Home Science (Theory and Practical) - PSEB Senior Secondary
What this domain tests
PSEB Senior Secondary Home Science is examined in two parts: a theory paper and a practical examination (laboratory work, a project or record file, and a viva). Questions test whether you can connect concepts to real household decisions - how a family allocates money and time, how a balanced diet is planned and costed, how fabrics are identified and cared for, and how a child's growth is monitored. Practical marks come from a neat record file with labelled diagrams, a small survey-based project, and confident viva answers.
Core rules and concepts
- Resource management: classify resources as human (time, energy, skill, knowledge) and non-human (money, material, community facilities); write budgeting steps in order; apply work simplification - combine tasks, use labour-saving tools, and arrange the kitchen around a compact work triangle.
- Food and nutrition: for each nutrient give function, rich food sources and deficiency disease - iron → anaemia, iodine → goitre, vitamin C → scurvy, vitamin D → rickets, protein-energy → kwashiorkor and marasmus.
- Meal planning: plan by food groups (cereals, pulses, milk, vegetables, fruits, fats, sugar), not isolated nutrients; adjust for age, sex, activity, pregnancy and illness, quoting ICMR-NIN recommended dietary allowances as the reference.
- Textiles: place each fibre in its class - natural (cotton, silk, wool), regenerated (rayon, acetate), synthetic (polyester, nylon) - then link care and laundry to fibre properties.
- Child development: tie milestones, play types and immunization to specific ages.
Worked example
A kurti carries an ink stain. Reason it out in order: ink is a pigment stain, so lift it with a solvent (methylated spirit or glycerine) before washing; blot from the outside inwards to stop spreading; use cold water first because heat sets pigment; then wash and sun-dry. Marks come from naming the stain type, the reagent, the sequence and the reason - not from "rub with soap".
Traps that cost marks
Writing "balanced diet" without naming food groups; swapping kwashiorkor with marasmus; calling rayon a synthetic fibre; naming a deficiency disease but not its nutrient; and skipping the working in any costing or budget question.