Kelli Ogle's fourth-grade classroom at Hayden Meadows Elementary lit up with excited students Wednesday as they showed off their end-of-year creations.

Using a combination of math, science and engineering, the Hayden Meadows fourth-graders created battery- and solar-powered homes over the course of about three weeks. The project was dubbed "Solar Town."

On Wednesday afternoon the students put their finished projects together. They turned on their hand-made switches as Ogle turned off the classroom lights, revealing a town of solar homes.

A beach home, a sweet-16 themed home, pulley systems, miniature furniture, Lego people, working ceiling fans and disco balls and, of course, working lights were just some of the amenities the kids added to their homes. Ogle said they were so creative she had to remind some of the students that the project was about the power.

"We were more worried about the actual electricity, if the lights turn on or not, more than how good it looked," said 10-year-old Tytan Reynolds.

The cardboard was rough-cut on the two-story house built by Tytan and his classmates, Sam Lambert and Madix Avell, but included a Lego floor, a disco ball and a pulley system the "billionaire" Lego man could ride up and down — although Sam said they had some pulley issues because the motor would move it too fast.

"Just one issue of many," Sam said.

The boys also said they purposely added a pointed roof so the sun could hit the solar panel directly. They even created their own battery pack, but said it "didn't work so well," although it did work for a short time.

"It was very stressful for the last four days," Tytan said. "But we got it done."

Energy is one of the fourth-grade standards, so Ogle gave the students some of the background on renewable and non-renewable energy, showing them things like how to build circuits.

"We learned all kinds of amazing stuff that we never knew before about circuitry and energy," Ogle said proudly. "It's pretty amazing the stuff that they actually had to figure out."

Ogle gave the students, who worked in groups of three, white cardboard boxes, solar panels, battery packs, LED and incandescent lights, a switch, materials to make their own switches, alligator clips, metal wire, electrical tape and a multi-meter. Many of the students brought in their own additions to the homes, such as the Legos and furniture.

The EXCEL Foundation, an organization which funds grants to teachers in the Coeur d'Alene School District, provided a grant to Ogle for about $1,500. Ogle said the grant included kits she ordered, an engineering app for the students’ iPads, and materials.

Each home had both battery and solar power. The batteries lit up the homes while the students were inside the classroom, then they moved outside to show off the solar power.

Paige Wilton, Audrey Bell, Aurla Palmer and Ann Marie Dance were the first group of students outside to demonstrate the solar power.

"The light from the sun is called solar photons, and when they hit the cells in the solar panel, then they go into the wires and convert it to energy from the sun," said 10-year-old Paige.

The girls also demonstrated how their buzzer worked. They connected the buzzer to the circuit using positive and negative wires, and before someone could enter the house they would step on an area that presses together and sets off the buzzer.

Micah Minix, Jason Nelson and Ricky Salgado had a ceiling fan that worked perfect, but the girls said they tried to make one and it broke. The group that built the beach house also said it had some ceiling fan trouble.

"Ours worked fine until I bumped the house and the fan fell apart and now the light won't turn on," Ava Spranget said.

Ava, Emma Paulsen and Sally Gatten's house — complete with a pool, a sandy beach and a sunroof — worked perfectly until then.

No matter the problems the students had, each said they enjoyed the project and were excited to talk about everything they learned.

Paige, whose grandfather is an engineer, said she learned a lot about engineering and how to connect wires to make working lights and buzzers. Audrey and Ann added they not only learned how to wire circuits, but also how to solve problems. And Aurla, whose father is also an engineer, said she enjoyed learning a little about what her father does.

"I think my favorite part was learning more about engineering, and also being with my friends," Aurla said.

Ogle said the students "hands-down" learned skills that will stay with them for a lifetime.

"Everybody failed in here but they all problem-solved through it," Ogle said.