Build a home

This lesson/project idea can start with a look at house design - estate agents’ schedules might be good starting point (from inner city terraced/tenements to suburban bungalows, detached and semi-detached houses, and modern flats/apartments). Science, Maths and Technology can look at present day needs and desires (e.g. energy conservation, building materials, insulation, costs). Applying this knowledge in a real life context, young people can work in teams to a given brief: design a house, build a model, estimate a price, and ‘sell’ it through a (simulated ‘estate agent’), competing against other teams for most popular house design, if desired. Art & Design could be involved in interior design.

Broad Outcomes of learning

• Subject knowledge gained and enhanced e.g. awareness of the housing market, ICT skills – house design
• Enterprising skills improved by developing creativity, confidence, self awareness, positive attitude; increasing motivation to learning; consideration of others through group work and discussion; raising achievement and fostering ambition
• Developed employability skills: planning, organisation, co-operating, contributing, analysing, reporting, presenting, marketing, etc
• Learners are encouraged to take responsibility for their learning through making decisions independently
• Learners have developed enterprising skills identified as 4 capacities of CfE

Relevance to curriculum

• Supports CfE technology
• Relevance of how curriculum topic on structures is relevant to work and life and how this subject knowledge is put into practice in a real situation