Pennsylvania S upervised A gricultural E xperience Practicum Skills

What are Practicum Skills? Practicum Skills Enterprises allow students to gain knowledge through: *School related skill development activities. *Non-experimental research *Exploring various areas of agriculture *Exploring agricultural careers.

School related practicum skills example: Keep records of what you do each day in your agriculture class, ag mechanics shop, greenhouse, floral shop, land lab, etc. Work in the school greenhouse or land lab Serve as a school lab assistant. Develop and or maintain the FFA chapter website. Develop and/or participate in a recycling or litter pick up program Plant a butterfly garden at an elementary school

Creative Practicum Skills Examples: Develop a marketing plan for an agricultural commodity Write a series of newspaper articles about the environment Design a land use plan for your school district Develop a landscape design for a community facility Design an advertising campaign for an agribusiness Attend a county or state conservation camp

More practicum skills examples: Observe and/or assist a florist Grow plants in a milk jug "greenhouse" Assist on a horse farm for a day Interview an agricultural loan officer in a bank Prepare a scrapbook on the work of a veterinarian Attend an agricultural career day Volunteer at a zoo

Every Practicum Skills Record Book begins with Your enterprise name and number should be the same as you entered in the second column on your common pages title page. This page should be completed at the beginning of the project year in blue or black ink. Enter your name the same way as on the Common pages cover page. Enter your teachers name and your school name. Enter the date you and your teacher agree that you will begin your practicum skills project. (If you are doing a school based enterprise, you may elect to keep your records on a school year basis.) Ag Shop1 Jan. 1st Andrew Educator Your School High School Joseph Scholar 20XX

Continuing with, Enter the date of the first day you will enter data into your record book. This date should be determined in conference with your teacher. (Practicum skills enterprises conducted at school are often kept on a school year basis rather than a calendar year basis.) Jan. 1st 20XX Dec. 31st 20XX Enter the date of the last day you will enter data into your record book. This date should also be determined in conference with your teacher. The next section explains the expectations of each person listed on the agreement. Student will provide his/her own safety glasses, coveralls and safety shoes. This page should be completed at the beginning of the project year in blue or black ink

Give a brief but complete description of the agricultural laboratory. The agriculture shop consists of an area approximately 1500 square feet. It includes 10 electric arc stick welders, 3 MIG welders and a TIG welder as well as a plasma cutter, a four station oxy-acetylene welding station as well as various metal working and bending jigs. There is also a weld testing station and two drill presses. Woodworking equipment includes a table saw, band saw, radial arm saw, belt and disk sander, planer, miter box saw, wood lathe and various hand and small power tools. We have stations for electricity and wiring, concrete and masonry, small gas engines and hydraulics. There is a safety cabinet, fire extinguishers and a cabinet to sterilize safety glasses. There is a fume exhaust system for the welders and small engines and a dust collecting system for the woodworking equipment. Use complete sentences and proper grammar.

Finally, sign the agreement yourself and secure the signature of your parent. Signatures should be in blue or black ink. It is important to have your parent sign the agreement to verify that you have discussed this project with them. Any successful SAE has the support of all parties involved in the project. Joseph Scholar January 30, 20XX Elizabeth Scholar March 30, 20XX Andrew Educator January 30, 20XX Your teacher will most likely sign the form only after you have secured your parental signature (and signed the page yourself, of course.)

Your name, your enterprise name and number should be the same as you entered on your common pages title page. Enter this information on every page of this record book. Ag Shop1 Joseph Scholar Welding safety Striking an arc & running a bead Flat position, butt weld Flat position, fillet weld Horizontal up weld Woodworking safety Construct a saw horse Construct a parallel circuit Properly use a micrometer You enter your TASK AREAS on this page. A task area is a general description of a skill. For example: welding; bedding plant production; animal health. You may add task areas during the enterprise. There is room for fifty task areas on this page, but you may use as few or as many spaces as you need for your particular practicum skills enterprise. Everything you do for this project MUST be assigned to a summary area.

Greenhouse production1 Joseph Scholar Properly ID 25 greenhouse plants Properly water plants Mix fertilizer and apply Do a soft pinch on a plant Read seed containers & follow Plant plugs Transplant greenhouse plants Prepare a marketing plan Everything you do for this project MUST be assigned to a summary area. While ag mechanics practicum skill projects are very common, this record book is useful for many other agricultural areas. Another example is: Properly operate greenhouse controls See additional examples of tasks lists at the end of this power point

Animal care1 Joseph Scholar Animal lab safety Properly handle small animals Calculate balanced rations Clean and sanitize lab pens Properly groom small animals Clip nails on small animals Keep animal lab records Prepare & use a breeding plan Prepare a marketing plan Everything you do for this project MUST be assigned to a summary area. Another example is: See additional examples of task lists at the end of this power point

This record book is designed as a tool for student and teacher to evaluate the work done on the project. They may or may not agree on the rating recorded. This evaluation may be done at the end of the year or when recording summary information.

Enterprise name, student name and enterprise number must be entered the same as on the common pages cover page. Enter the summary area number (from page 2). Everything you do for this project MUST be assigned to a summary area. Good diary entry. Bad Example. 1/27/20XX 4 Mr. Educator demonstrated how to strike an arc and run a bead. Then we spent the rest of the class period practicing Be consistent with time units. Use the same minute or hour unit throughout your diary entries. If using the computer template, you MUST use hours. Ag Shop1 Joseph Scholar Worked in shop0.75 If you use minutes, you MUST convert the minutes to hours before entering your total time on the summary page 7 and 8. Use Other than required column for work done outside of regular class time. This can include time before and after school, during lunch or study hall.

An example of a diary entry for a bedding plant production task area would be: Our begonia plugs arrived today so we spent the entire class planting begonias into four inch pots. I learned to spot weld today. I could see my skills improve as I practiced. Welding could be the task area name entered on page 2. Bedding plant production could be the task area name entered on page 2. Everything you enter on your diary pages MUST be assigned to a summary area listed on page I also came to the ag shop during study hall to practice. 1 2 An example of a diary (task performed) for a welding task area would be: 30 Your entries must be reasonable experiences and specific. Entries should be sentences. Entries should show a progression of skills – not repetition of the same activity for long periods

I constructed a wooden frame to hold pipes for a new hydroponics system.. I learned to spot weld today. I could see my skills improve as I practiced. Welding could be the task area name entered on page 2. Woodworking could be the task area name entered on page 2. Everything you enter on your diary pages MUST be assigned to a summary area listed on page I also came to the ag shop during study hall to practice. 1 2 You may need to do multiple entries for each class period I updated my record book and took photos of several projects.20 SAE record book could be the task area name entered on page 2.

I added mulch to two flower beds and raked leaves from several paths. I repaired the tire on the wheel barrow so I could use it, during study hall. Tool maintenance could be the task area name entered on page 2. Landscape maintenance could be the task area name entered on page 2. Everything you enter on your diary pages MUST be assigned to a summary area listed on page Another example I updated my record book and took photos of several projects.20 SAE record book could be the task area name entered on page 2. Remember, all of these diary entries occurred on the same day.

Continue entering your diary data – when a page is filled, 120 Animal care1 Joseph Scholar make sure you carry the totals forward to the next page.

On the summary pages, you have the opportunity to combine all summary areas so that you and your teacher can see how much time you spent on each summary area (from page 2). Ag Shop 1 Joseph Scholar Welding safety Flat position butt welding Horizontal up weld Construct a saw horse using power tools Layout and test a parallel circuit with 1 switch Layout a circuit with 3 way switches Trouble shoot a small gas engines following procedcures List all task areas in the same order as on page 2. Be sure to match summary code numbers Total ALL summary code 1 time from your diary pages as you complete the tasks in the summary areas and enter that amount in these spaces. BE SURE TO CONVERT YOUR TIME TO HOURS IF YOU USED MINUTES IN YOUR DIARY with areas from page 2. FINALLY, evaluate yourself on a scale of and have your teacher evaluate your work also. 3

Its important to keep a photographic record of your practicum skills project. Insert pictures here that document your practicum skills project. Insert a picture no larger than 4 inches by 6 inches. Make sure the picture is well focused and all safety practices are being followed. Enter the date the picture was taken and the location. 1/6/XX Joseph Scholar Today I passed the safety test for the band saw and was allowed to use the saw for the first time. I was sure to wear safety glasses, because if I had forgotten I would have failed the final part of the safety test. In this example, passing the band saw safety test should also be documented in the students diary entries Finally describe the photo in fifty words or less. Your School High School 24

The scorecard will help you understand what we are looking for when practicum skills records are judged at the state FFA record book competition.

Keystone Degree Notes Data from your practicum skills enterprises is entered on page 6 of your Keystone degree application. To qualify for the Keystone degree with practicum skills enterprises you must accumulate at least 600 hours – at least 300 of these hours must be other than required lab hours. This MUST be shown in your record book.

This concludes the presentation on the practicum skills record book. You may want to go back and review this presentation at the end of the project year for help in closing out your record book. Well be looking for your record book at the Pennsylvania Record Book CDE in February.

Additional Example of a task list 1.Project Book 2.Ag Mechanics 3.Ag Resources 4.Agriculture Technology 5.Animal Science 6.Aquaculture 7.Bedding Plants 8.Chrysanthemum 9.Easter Lily 10.Environmental Science 11.Food Science 12.Fresh Floral Designs 13.Greenhouse Maintenance 14.Grounds Maintenance 15.Hanging Baskets 16.Hydroponics 17.Intern Management 18.Planning Landscapes 19.Landscape Drawings. 20.Landscape Maintenance 21.Pruning, Mulching, Fertilizing Plants 22. FFA Activities 23. Growing Woody Plants 24. Miscellaneous Floral Designs 25. Miscellaneous Potted Plants 26. Geraniums, Hibiscus, Impatiens, etc. 27. Pesticide Application 28. Plant and Soil Science 29. Farm Crops 30. Fruits & Vegetables 31. Soil Testing 32. Plant Tissue Culture 33. Poinsettia Production 34. Silk Floral Designs 35. Spring Bulbs 36. Sympathy Designs 37. Trial Gardens 38. Turf grass Management 39. Mowing, Fertilizing, etc. 40. Water Gardening 41. Wedding/Prom Designing 42. Window Merchandising 43. Miscellaneous This list is used in an Agriculture Department in a Pennsylvania high school.

Additional Example of a task list 1.Occupational orientation 2.Plant names, parts and functions 3.Environmental requirements of plants 4.Plant growth stimulants 5.Diseases that affect plants 6.Biological controls 7.Use pesticides safely 8.Insecticides, herbicides, etc 9.Shop Safety 10.Maintain shop tools 11.Electric arc welding 12.Oxy-acetylene welding 13.Wood construction 14.Masonry construction 15.Small engines 16.Tractor safely 17.Greenhouse structures 18.Grow cut mums 19.Grow snapdragons 20.Grow roses and orchids 21.Grow potted mums 22.Grow a poinsettia crop 23.Grow Easter lilies 24.Produce bedding plants 25.Grow foliage plants 26. Force bulb crops 27.Grow other crops 28.Landscape establishment 29.Landscape maintenance 30.Read a landscape plan 31.Animal feeds and nutrition 32.Trees, plants and shrubs 33.Garden store advise 34.Customer services 35.ID florist items 36.Construct corsages 37.Construct floral designs 38.Holiday designs 39.Floral wire services 40.Merchandising 41.Use the computer 42.Construct floral displays 43.Leadership in horticulture 44.FFA activities 45.Communication and P.R. 46.Employability skills 47.Citizenship 48.Research skills 49.SAE 50.Cooperative education This list is used in a Career and Technology Agriculture Department in PA