Electric House

The student will begin by studying the difference between series and parallel circuits. We will use our text to find out how to create various types of series circuits and how they effect the materials powered by said circuit.
Next we will experiment with parallel circuits, switches, lights, small motors (from recycled Lego motors, cd players, etc), and doorbells.
During the next few class periods the student will create a house from recycled boxes. With these they will build a house or apt. building that has a minimum of four rooms.
Once the house is completed they will begin the process of wiring the house.
The house must be powered by only one 6 volt battery.
The house must be set up in a parallel circuit.
Each room has to have at least one light, one switch.
All of the wiring must be completed at school to ensure that the students know the correct parallel circuit wiring.
When the house has been appropriately wired they may begin working on room design.
The students usually build all the accessories for the house from recycled materials. We spend limited in school time on this, but most generally the students create these items at home and bring them to school.
When the house is complete, the students then write a newspaper add to list their house for sale. They must write a description, figure out a location, and finally give it a fair market value to sell it. The students do research for fair market housing prices by searching comparably houses.
Finally the students create a "walk through" video of their house. During this they describe the amenities of their house.
The students get a wiring grade, a structural grade, a design grade, a writing grade, and a video production grade.