What is FPS?

The Future Problem Solving Program

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.

2023-24 MassFPS Calendar

Schedule of Events

Topics

2023-2024 FPS Topics

Practice Problem #1: Tourism

Tourism not only benefits host locales but those on holiday. Travel enriches their lives, expands their understanding of people and cultures, while also serving as a respite from daily life. The economic stability of such destinations depends on the sustainability of their tourist trade. As the popularity of such destinations grows, international corporations and developers typically flock to these growing places, trying to capitalize on the financial possibilities. There is money to be made in building hotels, restaurants, and in developing an area’s growing tourism industry. As outside groups seek to attract tourists and the revenue they generate, locals often struggle to maintain their location's unique appeal and ability to support local venues. As this build-up occurs, local people can have their cultures exploited, lands destroyed, and their local businesses put in jeopardy. As the tourism sector grows and expands, we are seeing the expansion of the Special Interest (SIT) market - tourists wishing to match their vacations with their interests (e.g., ecotourism, wellness tourism, event tourism, ancestry tourism, etc.) How will changing forms and trends of tourism impact tourists and hosts alike? How can the advantages of expanding tourism be balanced with the protection of destinations?

Practice Problem #2: Urbanization

Today nearly half the world's population lives in an urban area. By 2050, that number is expected to reach 70% due to this increase in Urbanization. Urban areas and their large populations often hold power over governance, economic development, and international connectivity beyond their immediate regions. With proper planning, urban centers can provide educational and economic opportunities to residents not found elsewhere. However, they can also easily give rise to slums and increase income inequality. With growing footprints, cities are also struggling to provide basic needs, essential services, and safety. Future urban planners must address tough questions: What qualities in society should be valued most? What is fair and equitable? Whose interests will be served first? Planners must balance the speed of decision-making with the need for thoughtful, well-considered programs for development. As urban areas expand, how can we develop areas that are efficient, resilient, and inclusive? Future urban planners must address tough questions: What qualities in society should be valued most? What is fair and equitable? Whose interests will be served first? Planners must balance the speed of decision-making with the need for thoughtful, well-considered programs for development. As urban areas expand, how can we develop areas that are efficient, resilient, and inclusive?

Qualifying Problem: Antarctica

Antarctica, the highest, driest, coldest continent, has no permanent population and is governed by a collection of agreements between fifty-four countries. The Antarctic Treaty System designates the entire continent and surrounding waters for scientific endeavors, bans military activity, and promotes environmental research and preservation. Although Antarctica remains the most remote place on Earth, it is highly regulated and heavily impacted by activities around the globe. Parts of the continent are polluted by sewage, discarded machinery, fuel products, and rubbish. Antarctica is thought to be rich in minerals and resources, though an 'indefinite' ban on mining is in place through 2048. Antarctica also holds over 60% of the Earth's fresh water in an ice sheet that contains 90% of the Earth's total ice volume. As global temperatures rise, these are breaking apart and melting faster, endangering local wildlife and entire ecosystems. Without a consistent population or a sovereign state, Antarctica possesses a unique space within political, economic, and environmental crossroads. How can Antarctica be sustainably utilized yet simultaneously preserved to best benefit our global population?

Affiliate Bowl (State Bowl): Autonomous Transportation

Our transport needs, desires, and realities are rapidly changing due to global growth and increased connectivity. As modes of transportation continue to evolve, increasing levels of complexity and efficiency are pursued. What role will autonomous vehicles, cars, airplanes, ships, etc., which operate without human intervention, play in this pursuit? Their development continues to increase exponentially with advancing technological capabilities. Since all scenarios are not programmable, autonomous vehicles must learn and react. They do this by surveying their environment with multiple sensors and utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) to process vast amounts of data. Autonomous vehicles can deliver on demand, refuel, park, and store themselves. By creating a network of these vehicles, entire systems of transport could become autonomous, controlled by a central AI. How will the efficiency of autonomous vehicles affect the development of transportation, on land and sea, in the air, and possibly space? How will autonomous transport cope with unexpected risk situations and ethical decisions? In what ways will autonomous transport impact jobs, industries, infrastructure, and lifestyles?

International Conference: Topic to be announced March 1, 2024

FPS Programs

Promoting Creative and Critical Thinking

Global Issues Problem Solving - Individual / Team Competition

Global Issues Problem Solving (GIPS) 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 Massachusetts, GIPS Individuals and Teams have the option of working with paper booklets and pencil or on our Internet based application.

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, 2023)

Deadline for submitting first practice problem: October 27, 2023

Final registration deadline: December 31, 2023

Community Problem Solving

Community Problem Solving (CmPS) 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, 2023
Deadline for submitting Project Report: March 9, 2024

Scenario Writing

Scenario Writing (SW) gives students the opportunity to combine their problem solving and creative writing talents. Individual students are invited to write scenarios: short stories (maximum length 1500 words) set at least 20 years in the future and dealing with the any of the following topics (Tourism, Urbanization, Antarctica and Autonomous Transportation). For additional information, contact Joanne Bianco at mrb9msb@aol.com or (978) 534-0163.

Fee:
$30 per student entry
Postmark deadline for scenarios: January 20, 2024

Scenario Performance - For thinkers who are also Storytellers !

Scenario Performance (ScP) was designed and developed to sustain oral traditions of storytelling, Scenario Performance is ideally suited to students who prefer oral communication to showcase their creativity. In Scenario Performance, students choose the FPS annual topic that interests them to make a prediction of the future (20‐30 years from now) and perform as though the future were the present. Futuristic concepts and trends are incorporated into the story, but a specific date is not required.

Scenario Performance encourages students to enlarge ideas, enrich personal style, and predict accurate images of the future. The Performance is not written out in full; it is “told,” and should be more “natural” and “spontaneous” in nature. Whether presented for the camera or in front of a live audience, Performances should be creative and entertaining. The stories do not have to be written, rather they are performed!

Fee:
$30 per student entry
Postmark deadline for scenario performance video: January 20, 2024


The following video is the Middle Division 1st Place Scenario Performer from last year's International Conference.

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