Practical Skills and Project Work
The practical component carries marks for the project report, the practical record book, the skill task performed in the laboratory, and the viva. It rewards clear method, honest observation tables and a conclusion that follows from your own data.
Choosing and running a project
Pick a small, testable topic from your surroundings - adulteration in local milk, waste segregation at home, iron content of a day's menu, care of a cotton uniform. Structure it as title, aim, need for the study, method, tools used (questionnaire, test, observation), observation table, analysis, conclusion, suggestions, limitations and references.
Writing the record
For every practical give the date, aim, materials with quantities, method in numbered steps, observation table with units, result, conclusion and precautions.
Skills examiners ask for
Menu planning for a family, cooking a dish with nutrient conservation, basic stitches (running, hemming, backstitch), stain removal, table setting, first aid for a cut or burn, flower arrangement, preservation such as lemon pickle, and taking body measurements.
Worked example
Project: detection of starch in milk sold in the locality. Method: iodine test - iodine turns blue-black where starch is present. Collect samples from three shops, place two drops of iodine on a white tile with each sample, and record the colour. Reasoning: a blue-black colour means starch was added to thicken diluted milk, so the result is entered shop by shop in a table rather than written as one general sentence.
Traps that cost marks
Stating conclusions with no observation table behind them; omitting units, dates and the precautions column; copying a project without local data.