Students are hard at work crafting future metropolises and constructing cities for the Future City national competition in this episode of NJEA’s Classroom Close-up. Students work in teams using SimCity 4 Deluxe software, a program that requires students to incorporate details about the environment, quality of schools, budgets and everything city planners must consider. They also write a research essay, construct a tabletop model using recycled materials, write a city narrative and design a five to seven minute presentation.