DESIGNING AND BUILDING YOUR DREAM HOUSE A PROJECT IN MATHEMATICS by A. Medel   This project has several objectives: to help students uncover what they know about architecture, think about the functions of homes, be acquainted to the different designs of homes and how these designs differ from one geographical region to another.  to develop a better understanding of the different mathematical concepts such as perimeter, area, surface area, scale drawing, and ratio and proportion.  to solve problems using the sub problem method (breaking larger problems into more manageable parts).  to write a report about the different types and styles of homes in certain areas and to write a vivid description of their dream house.  to build a model of their dream house.   PART I THE WRITTEN REPORT A. What are homes like in different places? Choose a part of the country or the world to research for types or designs of houses. Investigate why houses in that particular area are the way they are. 1. What are houses for? Does everyone need the same thing in a home? Are there people who don't need or use a living space of some kind? 2. Why are certain materials used in some houses and not in others? 3. Why are some houses big and some small? Is there any particular reason for houses to be of different sizes in certain areas? 4. What features of the houses in a particular area are different from your neighborhood? B. Describe a house type that you find to be unique. Here are some links that will help you find different types of homes. Yurt (a round house originally built in Mongolia) Chinese style homes Hay bale homes Dome houses Alpine homes Yankee barn homes Log homes Japanese style homes in the U.S. Classic Colonial Homes Online Eichler homes (in California after World War II) Levittown (in New York after World War II) More Levittown Homes Classic Colonial Homes (found on the East Coast of the U.S.) Victorian homes of the West Coast San Francisco and its Victorian Style Homes Great Buildings - a variety of homes and buildings More great buildings C. Write a short description of your dream house. 1. What are the special features that your dream house has? 2. What type of a house is it: ranch, colonial, plantation, victorian, etc.? 3. What are the different rooms in your house? 4. How many people are going to stay in your house? D. Create your own floor plan. Study different floor plans first by looking at samples from books or magazines. You can also use the above links to find different plans. Here's more: Cool House Plans Natalie Home Plans Modern Plantation Homes   1. Use the 1 cm grid paper to make your floor plan. 2. Scale should be 1 cm : 1 m . 3. Find the area of each of the rooms in your house. You will need this when you compute the cost of your flooring materials. 4. Include a copy of your floor plan in your written report. E. Calculate the "construction " costs of your house. The only expenses that you are going to figure out in the "construction" of your house are your flooring materials and your inside walls. 1. The floors - Decide which flooring materials are you going to use. Indicate the unit cost ( per tile, per board, or yard, etc.) 2. The walls - Are you going to use paint, hardwood, or wall paper? 3. How much of these materials do you need? 4. Find the unit cost and the "store" where you "bought" your materials. 5. Show your work when you figured out the total cost of your floor and wall materials. Here are some sites where you can "buy" your building materials: Home Depot Savvy Home-You can buy building materials on the web! Buy recycled materials AltaVista - "building materials"   PART II EVALUATION Assess your performance by printing out and completing the Evaluation worksheet.    PART III THE MODEL OF YOUR DREAM HOUSE