2019 - 2020
Florida Department of Education
Curriculum Framework 
Course Title:	Orientation to Agriscience and Career Planning
Course Type:	Orientation/Exploratory
Career Cluster:	Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources

Secondary – Middle School	
Course Number	8100110	
CIP Number	01019910OR	
Grade Level	6-8	
Standard Length	Semester	
Teacher Certification	Refer to the Course Structure section.	
CTSO	FFA	
CTE Program Resources 	http://www.fldoe.org/academics/career-adult-edu/career-tech-edu/program-resources.stml	

Purpose 

This course provides an overview of agriculture, and will help students to be educated about their food supply. The content includes but is not limited to agricultural literacy, importance of agriculture, the role of science, math, reading, writing, geography, history, and technology in agriculture, plants and animals, and sources of consumer goods from agriculture. Reinforcement of academic skills occurs through classroom instruction and applied laboratory procedures.  Instruction and learning activities are provided in a laboratory setting using hands-on experiences with the equipment, materials and technology appropriate to the course content and in accordance with current practices.

Student will learn a basic understanding of agriculture with focuses on plants, animals, and natural resources.  Students will also learn about our food system and the safety procedures in agriculture systems.

Additional Information relevant to this Career and Technical Education (CTE) program is provided at the end of this document.

Course Structure

The length of this course is one semester. It may be offered for two semesters when appropriate. When offered for one semester, it is recommended that it be at the exploratory level and more in-depth when offered for two semesters. 

To teach the course(s) listed below, instructors must hold at least one of the teacher certifications indicated for that course.

The following table illustrates the course structure:

Course Number	Course Title	Teacher Certification	Length	
8100110	Orientation to Agriscience and Career Planning	AGRICULTUR 1 @2
EXP AG @4	Semester	

Florida Standards for English Language Development (ELD)
English language learners communicate for social and instructional purposes within the school setting. ELD.K12.SI.1.1 

English Language Development (ELD) Standards Special Notes:
Teachers are required to provide listening, speaking, reading and writing instruction that allows English language learners (ELL) to communicate for social and instructional purposes within the school setting.   For the given level of English language proficiency and with visual, graphic, or interactive support, students will interact with grade level words, expressions, sentences and discourse to process or produce language necessary for academic success. The ELD standard should specify a relevant content area concept or topic of study chosen by curriculum developers and teachers which maximizes an ELL’s need for communication and social skills. To access an ELL supporting document which delineates performance definitions and descriptors, please click on the following link: http://www.cpalms.org/uploads/docs/standards/eld/SI.pdf.
For additional information on the development and implementation of the ELD standards, please contact the Bureau of Student Achievement through Language Acquisition at sala@fldoe.org.

Standards

After successfully completing this course, the student will be able to perform the following:

01.0	Demonstrate knowledge and skills in agriscience research.
02.0	Demonstrate knowledge and skills in the importance of agriculture.
03.0	Demonstrate knowledge and skills in agriscience laboratories and workshops.
04.0	Demonstrate knowledge and skills plant sciences.
05.0	Demonstrate knowledge and skills in animal sciences.
06.0	Demonstrate knowledge and skills in food science.
07.0	Demonstrate product knowledge and skills in agricultural processing and marketing.
08.0	Demonstrate knowledge and skills in natural resources.
09.0	Demonstrate leadership and communication skills.
10.0	Integrate the use of science, mathematics, reading, geography, history, writing, and communication in agriscience and technology.

Listed below are the eight career and education planning course standards.

11.0	Describe the influences that societal, economic, and technological changes have on employment trends and future training. 
12.0	Develop skills to locate, evaluate, and interpret career information. 
13.0	Identify and demonstrate processes for making short and long term goals. 
14.0	Demonstrate employability skills such as working in a group, problem-solving and organizational skills, and the importance of entrepreneurship.  
15.0	Understand the relationship between educational achievement and career choices/postsecondary options.  
16.0	Identify a career cluster and related pathways through an interest assessment that match career and education goals.
17.0	Develop a career and education plan that includes short and long-term goals, high school program of study, and postsecondary/career goals. 
18.0	Demonstrate knowledge of technology and its application in career fields/clusters.

2019 - 2020
Florida Department of Education
Student Performance Standards

Course Title: 	Orientation to Agriscience and Career Planning
Course Number: 	8100110
Course Length:	Semester 

Course Description:

This course is designed to provide an understanding of the agricultural food system, environmental resources, and strategies used to produce and market agricultural products, and an exploration of research through the use of the scientific method.  Throughout the semester/year student will take a closer look at agriculture and learn about the research and development of our food supply.

CTE Standards and Benchmarks	
01.0	Demonstrate knowledge and skills in agriscience research – the student will be able to:	
01.01	Define agriscience. 	
01.02	Describe products of agriscience. 	
01.03	Define the scope of research in agriscience. 	
01.04	Discuss the impact of research on agriculture on consumer opinion.	
01.05	Identify the steps of the scientific method.  	
01.06	Apply the scientific method to solve an agricultural problem.   	
02.0	Demonstrate knowledge and skills in the importance of agriculture – the student will be able to:	
02.01	Describe the historical evolution of agriculture and its impact on civilization.	
02.02	Discuss the scope of agriculture and its impact on daily life.	
02.03	Identify specific areas of commodity production in the state, nation and world.	
03.0	Demonstrate knowledge and skills in agriscience laboratories and workshops – the student will be able to:	
03.01	Identify tools, machines and equipment used in agriculture.	
03.02	Demonstrates proper laboratory/ workshop safety techniques. 	
03.03	Complete a project demonstrating the safe use of agricultural tools, machinery or equipment.   	
03.04	Discuss the impact of agricultural mechanization and engineering on society. 	
03.05	Conduct an experiment using proper laboratory techniques.	
04.0	Demonstrate knowledge and skills in plant sciences – the student will be able to:	
04.01	Distinguish between horticulture, forestry, and agronomic.	
04.02	Propagate and grow an agricultural plant.      	
04.03	Identify supplies and services industries related to plant science.  	
04.04	Develop a specimen collection of local plant materials.  	
04.05	Demonstrate proper planting techniques. 	
04.06	Discuss organic agriculture and conventional agriculture as it relates to plants	
05.0	Demonstrate knowledge and skills in animal sciences – the student will be able to:	
05.01	Distinguish between food, service and companion animals.   	
05.02	Identify breeds of food, service and companion animals.   	
05.03	Identify supplies and services industries related to animal science.  	
05.04	Identify the needs of an animal and describe and describe proper care for that animal.	
05.05	Identify consumer foods and products derived from animals.	
05.06	Discuss organic and conventional agriculture as it relates to livestock production.	
06.0	Demonstrate knowledge and skills in food science – the student will be able to:	
06.01	Describe the proper handling techniques and storage of food products from farm to plate. 	
06.02	List and explain methods of food preservation. 	
06.03	Conduct a food taste test. 	
06.04	Develop a production and marketing plan for a food product. 	
06.05	Read and interpret a food label. 	
07.0	Demonstrate product knowledge and skills in agricultural processing and marketing – the student will be able to:	
07.01	Define agricultural product processing and marketing.  	
07.02	Describe the processing and marketing of an agriculture product from farm to consumer.  	
07.03	Prepare, process, and market an agricultural product.	
08.0	Demonstrate knowledge and skills in natural resources – the student will be able to:	
08.01	Define and identify renewable and nonrenewable natural resources.  	
08.02	Describe agricultural management practices that conserve natural resources.  	
08.03	Describe effects of pollution on the environment. 	
08.04	Demonstrate how to recycle or conserve a natural resource. 	
09.0	Demonstrate leadership and communication skills – the student will be able to:	
09.01	Describe the aims and purposes of the FFA organization. 	
09.02	Identify opportunities available to FFA members. 	
09.03	Identify characteristics of a good leader.	
09.04	Participate in a cooperative leadership development activity or FFA Career Development Event.	
09.05	Identify the importance of effective communication skills. 	
09.06	Demonstrate effective communication skills.	
10.0	Integrate the use of science, mathematics, reading, geography, history, writing and communication in agriscience and technology – the student will be able to:	
10.01	Apply basic mathematic operations to solve agricultural problems. 	
10.02	Correctly use measuring instruments and utilize measurements to solve agricultural problems. 	
10.03	Prepare written and oral materials using correct English grammar. 	
10.04	Identify the main idea in oral presentations and written materials.	
10.05	Locates, organizes and interprets information from a variety of agricultural sources. 	

Listed below are the eight career and education planning course standards:

The student will be able to:
	
11.0	Describe the influences that societal, economic, and technological changes have on employment trends and future training. 	
12.0	Develop skills to locate, evaluate, and interpret career information. 	
13.0	Identify and demonstrate processes for making short and long term goals. 	
14.0	Demonstrate employability skills such as working in a group, problem-solving and organizational skills, and the importance of entrepreneurship.  	
15.0	Understand the relationship between educational achievement and career choices/postsecondary options.  	
16.0	Identify a career cluster and related pathways through an interest assessment that match career and education goals.	
17.0	Develop a career and education plan that includes short and long-term goals, high school program of study, and postsecondary/career goals. 	
18.0	Demonstrate knowledge of technology and its application in career fields/clusters. 	

Additional Information

Laboratory Activities

Laboratory investigations that include scientific inquiry, research, measurement, problem solving, emerging technologies, tools and equipment, as well as, experimental, quality, and safety procedures are an integral part of this career and technical program/course. Laboratory investigations benefit all students by developing an understanding of the complexity and ambiguity of empirical work, as well as the skills required to manage, operate, calibrate and troubleshoot equipment/tools used to make observations. Students understand measurement error; and have the skills to aggregate, interpret, and present the resulting data. Equipment and supplies should be provided to enhance hands-on experiences for students. 

Extended Student Supervision

Because of the production and marketing cycle of the agriculture industry, this program requires individual instruction and supervision of students for the entire period beyond the 180-day school year.

Career Planning
 
Effective July 1, 2019, per Section 1003.4156, Florida Statutes (F.S.), for students to meet middle grades promotion requirements, a Career and Education Planning course must be completed in either sixth, seventh, or eighth grade. These courses should be taught integrating the eight career and education planning course standards. Additional information on the Middle School Career and Education Planning course and the list of standards is available at http://www.fldoe.org/academics/college-career-planning/educators-toolkit/. The MyCareerShines powered by Kuder® career planning system is available free of charge to all Florida middle and high schools to assist students in completing research-based career assessments, exploring career options and developing an online academic and career plan.

Special Notes 

MyCareerShines is an interactive resource to assist students in identifying their ideal career and to enhance preparation for employment. Teachers are encouraged to integrate this resource into the program curriculum to meet the employability goals for each student.  Access MyCareerShines by visiting: www.mycareershines.org.

Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO)

National FFA Organization (FFA) is the intercurricular career and technical student organization(s) providing leadership training and reinforcing specific career and technical skills. Career and Technical Student Organizations provide activities for students as an integral part of the instruction offered. 

Accommodations

Federal and state legislation requires the provision of accommodations for students with disabilities as identified on the secondary student’s Individual Educational Plan (IEP) or 504 plan or postsecondary student’s accommodations’ plan to meet individual needs and ensure equal access. Accommodations change the way the student is instructed. Students with disabilities may need accommodations in such areas as instructional methods and materials, assignments and assessments, time demands and schedules, learning environment, assistive technology and special communication systems. Documentation of the accommodations requested and provided should be maintained in a confidential file.

In addition to accommodations, some secondary students with disabilities (students with an IEP served in Exceptional Student Education (ESE)) will need modifications to meet their needs. Modifications change the outcomes or what the student is expected to learn, e.g., modifying the curriculum of a secondary career and technical education course. Note: postsecondary curriculum and regulated secondary programs cannot be modified.

Additional Resources

For additional information regarding articulation agreements, Bright Futures Scholarships, Fine Arts/Practical Arts Credit and Equivalent Mathematics and Equally Rigorous Science Courses please refer to:
http://www.fldoe.org/academics/career-adult-edu/career-tech-edu/program-resources.stml.