Help Harried Helga's Home Ec Class! Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. THE PREMISE Helga had an emergency, and you kindly agreed to take over her Home Economics class. You need to assign research-paper topics and practical projects, but harried Helga was so distracted that she left only some disorganized notes. Can you determine which student gets which project and which paper topic? Students - Fiona, Gunther, Kathy, Natalie, and Quinn. Paper topics - consumer protection, child development, food science, interior design, and a biography on chemist Ellen Richards. Projects - cooking a seven-course meal, replanting a garden, making a rug, baking a cake from scratch, and managing a household budget. THE CLUES (from Helga's haphazard notes): A - Two students failed their midterm exams and must present an oral report for extra credit (in addition to the written paper). The students are Natalie and the student who dropped his/her German chocolate cake on Natalie's foot and has to bake another one. B - One student must plan and prepare a seven-course meal. Helga does not want that student to write about food science. (She believes in minimizing overlap and maximizing breadth of experience). C - Gunther is writing about chemist Ellen Richards, the founder of home economics as an academic discipline and a person whom he greatly admires. He isn't the one taking part in a computer simulation of a household budget. D - Fiona, Kathy, and Gunther are -- in some order -- the one who must write about consumer protection, the student who accidentally poisoned the garden and now must plant a new one, and the one who must manage the simulated household budget. E - Neither Natalie nor Quinn will write a paper called "Child Development: It Isn't for Babies". F - More on Natalie and Quinn, but you aren't sure which is which: one is to make a rug out of old T-shirts, and the other has requested his/her "A+" midterm exam to be sent to his/her mother. G - Kathy cannot write about child development as she suffers from pediaphobia (which means fear of children). Question 1 - Who is assigned the paper topic on child development?

Answer: Fiona

Clue C eliminates Gunther, as it states he is writing the biographical paper about Ellen Swallow Richards.
Clue E eliminates Quinn (and Natalie, too), as it states that he will not write a paper on child development.
Clue G eliminates pediaphobic Kathy (she is afraid of children, so she will not write a paper about them!)

That leaves only Fiona to write on child development.

One of the most famous developmental psychologists was Erik Erikson (1902-1994), who developed the 8 stages of psychosocial development from infancy to old age. They include "identy vs. role confusion" in the adolescent and "ego integrity vs. despair" in the elderly.

2. Who is supposed to write a paper on consumer protection? (Hint: Answer question 1 first.)

Answer: Kathy

Fiona is writing about child development as we just deduced in question 1 using clues C, E, and G.
Gunther is writing about Ellen Richards as per clue B.
Clue E eliminates Natalie (and Quinn, too).

That leaves Kathy to write on consumer protection.

Kathy decided to write about the hodgepodge of consumer protection agencies in the USA such as the Federal Trade Commission or the California Department of Consumer Affairs.

3. Who must use the computer simulation to manage a virtual household budget?

Answer: Fiona

Clue D tells us that the simulated budget project belongs to either Fiona, Gunther, or Kathy. (So Quinn is out.)
Clue C eliminates Gunther.
We determined in Question 2 that Kathy is writing about consumer protection, so she's eliminated.

That leaves Fiona once again. Now we know that not only is she writing about child development (question 1), but also she must manage the virtual household budget. (It's not as fun as the Sims, no doubt).

4. Which student must replant the garden that he or she accidentally destroyed?

Answer: Gunther

Remember, clue D tells us that the hapless gardener must be Gunther, Fiona, or Kathy. In questions 2 and 3, We've successfully placed Kathy (consumer protection) and Fiona (household budgeting) among the choices in clue D. That leaves only Gunther unplaced, so he's the unlucky gardener.

We now know that Gunther is writing about Ellen Richards and that he must restore the garden. Evidently Helga is determined to turn Gunther's black thumb to green. She's keeping the chemical supply cabinet locked up, however.

5. Natalie will make the rug.

Answer: True

Clue F tells us that either Natalie is making a rug, or she got an A+ on her midterm. Clue A tells us, however, that she failed her midterm. Therefore, she is making the rug.

6. Quinn has an after-school job at the bowling alley and has very little free time to practice for an oral report. Does Quinn need to worry about an extra-credit presentation?

Answer: No

Clue F tells us that Quinn either got and A+ or he will get the rug.
We know from question 5 (using Clues F & A) that Natalie will make the rug.
That means Quinn got an A+ on his midterm exam.

Only the students who failed their midterms must make an oral report in addition to the written paper, according to clue A. So Quinn will be relieved to know he need not juggle an additional assignment with his job.

7. Whose project is to bake a cake from scratch (and hopefully not drop it again)?

Answer: Kathy's

We now know the following:
Natalie is assigned the rug-making project (see question 5). Clue A would have eliminated her, anyway.
Fiona is assigned the simulated household budget (see question 3).
Gunther must replant the garden (see question 4).
That leaves either Quinn or Kathy.

Quinn did not fail his exam (question 6 and clue F), so he is not the one to bake a cake (clue A). That leaves poor, klutzy Kathy, who also failed her midterm and has to make an oral presentation on consumer protection.

8. By elimination, which student is burdened with preparing the seven-course meal?

Answer: Quinn

We matched all the other students with their respective projects in question 7. (Read that explanation again if you need to.) That leaves Quinn to prepare the seven-course meal. Luckily he is a smart guy as we can see from his midterm (refer to question 6 and clue F).

9. What does Helga want Quinn to write about?

Answer: interior design

Clue B eliminates Ellen Richards, which is Gunther's topic.
Clue E eliminates child development.
Based on the deductions in question 2, Kathy is writing about consumer protection.
That leaves either food science or interior design for Quinn.

We learned in question 8 that Quinn shall prepare the seven-course meal. This means, in accordance with clue B, he cannot be assigned food science. He must therefore write about interior design.

10. By elimination, what is Natalie's paper topic?

Answer: food science

Gunther is writing about Ellen Richards (Clue B).
We have determined in question 1 that Fiona is writing about child development.
We have determined in question 2 that Kathy is writing about consumer protection.
We have just determined in question 9 that Quinn is writing about interior design.
So that leaves us with Natalie to write on food science.

The assignments, in summary:
Fiona - child development - manage a household budget
Gunther - Ellen Richards - replant the garden
Kathy - consumer protection - bake a cake from scratch - (plus oral report)
Natalie - food science - make a rug - (plus oral report)
Quinn - interior design - prepare a seven-course meal

Helga thanks you for your hard work! Fortunately everything got sorted out in the end! You get to enjoy a delicious cake, a hearty meal, a lovely garden, a cozy rug, and a balanced budget. The papers are another matter, of course, but don't grade the kids too hard.

Source: Author gracious1

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Tizzabelle before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

My first logic puzzle! Best to answer in order because each question in turn helps solve the next. Pencil & paper may help you keep track (make a grid if you're familiar with the technique). Take your time and have fun! (And help poor, harried Helga!)

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>