Using Keva Maple Blocks, I created a little neighborhood with a few houses and a cool water well because I wanted to see how many different kinds of roofs and walls I could make without everything falling down. During this process, I learned that even if the top part of my house looked great, the whole thing would wobble if the bottom base wasn't super wide and solid.The 7 standards of the class are Empowered Learner, Digital Citizen, Knowledge Constructor, Innovative Designer, Computational Thinker, Creative Communicator, and Global Collaborator.

My project ties to Innovative Designer because I had to figure out how to make a bunch of different buildings and solve little engineering problems, like how to keep a pointed roof from collapsing, all by myself. It was a lot of trial and error!

A challenge I overcame on this project was trying to make the well's little roof stand up and look realistic—it kept caving in! I was able to do it by copying how real arches and angled roofs work, making sure I tilted the blocks in a way that pushed the pressure onto the side walls instead of just down the middle.Given a chance to do this again, I would change my plan to focus on building one massive, super-detailed house instead of several tiny ones. The reason why I would change it is because I think it would be cooler to spend time adding things like tiny stairs and better window frames on one big, epic structure. Hastings High School Career and Technical Education Program offers Agriculture, Business Management, Computer Programming, Construction Trades, Culinary Arts, Digital Multimedia, Engineering Design, Finance, Insurance, Marketing.

My project connects to the Construction Trades and Engineering Design CTE programs at Hastings High School.My project connects to careers in building houses and being an Architect because I had to think about how to design a building that was stable and looked good, which is exactly what people who design and build homes do every day.