WIS002 INTEGRATING THE INSTRUCTIONAL UNITS INTO THE CURRICULUM 02/23/1990 01:02 PM D1 71 Lines Integrating the Instructional Units into the Curriculum Traditionally, a district's agriculture education curriculum often focused solely on the agricultural needs and concerns of the community. However, today's agricultural industry operates on a global scale, and the local program should reflect that scope. Its curriculum needs to reach beyond the borders of the school district into the national and international arena. As educators develop or modify the local agriculture education curriculum, they need to keep in mind student needs; labor market needs; current and projected facilities; administrative support, including funding; and the expertise and preferences of the agriculture education instructor(s). However, in restructuring the local program, educators should retain two common elements of agriculture education, they are - a one- or two-year core of semester-long introductory courses, followed by - several one-semester advanced courses. Another feature in agriculture education to be preserved in the local curriculum is "learning by doing." Educators can promote this concept in their agriculture education curriculums by incorporat ing a balance of the following three interdependent, complementary, and essential components: - classroom and laboratory instruction, - Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) programs, and - FFA Organization activities. The instructional units in this publication were designed to address the above concerns in developing an agriculture education curriculum for middle/junior and high school students. The wide scope of the units can help teachers address far-reaching issues in agriculture as well as local needs and concerns. Educators also can use the units to customize courses to meet the needs of beginning and advanced students. In addition, the instructional units give teachers ideas on how to incorporate SAE programs and FFA activities into their classroom instruction and laboratory exercises. Finally, the units provide educators with opportunities to infuse science, mathematics, social studies and communication skills in to their curriculum to help their students fulfill high school graduation and college admission requirements. Guidelines for Using the Instructional Units The instructional units, while presented in alphabetical order in the text, have been categorized in to the employment clusters identified in "The Guide to Curriculum Planning in Agriculture Education". The units can be incorporated into the district's agriculture education curriculum as is or modified to conform to local needs and conditions. They also can be used to design courses of different length - such as nine-week, semester, or year-long - and at introductory and advanced levels of study. Educators may wish to add or drop topics or instructional concerns as they develop their local agriculture education curriculum. This publication's loose-leaf, three-hole punch format allows agriculture teachers to assemble the instructional units they need to prepare a course of study. Each unit, developed and field tested by Wisconsin agriculture teachers, consists of: - a description; - objectives; - student competencies; - subject matter to teach; - motivational activities, which the instructor may implement; - learning activities, which students may do; - and a list of multimedia instructional resources, including printed materials, computer resources, and audiovisuals.