Eco-friendly Everglades

Greetings and Salutations! My name is Nathan Sloan and I am a student in the 7th grade. I was instructed to build a sustainable, eco-friendly house deep in the majestic Everglades, Florida. Therefore, explaining why there are stilts on the house. The garden is on the roof due to the lack of free land to farm on, due to the high amounts of water in the swamp. This project was assigned to me so my classmates and I could learn the importance of sustainability in any eco system. Each photo shows a different stage in the project. One of the photos is the whole house deconstructed and ready to be built. The second photo represents the base being completely finished. The last photo shows the final touches done to the outside of the house. It was hard and long process, there were many challenges that were rough. But I pushed through. I know it is a bit sloppy, yet I spent lots of effort to build this house so I myself am proud.

Popsicle sticks, Balsa wood, wood pegs, bandana/cloth for insulation, Plastic sheet for windows, Large popsicle sticks, Back paint, Red paint, Tacky Glue, pipe cleaners and green felt for the garden. ( an exacto knife is perfect to help cut the wood. BE CAREFUL! and scissors are an easy option to cut the popsicle sticks but an exacto would still work.)

This is the sustainable house model broken down. The first picture shows every part of the base separated. The base of the house is only shown in the first photo. All is needed is a thick piece of wood, and wood pegs for the stilts. The second picture shows the garden to be on the roof. This piece of the house took much effort and concentration. 2 wooden pegs for the compost bin, pipe cleaners, and balsa wood slab, popsicle stick, and black paint. To make the plants, you need to wrap the pipe cleaners around a pencil to get the spiral shape. A popsicle stick is used stand the balsa wood. Next, you need the blank paint and paint the wood so that it represents a solar panel. Finally, there is the 4 walls. These 4 walls are painted a coat of red before anything. Then, an exacto knife is needed to cut square shapes into each wall. Next, a plastic sheet will be cut to the size of the windows, to represent a window. Lastly, a bandana of any sort is needed to imitate insulation. Cut this to the exact size of the wall.

This step was fairly simple. All that was required was glue, the walls previously constructed, and focus/ self determination. You will need the tacky glue instead of regular because this certain type holds up better. place glue along all sides of each wall to ensure the walls stay up. The roof as the hardest part because of the "plants" on top, along with the "solar panel". Make sure the roof is placed carefully to fit the walls.

This step took much precision and time. During this step I need popsicle sticks, glue, scissors, and lots of focus. I needed to cut each popsicle stick to an exact measurement to fit the popsicle stick into the position wanted. It took lots of memory, to remember the size needed of the popsicle stick. It also to lots of time. This step was definetly the most aggravating, though the step was simple.

This project took much time, and it took lots of focus.It was fun to build, and I'd suggest the challenge of "building" in the wetlands!