Undersea 2040 Guidelines (based on the guidelines developed last year by the Mars 2030 National Initiative)

See MARS2030 website for details.

The basic mission is "To imagine and design a community for 100 people living under the sea in the year 2040." (Note:  The community could be living under Earth's seas, under the seas of Europa, or under the seas of a wholly imagined other planet) .  Each group is to follow five basic steps (I'm quoting here from the MARS 2030 guidelines:)

Reflect ... on what you value about your community:

Stop and look around you. What is your community like? What makes a community? What do you value about your community? How is it designed? Why is it unique? What's good about living there and how would you describe your community to others? Develop a team, or teams, to work on the project.

Imagine ... a community Under the Sea in the year 2040.

Have the participants talk with parents, grandparents, and other relatives about your community. They may want to interview civic leaders, city planners, architects, and others about what makes your community unique. Discuss and decide on a name for your Undersea community. Find out what it would take to survive Undersea. Lead your team in imagining what an Undersea community might be like.

Discover ... the oceans you live with and the oceans under which you will live.

Start off this millennium by learning more about Earth's Ocean and, if you wish, Europa. Participants may want to learn from scientists, architects, engineers, and artists; take field trips to museums and libraries, visit the Jersey Shore (particularly Sandy Hook), make a field trip to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, engage community leaders. Take what the Project Team learns and apply it to designing a new community.

Create ... a community for the 21st century.

Design a new community by creating a visual representation of that community or any scientific or artistic aspect of it, then write about the challenges you faced in creating that community. Your team may want to create and visualize their entire new habitat while other groups might choose to explore one specific part of community life as shown through an artistic or scientific approach. The project's flexible approach allows your team to move in many directions.

Share ... your vision and ideas with the world.

We will help you share your ideas through the Undersea Virtual Gallery and  help you display your project on Undersea 2040 Exhibit Day, May 19, 2001.