Lesson - Plan The Interior of a House

Purpose:

To understand how the interior of a house is constructed.

To learn the purpose of insulation.

To understand how plumbing is piped throughout the house.

To understand how electricity is wired.

To understand how walls are erected using wallboard.

To determine how ceilings are installed.

To determine what materials can be used for finishing interior walls.

To understand carpentry and other fixtures found throughout the house.

 

Review Background:
Review how far the house has progressed to this stage, and which workers contributed to the project.

Importance of this Lesson:
This lesson will allow students to understand the final stages in building a house. Students will be able to determine how various people must work cooperatively to complete the house.

 

Objectives:
At the end of this lesson the learner will demonstrate understandings of the building process by:

• Drawing a plan for "running" electric wiring throughout a house.
• Orally naming different plumbing used in various parts of the house
• Orally describing how insulation is installed inside interior walls.
• Demonstrating how wallboard is hung in preparation for covering.
• Selecting flooring that could be used throughout the house.
• Selecting cabinets, fixtures, and other built-in features found in a house.

 

 

Motivation:
Allow several students to discuss the exterior of a house they have seen and liked, leading them to suggest steps in the building process. Have each child formulate a brief written list base upon ideas of what might have been involved in completing the interior. Keep the lists for comparisons at the end of the unit.

 

Activities/Procedures:

The teacher and/or student will:

• Discuss the installation of electrical wiring in walls through studs, etc.
• Discuss how insulation is placed between studs of the wall, and how it helps regulate temperature.
• Discuss wiring being connected to a fuse box.
• Explain the purpose of electrical outlets and emphasize how children should be careful when using them.
• Discuss tools used by an electrician. Show several as examples.
• Discuss how all wiring is routed throughout the house and a circuit breaker keeps the wiring safe.
• Have new vocabulary written or provide a word box (list) containing construction words.
• Using Popcicle sticks, construct a small "skeletons" which include wiring and insulation. See activity.
• Discuss plumbing placement and how pipes are run from one place to another.
• Have students determine which rooms will need plumbing and what it might connect to, such as sinks, a shower, etc.
• Have students select and/or match tools that a plumber will use. Activity included.
• Identify and discuss the electrician and plumber as important workers.
• Provide samples of tools used in wiring and installing plumbing in a house.
• Have students separate and list materials the plumber, carpenter and electrician would use. See activity included.
• Discuss the wallboard and the purpose it serves in house construction. Relate the process of "hanging" wallboard. Discuss materials that can be used to "finish" wallboard, such as paint, wallpaper, etc.
• Allow students to select their favorite wallpaper pattern from (discarded) wallpaper books. Often stores will provide old books
• Have students to design a wallpaper pattern.
• Look at magazines and select different styles of fixtures for a house, cabinets, sinks, faucets, etc.
• Discuss the carpenter's role in completing interior work.
• Have students make a list. "How Do You Think" (see enclosed). Each student will make a list or write sentences telling how the ceiling is nailed in place, do this before the discussion.
• Discuss different types of flooring. Discuss how flooring is installed and who installs flooring.
• Complete a sign language activity. Use signs to determine what each word spells. Activity enclosed.
• Allow students to have a "sitting" scavenger hunt. List as many items in the classroom that would/ could also be found in a home. Activity enclosed.
• Complete a matching activity.

 

Materials:

list of new vocabulary
wiring
plumbing
faucets
fuse box
water heater
water meter
drain
circuit breakers
samples of electrical and plumbing tools
old wallpaper books
Popcicle sticks
string
construction paper
glue
shoe boxes
cotton or something to represent "insulation"
markers

 

Early Finishers (Enrichment)
Allow several students to diagram wiring or plumbing that could be installed in a house.

Students may work together, or individually, to design the interior of a house using cutouts of fixtures found in magazines or sale brochures.

Based upon items chosen from sale circulars, etc., allow students to develop approximate costs of fixtures and/or appliances to be used in a particular room. See activity enclosed.

 

Special Needs:
Experiences provided in this lesson will allow for vocabulary, motor and thinking skills to be developed. Other children in the group will also become acquainted with the use of sign language.

 

Closure:
Students will develop an instructional display that will highlight the final phase of constructing a house. Depending upon how much, or how many of the units completed, the final project could be developed around the construction process from start to finish.

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