytelling program provides an opportunity to create and present an original oral narrative based on one of the topics for the current competition season. Students learn to thoroughly research a real world issue and then imagine possible outcomes of future actions or events.
Storytellers develop a creative, futuristic narrative to entertain and inform listeners. The Storytelling program strives to help students enlarge, enrich, and make more accurate their image of the future, while refining their composition skills. Instead of writing out the story in full, students tell their story in a more natural oral performance.
Fee:
$30 per student entry
Deadline for submitting Storytelling videos: January 18, 2025
The following video is the Middle Division 1st Place Storytelling champion from last year's International Conference.
Click Here to Register for FPS team competition and other MassFPS programs
