Living in Paradise: Building a Model Sustainable Coral Reef Home

Hello, my name is Noah, I'm making this project to show people how to make a model sustainable house in a coral reef. I built this house with wood, acrylic glass, cardboard, and popsicle sticks. In my 7th grade class, we've spent a lot of time talking about biomes and sustainability. We learned about the importance of preserving the ecosystems and using the resources in each biome.

For this project, we all were assigned a biome to build our house in. I was assigned a coral reef, which meant that I had to make a sustainable home for a coral reef. A coral reef is a large underwater structure made of coral. Coral looks a lot like rock, but it is actually a live organism. The coral is a very small animal called a polyp. When a polyp dies, it becomes hard and a new polyp grows on top of it. This is why coral reefs grow in size. The polyps eat plankton and algae to survive. Coral reefs are found near the coast in warm water locations.

I designed my home to be partially above the water and part below the water. I wanted to be able to see the coral reef from the bedrooms. I thought it would be cool to see all the fish and maybe a sea turtle from inside the house.

We used all leftover building materials for this project. We used scrap wood, plexiglass, Glue, screws, metal flashing, metal tape, cardboard, Popsicle sticks, clay, paint, wire, plastic containers, soil and grass seed.

For tools, we used a drill, box cutter, circular saw and a miter saw. My dad helped me with the saws.

This is my inspiration for my home. I chose to model my house after this because I liked that half of it was below sea-level and half of it was above sea-level. The reason I thought it was cool because I imagined myself living in the house and how cool it would be to go to bed looking at a coral reef.

I wanted to build a home with two bedrooms for adults and kids. I decided to have the top floor be open because it would help with lighting and with cooling.

I also wanted the design to be kind of simple to save on building materials. As it turns out, the design made it easier to collect rain water and mount solar panels. It also made it easier to put in windows.

A biome is a large naturally occurring group of flora and fauna occupying a habitat. A biome has made up of soil, vegetation, climate, and wildlife. For example, the rainforest is filled with lots of different species and trees, but some species have little animals like Tundra. Some biomes are in water while some biomes have none, like the desert.

The biome for my project is the coral reef. Coral reefs are found in shallow warm water near the coast. Because they are sensitive to the temperature of the water, they are mostly found in tropical areas. Because they are in the ocean, they depend on the sun. The algae that the polyps eat requires warm water and sun to survive.

I chose to place my home near the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia. The average temperature there is between 81 and 91 degrees Farenheit. Each year, they get approximately 79 inches of rain.

I believe that it is important to make homes sustainable so that we protect the flora and fauna that are part of the world around us. If houses aren't sustainable, they create pollution and destroy our ecosystem. By adding sustainable aspects to homes, we can save energy, stop using toxic chemicals and be smarter about how we live.

In this part, I am going to tell you which sustainable aspects I chose for my home. I chose them by looking on the internet for sustainable things needed in a house.

I chose the following sustainable aspects to incorporate into my home:

1. Solar Power: Because my home is on the ocean, there is plenty of sunlight (no trees means no shade). I can use this source of energy to power my home. The best angle for the solar panels in Australia is 29°. I have made my roof at that angle.

2. Batteries for power storage: Will help if there are any problems with the solar. They store any energy not immediately used by the solar panels on the roof.

3. Rainwater collection system: Coral Reef biomes in Australia get about 79 inches of rain every year. Collecting any rain will help to water the garden, washcloths, and shower. (see step 14 for a video)

4. Garden: It is difficult to get fruits and vegetables living on a coral reef. I added a garden to grow fruits and vegetables. I will also grow herbs for cooking.

5. Cool Metal Roof: The average temperature of my biome is 81-91°F. It also has 100% direct sunlight. Because of this, it is important to not overheat the house. The Cool Metal Roof will reflect the sunlight and help to keep the house cooler. (see pictures in step 15 and 16)

6. Food Source: The coral reef is home to many kinds of fish and shellfish. Even though I don't like seafood, I think I would have to learn to eat grouper, snapper, lobster, and clams. They would be a good source of protein.

7. Desalination system: It sometimes does not rain for months in Australia. I will need to have a system to use the ocean water for drinking, showering, and cooking. I could also use this water for my garden when it doesn't rain enough.

8. Building materials: I would use recycled materials in my home for building. I would use reclaimed timber for as much of my house as I can. I would need to use thick acrylic for the underwater windows because the glass may not be able to last without breaking. There are now companies that create recycled acrylic panels. I would also use insulated

9.Windows: My House has big windows on three sides of it. They will help to reduce energy use because they let in natural light.

10. Compost Bin for kitchen waste: will help to turn kitchen scraps into fertilizer for my garden.

11. Compost Toilet: This type of toilet separates liquid and solid and uses bacteria to break it down. After it is broken down it can be used to fertilize the garden.

For this project you will need: Wood, Plexiglas, reflective metal tape, Popsicle sticks, paint (blue or navy blue), foamboard

For this step your going to want to take any thin flat pieces of cardboard or wood you have and make a floor. You're going to need this for the coral and the floor.

For this step, you will need wood and Plexiglas. You have to drill the pieces of wood so it almost is a rectangle but instead of putting the fourth piece put Plexiglas.

So far we have built the basement with Plexiglas. Make sure you hammered or drilled in the screws or nails into the wood to connect them. For, the Plexiglass is held together with screws. It might not look like much right now but it this is a great foundation for the home.

For this step, you're going to want to take a piece of foam board and cut 3 doors into it. This is going to be one of your walls. You're also going to want your other two pieces for the next step.

For this step, you're going to insert the walls into the basement of the house. This is where the bedrooms and bathrooms are going to be. You're going to want to make sure you have enough space for furniture.

After you've created the coral and painted it, you can place it however you'd like to make the scene as real as you can.

Now were on to the main floor or 1st floor where the kitchen and dining room will be. This floor's roof is going to be at a 29 degree slant. It has to be this way because most houses that have solar panels in Australia are at a 29 degree slant. Make sure for the next few steps you have wood, a way to cut the wood, screws or nails,hammer or screwdriver.

Once the frame of the house is complete, you can start to add windows and doors. For this step, you're going to want to take the acrylic glass and drill screws in the glass and wood so it stays in place. You can be creative with the walls. On some walls I used bigger pieces of wood to have a consistent design. On other walls, I used smalled pieces and made a pattern. You can do whatever you like to make it look nice.

For this step your going to take the wood/cardboard you have and make sure its a few inches bigger then the basement. Your going to want to attach it to the walls/ supports you have made. Once you have done that you want to wrap it in reflective seal so it looks like metal.

For this step your going to want to shape the reflective tape and make it go into a straw or tupperware. If done correctly it should work like the video above.

For this step your going to want to take your last piece of flat cardboard/ wood and put it on top of the basement and under the first floor this is where any sustainable aspects can go (garden, desalination system).

For this step take some cardboard and cut it out so it fits the roof you want to make sure you have at least 4 on there and all the same size. Once you are done with that take a dark-colored paint and paint the front and sides. Once you're done with that attach them to the roof with glue or double sided tape.

Now you're going to want to put the main floor on top of your first floor and it should be finished. This house is supposed to come apart so you can see the interior.

This project taught me a lot about how we can use different systems to reduce waste, make houses more efficient and use the biome around us to live. This project taught me that there are ways we can learn to live that could be less harmful to the ecosystems around us.

I was assigned a coral reef biome to build my house in. Coral Reefs are not found around where I live in Massachusetts. This project helped me to know more about them. I learned about the temperature, the weather and what kinds of animals live there.

I could improve my design by making more working models of the systems. I was happy to be able to show how the rain water system worked, but maybe I could have then made that water go to the garden. I was also happy that I was able to build it using materials we already had in my house.

I think the most important part of building a model like this is to be flexible. Sometimes you make a mistake and cut something too small. Because it is your design, you can make changes at any time and still have a really cool model. Also, you can add anything you want to make it your own like artwork, outside paint, furniture and people.