Imagine a domed island city in the Gulf of Mexico, where more than 300,000 people live and work. Eighth-graders Lauren Arikol, Kathleen O'Hara and Lisa Lynch of Saint Thomas More School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, envisioned such a place. They named it L'Etoile Directice--French for "guiding star"--and won the 2005 Future City Competition. The students planned the city's construction, industries and resources.
"We decided to harvest water hyacinths and tallow trees, which damage Louisiana's wetlands, and burn them for fuel," Lisa, 14, told TFK. Smart! The contest is part of National Engineers Week. Each team works with a teacher adviser and an engineer. The prize? A one-week trip to U.S. Space Camp in Alabama this summer.