Nansemond River High School students recently took hands-on learning to a whole new level — or split-level, in some cases — when they created miniature model homes as they learned about different styles of architecture.

Each student chose an architecture style that sounded interesting, researched it, taught it to the class and created a model representing it, said Dawn Rountree, teacher in the Project Lead the Way program at Nansemond River High school. She has been assigning this project for about four years, she said.

The students are not required to create a full house model, but many chose to do so. The students were only required to effectively depict the specific characteristics that set that style apart from the others. Some of the styles represented included cubic, split-level, Italianate, Southern Colonial and Art Deco.

They are encouraged to use materials found around the house in order to save money, which also ties into their focus on green architecture, Rountree said.

The excitement of the project has built over the years, as students have seen the models graded in the hallway each year.

“They step up their game,” Rountree said. Even a number of non-engineering program students stop to look at the projects from time to time, she said.

“It’s almost like they’re house shopping,” she said of students developing their likes and dislikes of the different styles. Rountree loves “the fact that every student is interested in a different type of architecture,” she said. She considers it helpful for their future, whether it be a future in architecture or simply a future consumer, she said.

The projects are displayed in a neighborhood-like fashion while students are required to guess the architecture style solely based on the models themselves, Rountree said. In the end, the students vote on which project they deem the best. This year, first place went to an eggshell-colored Art Deco-style house, while second place was given to a large, Southern Colonial-style house.

After Rountree’s interest in aerospace engineering turned to a passion for education, she became a teacher in 2003. She loves “being able to show somebody their potential,” and “inspiring people to be a better them,” Rountree said.

She teaches a total of five courses for the engineering program. They include Introduction to Engineering Design, Principles of Engineering, Civil Engineering and Architecture, Digital Electronics and Engineering Design and Development, she said. The students are required to take these over four years along with their core classes, she said.