North Carolina
Future Problem Solving
"Opening Doors to the Future"
Why Choose NC FPS Programs?
✸ North Carolina Future Problem Solving (NC FPS) teaches students how to think, not what to think.
✸ NC FPS provides competitive and non-competitive components to teach critical and creative thinking, problem solving, and decision making.
✸ In all disciplines, students must learn how to overcome obstacles, or barriers, when confronting challenges and developing solutions to social, political, scientific, economic and technological issues.
✸ NC FPS is interdisciplinary and its components promote interpersonal communication, leadership and responsible group membership.
✸ The opportunities provided to students in both content and skill areas are the motivation for teachers and coaches who implement NC FPS in their schools.
✸ Embraced by gifted and talented teachers because of its flexibility, NC FPS components are open to students of all ability levels.
"The most basic skill that can be taught in today's school is problem solving, especially skills in solving future problems. In fact, the teaching of future problem solving skills may really be the key to successful teaching of the other basics such as reading, writing and arithmetic. Many children are not motivated to master these basics unless they can see the connection between them and their future lives..." (Torrance, 1984)
Upcoming Topics 2025-2026
Practice Problem #1 Topic
~ Invasive Species ~
How will we safeguard the biodiversity of our ecosystems against the rising threat of invasive species in the future?
Qualifying Problem Topic
~ The Business of Video Games ~
How might evolving gaming technology, laws, and consumer expectations impact the business of video games in the future?
Practice Problem #2 Topic
~ Space Exploration ~
How might space exploration change the way humanity exists on Earth and throughout our Universe in the future?
State Bowl Topic
~ Surveillance ~
How might surveillance be used responsibly to balance public safety with privacy and ethical considerations in the future?
Dates: March 26-28, 2026
Location: YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly
International Competition Topic
~ To Be Announced in 2026 ~
Program Overview
Global Issues
With the instruction of a Coach or Teacher, students use the 6-Step model to solve proposed futuristic global issues.
✸ Available for individuals or teams of up to four students.
✸ Teaches students how to think creatively about the future.
✸ Up to five topics are researched over the academic year and can be used as curriculum, integrated into other content areas, or offered as an extra-curricular option.
✸ Annually students vote to determine future topics from three strands: 1) science and technology 2) business and economics and 3) social and political issues.
"Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines."
- Robert Schuller
Community Projects
This program encourages students to become agents of change in their communities.
✸ Students explore an existing problem in the school, community or region.
✸ Students in both team and individual Community Projects apply problem-solving strategies and skills to real-world problems.
✸ Teams can be composed of as few as three or four students or as many as 100.
✸ For assessment, projects are grouped in categories such as civic and cultural issues, education, the environment, health concerns and human services.
Community Problem Solving is a vehicle for both community service and service learning.
✸ After identifying and understanding the problem situation, teams and individuals use the FPS model to: generate ideas, develop an action plan and implement the plan.
✸ Students develop and demonstrate teamwork skills and self-confidence in this outcome-based component allowing them to implement a wide range of solutions presented to a real audience.
Community Problem Solving bridges the gap between school and the real world. At the 2008 International Conference (IC), NC FPS's State Champions, the "RESPECTATORS" from Smith Academy (coached by Heather Lynch) took 6th place globally. The team noticed that many negative behaviors stem from respect issues among people; therefore, the "RESPECTATORS" chose to investigate the roots of disrespect and educate others to bring about positive changes in behaviors. They created presentations about friendship, fights, gossip, and respect for our sixth grade students. They researched, organized, and implemented a middle school Challenge Day to help all students demonstrate team building skills and encourage respect for other cultures. Through their activities, they changed how their school and community values respect towards others!
NC FPS's 6th grade Community Project team from Waddell Language Academy (coached by Heather Lynch) were our 2015 State Bowl champions and attended IC! They found that one-third of their day is impacted by distracted drivers. In response, the STOP TADing (Texting and Driving) project was created by "TEAM DRIVE" to educate drivers about the dangers of distracted driving. "TEAM DRIVE" created a website, social media accounts, YouTube channel and PSAs which played on national radio. They also participated in April’s Distracted Driving Awareness month and published video games for drivers to experience distracted driving risks firsthand.
Creative Writing
This component encourages students to develop and submit futuristic scenarios - word pictures of the future.
✸ Especially intriguing for students who enjoy creative writing!
✸ Students create their own vision of the future. ✸ Selecting one of the current topics, students are encouraged to use the FPS problem-solving model to examine challenges, select a problem area or conflict, and produce a resolution or action plan.
✸ A "scenario" is a story that might take place as a logical outgrowth of actions or events. The scenario develops through character(s) and plot into one possible outcome of the future.
✸ The scenario is a prediction of the future written as though the future were the present.
As Edward Cornish of the World Future Society explains:
"A scenario may sound exotic...It is simply a series of events that we imagine happening in the future. Our everyday thinking is filled with little ventures into the mysterious world of tomorrow, or next week, or next year. And the ventures are scenarios."
"Our everyday thinking is filled with little ventures into the mysterious world of tomorrow..."
Learning
Our non-competitive program.
✸ Using simplified creative problem solving processes with fairy tales and current age-appropriate problems; our Learning Program introduces teachers & students to creative problem solving, high-level thinking and action skills in a hands-on, non-threatening manner.
✸ The concepts behind each problem-solving step are taught in short, but challenging, sound bites - making the concepts easy to understand and apply. Learning actively engages students in constructing meaning, and applying both knowledge and process to real situations.
✸ Learning provides a model that is effective in the classroom for all students and can be implemented as a strategy for use in the inclusion model, an exploratory curriculum, or an extension for any curriculum.
Learning is performance-based and designed to guide students into community action and Global Issues.
It exemplifies problem-based learning (PBL) at its best.