Students in Jeff Ramsey’s Model and Design courses at Lakota Plains Junior High are proving that innovation doesn’t need a large footprint.
As part of an immersive, hands-on project, students tackled a trending real-world challenge: designing a fully functional tiny house no larger than 250 square feet. Working in teams, they imagined, engineered, and constructed scale models that reflect creative problem-solving and thoughtful design, all within tight space constraints.
Each group was given a specific “client”—ranging from a traveling musician with a pet iguana to a wheelchair-bound grandmother visiting a young couple with a baby. Their tiny houses needed to include everyday essentials like a bed, toilet, food preparation space, and at least 150 cubic feet of storage, all while using environmentally friendly features and staying within size and scale limits.
Design Criteria Included:
- Maximum height: 18 feet (at 1:12 scale)
- At least one window and a standard-size exterior door
- Green features like alternative energy or recycled materials
- Realistic, livable layouts tailored to the client’s lifestyle
Students were graded not only on the design and build but also on their ability to present and defend their decisions. Judging criteria included function, aesthetics, creativity, and communication.
The results? Smart, stylish, and sometimes even whimsical micro-homes that reflect empathy, engineering skills, and 21st-century thinking. Whether creating a cozy retreat filled with natural light for a book-loving pet owner or designing tech-forward spaces for remote-working parents, students brought imagination to life, one square inch at a time.
