Individual warm-up exercise (write and sketch ideas on paper): Imagine a bedroom were your entire house. What would you need to add to the room to make it a functional house? Could you fit everything in that space? Probably not so what could you do without and get rid of? Make a list or a drawing to document your ideas.
Watch videos on tiny houses
Tiny House Movement (1:12)
How Much Time Does Your House Cost? (0:00 - 5:45)
Engage students in a discussion of why tiny houses are increasing in popularity and the challenges that tiny homes can help overcome for providing housing.
Design Challenge narrative
The tiny house movement is helping people overcome many challenges associated with more traditional housing options. Your team is tasked with designing a tiny home that solves several of these problems associated with traditional, modern housing for your client. In addition your home should include design elements and features that allow it to function as "off the grid" as possible, taking obvious consideration for your client and their unique situation. After completing your research and design phases you will choose materials to build a scale model of your tiny home and help to organize a public showcase for your tiny homes.
Students should work in groups of 3-4.
The instructor should have made a decision about how the client will be determined. If the project will be followed with imaginary clients a selection of potential client profiles is provided in these instructional materials. However, if a community partner has been engaged for the project that partnership should determine how the entire project will be directed. For example, if the school partnered with a charity organization that provides housing for homeless veterans then the client profile should be for a homeless veteran and/or the charity organization.
This project is designed to follow several stages. First student groups will research their user and construction methods to decide on constraints and limitations in order to be able to create their initial design. Then students will develop 3D and 2D renderings of their home using computer software. Finally they will build a scale model of the home using available materials. As a concurrent whole class project (perhaps several classes together) the students will plan and organize the culminating event which is a public showcase of their tiny homes.
While tackling the challenge, all students should engage in the complete engineering design process using the EDPL to record their steps. The process begins with students researching tiny house construction and design methods and developing a client profile as part of the Problem Understanding step.
NOTE: The challenge was designed around the very real trend in tiny housing and public interest in renewable energy. You can easily modify the scenario to change the challenge objectives. Perhaps the off-grid capability is for the ISS, a lunar colony, a floating city on the ocean, etc. All of these provide their own unique constraints but this project was centered on tiny houses as a very real and accessible challenge for high school students.
1-2: Generate and research inquiry questions about tiny houses.
3: Visualizing Small Spaces
4. Identify and Define the Client
5. Begin Showcase Planning
6: Develop a user profile and/or empathy map
7: Identify essential components for the design
8: Research relevant codes and building standards
9. Brainstorm ideas and use known guides and constraints to evaluate design ideas
Prototyping a Scale Model Home
10: Develop low-fidelity prototypes
Instruction: 2D and 3D Modeling Skills
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Plan a Public Showcase of Tiny Homes (process and planning should begin near beginning of project)
This project was designed with the full intention of students building a real, functional sustainable structure. While the project was eventually scaled down to modeling we maintain that there is a major opportunity to extend this project into the third(11th grade) engineering course where the students are challenged to finalize a design, source, build, and deliver a real product. Cross-functional teams might also be considered where IT and/or biotech teams from the other CTAE pathways are engaged to create a more robust solution.