High School Home Economics Projects
Home economics deals with the science of running a home, and activities associated with running a home. Although once intended only for girls, home economics extend to both males and females as they learn what it is like to take care of themselves and future families.
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Sewing Projects
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Sewing projects typically are part of a home economics curriculum, so assign activities to your students to test their sewing skills. You may challenge students by asking them to design then sew an outfit from scratch for themselves, a friend or a doll, or to find a garment the student likes from a catalog, then copy it. If you have access to historical patterns, have your students make an old-fashioned outfit to complement an era they are learning about in social studies.
Cooking
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Students may learn a great deal about cooking through hands-on projects. As a class, make a complicated dish together. Ask students to find a dish that has been in their families for generations or ones that represents their cultural heritage. Have each student make a dish and bring it to class. Have each student copy down the recipe and bring it in so the other students may make the dishes at home. If you are a teacher at a junior high or elementary school, your class can make simple dishes to illustrate how fractions and measurements are used in the real world.
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Finance
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Taking care of finances are important to students once they graduate high school and either enter the "real world" or begin college. Help students get their budgets in order by asking them to research careers in which they might like to participate, discussing taxes and researching local real estate. Each student is tasked with making a monthly budget on the salary for the career he has chosen. You also may challenge students by giving them an imaginary weekly budget and having them factor in water, clothing, entertainment, food and rent by pricing these items in their local area. Have them figure out a meal plan for the week on the budget they have been assigned.
Family Life
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Home economics typically also centers on family life. Students may research information about their families by undertaking a project on family trees, researching where their ancestors came from and when they arrived in America. Help students think about living life as an adult with a child. In the classic egg project, each student must take care of an egg assigned to them for a week. Stamp the egg to make sure the students don't switch eggs. You also may assign each student a realistic plastic baby doll that cries when it needs to be fed and changed.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit sewing image by Yury Shirokov from Fotolia.com
