Home Science: Nutrition, Development, Textiles and Resource Management
The Home Science domain of the Karnataka II PUC (KSEAB) examination tests how confidently you connect food and nutrition, human development, textiles and clothing, resource management, and community health to Indian home decisions. Marks come from accurate terms, named nutrients and deficiencies, and reasons, not general statements.
Food and nutrition
- A balanced diet supplies energy and nutrients in ICMR proportions: carbohydrate 55–60% of energy, protein 10–15%, fat 20–30%.
- Energy values: carbohydrate 4 kcal/g, protein 4 kcal/g, fat 9 kcal/g; cereal–pulse pairs complement limiting amino acids.
- Deficiency map: vitamin A - night blindness; vitamin D - rickets in children, osteomalacia in adults; iron - anaemia; iodine - goitre; vitamin C - scurvy; thiamine - beriberi.
- Micro-organisms, enzymes and oxidation cause spoilage; drying, salting, refrigeration and canning slow these changes.
Human development
Growth is measurable increase in size; development is progressive change in skills. Milestones: social smile around 6 weeks, head control by 3 months, sitting 6–8 months, walking 12–15 months, two-word sentences near 2 years. Piaget's sensorimotor stage (0–2 years) explains learning through senses and actions.
Textiles and clothing
Fibres are natural (cotton, silk, wool) or man-made (rayon, polyester, nylon). Cotton is cellulose and burns with a paper smell; silk and wool are proteins and smell of burnt hair. Plain, twill and satin are basic weaves.
Resource management and community health
Management follows planning, organising, implementing and evaluating. A budget balances income against fixed and flexible expenditure. Community programmes include ICDS (nutrition and pre-school education), Mid-Day Meal, and immunisation under the Universal Immunisation Programme.
Worked example
A meal supplies 60 g carbohydrate, 15 g protein and 10 g fat. Energy = (60 × 4) + (15 × 4) + (10 × 9) = 240 + 60 + 90 = 390 kcal. Protein supplies 60 ÷ 390 × 100 ≈ 15.4% of energy, near the upper ICMR limit; show every step.
Traps that cost marks
- Confusing rickets (vitamin D) with scurvy (vitamin C).
- Giving fat 4 kcal/g instead of 9.
- Treating growth and development as synonyms.
- Reversing burn tests for cotton and silk.