The Department of Agricultural Sciences offers 13 courses in the fields of biology, medicine, ecology, engineering, architecture, business, marketing, leadership, and more. Course descriptions can be seen below. Please feel free to contact me at [email protected] if you have any questions about a particular course.
Agricultural Sciences Course Descriptions
Advanced Leadership
Do you ever wish you could be more productive, successful, and admired? Do you want to become a more successful leader, a better person, and a stronger student? Advanced Leadership is a course based on the bestseller, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Students discover their personality traits, reflect on their relationships with others, and perfect their ability to prioritize and accomplish goals. Students in this course plan their own field trip and design their own final exam. In this course, the students help make the decisions and by May are in charge of running the class.
Credit: .5 (One Semester) Grade Level: 10-12
Prerequisite: none
Agribusiness & Marketing
Students in Agribusiness and Marketing learn how to effectively run any kind of business through an in-depth investigation of economics, marketing, and business management. Students first learn how and why people make the decisions that they do, followed by exploring how economics works at a national and international level. Students then move into marketing, investigating how to persuade others to buy their products and services. The class concludes with business management, covering not just how to run a business but also how to pay taxes and invest in a secure financial future. Students not only learn how to succeed in business but also how to succeed in life.
Credit: .5 (One Semester) Grade Level: 10-12
Prerequisite: none
Agriculture Cooperative (Work Release Program)
Students in Ag Coop are released for 1-2 periods per day to work at an agricultural, environmental, or scientific business. Students learn how to succeed in the workplace and in their future careers by taking part in actual work experience during the class day. Students are evaluated by their employer and the instructor to determine the readiness to succeed in the workplace. Students should speak with the instructor before registering for this course to ensure that they are eligible.
Credit: .5 (One Semester) Grade Level: 10-12
Prerequisite: Prior agricultural courses and consent of instructor
Agriscience
Agriscience is the flagship course of the Agricultural Sciences Department and is the gateway to all other courses in the program. Agriscience begins with the scientific method with experiments in the greenhouse. Students explore the carbon cycle and the growth of plants while designing experiments on greenhouse plants. Students then investigate cell biology regularly in the laboratory, learning how different cellular processes enable the productivity of the plants and animals we depend upon. During second semester, students investigate genetics and DNA, concluding with genetic engineering, stem cells, and cloning. Students work closely with plants and animals to discover their inner mechanisms through inquiry and independent learning, enabling students to succeed in a wide range of courses and on the ACT Exam. Agriscience not only prepares students to understand rigorous concepts in science, agriculture, medicine, mathematics, ecology, and engineering, but also prepares them for college and for careers after high school.
Credit: 1.0 (Full Year) Grade Level: 9-12
Prerequisite: None
Biotechnology & Bioenergy
Developed in cooperation with federal researchers and university laboratories, this course teaches students how to develop advanced next-generation fuels including biodiesel, ethanol, and biogas. Students work weekly in the agricultural laboratory to develop more efficient and sustainable fuels while exploring their impact on engines and on the environment. Students learn first-rate laboratory techniques and engineering skills while creating the actual fuels that they are studying. Later in the semester, students explore genetic engineering with living organisms, exploring how microbes can be engineered to make sustainable fuels as well as antibiotics, cheese, yogurt, root beer, and other products.
Credit: .5 (One Semester) Grade Level: 10-12
Prerequisite: Agriscience or consent of instructor
Greenhouse Management
Students in this course spend most of their time in the greenhouse, learning and applying real-world skills needed to grow flowers and vegetables as well as diagnose pathogens, prevent disease, and maximize horticultural performance. Students leave the course able to manage a greenhouse, maximize plant growth, and obtain careers in a horticultural field.
Credit: .5 (One Semester) Grade Level: 10-12
Prerequisite: Agriscience or consent of instructor, Home Gardening and Horticulture is recommended.
Home Gardening & Horticulture – ES*
This class is all about how to successfully grow your own backyard garden. Students begin by exploring soil science and plant anatomy, learning how a seed becomes a full grown plant while exploring how to maximize plant performance in a garden. As winter turns to spring, students begin working outside to create gardens, plant seeds, and cultivate the growth of delicious vegetables and colorful flowers. Students will gain useful horticultural skills while learning in-depth lessons about botany and plant physiology. At the end of this course, students gain the ability to grow their own food anytime in a backyard garden.
Credit: .5 (One Semester) Grade Level: 10-12
Prerequisite: Agriscience or consent of instructor.
*ES = Science Equivalent Course (this course counts for science credit)
Landscape Design
Well-designed landscapes raise property values, improve the beauty of the home, and protect the environment. In this class, you’ll learn the principles of design on scale model homes. You’ll master hand-drawn landscape plans and drafting before moving on to real-world projects. You’ll be given lots of freedom to design projects in teams on and off the school grounds. You will spend much of the semester in the warm spring sunshine turning your designs into real projects in order to create beautiful, well-managed areas.
Credit: .5 (One Semester) Grade Level: 10-12
Prerequisite: Agriscience or consent of instructor.
Large Animal Veterinary Science
Large Animal Veterinary Science is your chance to make decisions like a doctor, nurse, or veterinarian while you’re still in high school. Students in this course begin with an exploration of health and diseases, analyzing pathogens and learning how to reduce the prevalence of disease through the administration of vaccines, antibiotics, and other health measures. Students then explore the reproductive system of mammals, learning how to enable reproduction through management and hormone therapies while preventing reproductive disease and disorders. Next, students explore mammalian nutrition, connecting the components of the diet of an animal to its health and wellbeing. Students conclude the course by assessing animal welfare, facility design, and finish by conducting physical exams on actual cattle in order to determine the appropriate diagnosis for their condition. Students work closely with living animals to gain real-world skills and dissect organs in order to better understand animal systems from the inside-out. In this class, you will be treated like a veterinary student and you will learn to diagnose and treat actual diseases and disorders. This is an ideal class for anyone who wants a career in a medical, science, or agricultural field.
Credit: .5 (One Semester) Grade Level: 10-12
Prerequisite: Agriscience or Honors Biology.
Natural Resources – ES*
Do you enjoy the outdoors? Do you have a passion for the environment? In this class, we learn what we can do to protect and enjoy the natural world while maximizing biodiversity and species richness. Natural Resources is an environmental science course where students learn ecology by regularly working outside in the environment. From assessing the biodiversity of the campus Environmental Center, to performing water chemistry tests on the Fox River, to analyzing climate data from the ice of Antarctica and Lake Mendota, students in Natural Resources perform work and collect information that reflects the threats posed to ecosystems all around the world. Students will explore the main causes of extinction while investigating methods to protect the biodiversity of Earth’s fragile ecosystems and ensure that we can continue to enjoy outdoor recreation for generations to come. This is an ideal course for anyone with an interest in the outdoors or the environment.
Credit: .5 (One Semester) Grade Level: 9-12
Prerequisite: none
*ES = Science Equivalent Course (this course counts for science credit)
Personal Preparation for Careers
In this course, students plan and prepare for their future careers by taking part in extracurricular activities through the National FFA Organization. At the start of the class, students complete a proficiency application detailing their experiences related to a specific career. Next, students bolster their professional communication skills by competing in the FFA Speaking Contests. Students will then take part in a Career Development Event contest through the FFA, gain personal experience in environmental protection, and then complete a research experiment related to their intended career field, concluding with a final project summarizing their career intentions and educational path. Students operate on an independent-study basis, coming to the Agricultural Sciences department during a free period to work individually in each area. To receive course credit, students need to be registered prior to the start of the spring semester and complete all required activities or an equivalent.
Credit: .5 (One Semester – Spring Only) Grade Level: 9-12
Prerequisites: Agriscience (may be taken concurrently in the same year)
Summer Research Scholars (Summer Only)
The Summer Research Scholars course provides an opportunity for students to develop, conduct, evaluate, and present their own scientific research projects for course credit. College-bound students in grades 10-11 propose summer research projects at the start of the spring semester. These projects should be a long-term investigation or multiple smaller related investigations that would occur over the months of June, July, and August. The projects should be based on original ideas and hypotheses about unanswered scientific questions in agriculture, ecology, engineering, or life science. Students accepted for a Summer Research Scholars project meet weekly in summer to plan their work, discuss their progress, report their findings, and evaluate their results. Participating students are responsible for submitting a progress report midway through their projects. At the conclusion of the project, students deliver a multimedia presentation of their results and findings.
Credit: .5 (Summer Semester) Grade Level: 10-11 (prior to summer in which research is conducted)
Prerequisite: Agriscience or Honors Biology and consent of instructors.
Veterinary Pet Care:
This is the only class at school with cats and dogs in the classroom! Learn how to keep your pets happy, healthy, and safe with actual classroom animals. You will learn how to perform lifesaving procedures such as CPR and artificial respiration, make diagnoses, and analyze diets and nutrition. You will learn how to bandage an abrasion, stitch a wound, and address any major medical emergency. You will understand what it takes to effectively care for dogs and cats in any situation. This is an ideal class for anyone who loves caring for animals or who wants to pursue a career in a medical field. This class involves opportunities to work with live dogs and cats as well as various other species, and often involves organ dissection.
Credit: .5 (One Semester) Grade Level: 10-12
Prerequisite: Agriscience or Honors Biology.
Advanced Leadership
Do you ever wish you could be more productive, successful, and admired? Do you want to become a more successful leader, a better person, and a stronger student? Advanced Leadership is a course based on the bestseller, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Students discover their personality traits, reflect on their relationships with others, and perfect their ability to prioritize and accomplish goals. Students in this course plan their own field trip and design their own final exam. In this course, the students help make the decisions and by May are in charge of running the class.
Credit: .5 (One Semester) Grade Level: 10-12
Prerequisite: none
Agribusiness & Marketing
Students in Agribusiness and Marketing learn how to effectively run any kind of business through an in-depth investigation of economics, marketing, and business management. Students first learn how and why people make the decisions that they do, followed by exploring how economics works at a national and international level. Students then move into marketing, investigating how to persuade others to buy their products and services. The class concludes with business management, covering not just how to run a business but also how to pay taxes and invest in a secure financial future. Students not only learn how to succeed in business but also how to succeed in life.
Credit: .5 (One Semester) Grade Level: 10-12
Prerequisite: none
Agriculture Cooperative (Work Release Program)
Students in Ag Coop are released for 1-2 periods per day to work at an agricultural, environmental, or scientific business. Students learn how to succeed in the workplace and in their future careers by taking part in actual work experience during the class day. Students are evaluated by their employer and the instructor to determine the readiness to succeed in the workplace. Students should speak with the instructor before registering for this course to ensure that they are eligible.
Credit: .5 (One Semester) Grade Level: 10-12
Prerequisite: Prior agricultural courses and consent of instructor
Agriscience
Agriscience is the flagship course of the Agricultural Sciences Department and is the gateway to all other courses in the program. Agriscience begins with the scientific method with experiments in the greenhouse. Students explore the carbon cycle and the growth of plants while designing experiments on greenhouse plants. Students then investigate cell biology regularly in the laboratory, learning how different cellular processes enable the productivity of the plants and animals we depend upon. During second semester, students investigate genetics and DNA, concluding with genetic engineering, stem cells, and cloning. Students work closely with plants and animals to discover their inner mechanisms through inquiry and independent learning, enabling students to succeed in a wide range of courses and on the ACT Exam. Agriscience not only prepares students to understand rigorous concepts in science, agriculture, medicine, mathematics, ecology, and engineering, but also prepares them for college and for careers after high school.
Credit: 1.0 (Full Year) Grade Level: 9-12
Prerequisite: None
Biotechnology & Bioenergy
Developed in cooperation with federal researchers and university laboratories, this course teaches students how to develop advanced next-generation fuels including biodiesel, ethanol, and biogas. Students work weekly in the agricultural laboratory to develop more efficient and sustainable fuels while exploring their impact on engines and on the environment. Students learn first-rate laboratory techniques and engineering skills while creating the actual fuels that they are studying. Later in the semester, students explore genetic engineering with living organisms, exploring how microbes can be engineered to make sustainable fuels as well as antibiotics, cheese, yogurt, root beer, and other products.
Credit: .5 (One Semester) Grade Level: 10-12
Prerequisite: Agriscience or consent of instructor
Greenhouse Management
Students in this course spend most of their time in the greenhouse, learning and applying real-world skills needed to grow flowers and vegetables as well as diagnose pathogens, prevent disease, and maximize horticultural performance. Students leave the course able to manage a greenhouse, maximize plant growth, and obtain careers in a horticultural field.
Credit: .5 (One Semester) Grade Level: 10-12
Prerequisite: Agriscience or consent of instructor, Home Gardening and Horticulture is recommended.
Home Gardening & Horticulture – ES*
This class is all about how to successfully grow your own backyard garden. Students begin by exploring soil science and plant anatomy, learning how a seed becomes a full grown plant while exploring how to maximize plant performance in a garden. As winter turns to spring, students begin working outside to create gardens, plant seeds, and cultivate the growth of delicious vegetables and colorful flowers. Students will gain useful horticultural skills while learning in-depth lessons about botany and plant physiology. At the end of this course, students gain the ability to grow their own food anytime in a backyard garden.
Credit: .5 (One Semester) Grade Level: 10-12
Prerequisite: Agriscience or consent of instructor.
*ES = Science Equivalent Course (this course counts for science credit)
Landscape Design
Well-designed landscapes raise property values, improve the beauty of the home, and protect the environment. In this class, you’ll learn the principles of design on scale model homes. You’ll master hand-drawn landscape plans and drafting before moving on to real-world projects. You’ll be given lots of freedom to design projects in teams on and off the school grounds. You will spend much of the semester in the warm spring sunshine turning your designs into real projects in order to create beautiful, well-managed areas.
Credit: .5 (One Semester) Grade Level: 10-12
Prerequisite: Agriscience or consent of instructor.
Large Animal Veterinary Science
Large Animal Veterinary Science is your chance to make decisions like a doctor, nurse, or veterinarian while you’re still in high school. Students in this course begin with an exploration of health and diseases, analyzing pathogens and learning how to reduce the prevalence of disease through the administration of vaccines, antibiotics, and other health measures. Students then explore the reproductive system of mammals, learning how to enable reproduction through management and hormone therapies while preventing reproductive disease and disorders. Next, students explore mammalian nutrition, connecting the components of the diet of an animal to its health and wellbeing. Students conclude the course by assessing animal welfare, facility design, and finish by conducting physical exams on actual cattle in order to determine the appropriate diagnosis for their condition. Students work closely with living animals to gain real-world skills and dissect organs in order to better understand animal systems from the inside-out. In this class, you will be treated like a veterinary student and you will learn to diagnose and treat actual diseases and disorders. This is an ideal class for anyone who wants a career in a medical, science, or agricultural field.
Credit: .5 (One Semester) Grade Level: 10-12
Prerequisite: Agriscience or Honors Biology.
Natural Resources – ES*
Do you enjoy the outdoors? Do you have a passion for the environment? In this class, we learn what we can do to protect and enjoy the natural world while maximizing biodiversity and species richness. Natural Resources is an environmental science course where students learn ecology by regularly working outside in the environment. From assessing the biodiversity of the campus Environmental Center, to performing water chemistry tests on the Fox River, to analyzing climate data from the ice of Antarctica and Lake Mendota, students in Natural Resources perform work and collect information that reflects the threats posed to ecosystems all around the world. Students will explore the main causes of extinction while investigating methods to protect the biodiversity of Earth’s fragile ecosystems and ensure that we can continue to enjoy outdoor recreation for generations to come. This is an ideal course for anyone with an interest in the outdoors or the environment.
Credit: .5 (One Semester) Grade Level: 9-12
Prerequisite: none
*ES = Science Equivalent Course (this course counts for science credit)
Personal Preparation for Careers
In this course, students plan and prepare for their future careers by taking part in extracurricular activities through the National FFA Organization. At the start of the class, students complete a proficiency application detailing their experiences related to a specific career. Next, students bolster their professional communication skills by competing in the FFA Speaking Contests. Students will then take part in a Career Development Event contest through the FFA, gain personal experience in environmental protection, and then complete a research experiment related to their intended career field, concluding with a final project summarizing their career intentions and educational path. Students operate on an independent-study basis, coming to the Agricultural Sciences department during a free period to work individually in each area. To receive course credit, students need to be registered prior to the start of the spring semester and complete all required activities or an equivalent.
Credit: .5 (One Semester – Spring Only) Grade Level: 9-12
Prerequisites: Agriscience (may be taken concurrently in the same year)
Summer Research Scholars (Summer Only)
The Summer Research Scholars course provides an opportunity for students to develop, conduct, evaluate, and present their own scientific research projects for course credit. College-bound students in grades 10-11 propose summer research projects at the start of the spring semester. These projects should be a long-term investigation or multiple smaller related investigations that would occur over the months of June, July, and August. The projects should be based on original ideas and hypotheses about unanswered scientific questions in agriculture, ecology, engineering, or life science. Students accepted for a Summer Research Scholars project meet weekly in summer to plan their work, discuss their progress, report their findings, and evaluate their results. Participating students are responsible for submitting a progress report midway through their projects. At the conclusion of the project, students deliver a multimedia presentation of their results and findings.
Credit: .5 (Summer Semester) Grade Level: 10-11 (prior to summer in which research is conducted)
Prerequisite: Agriscience or Honors Biology and consent of instructors.
Veterinary Pet Care:
This is the only class at school with cats and dogs in the classroom! Learn how to keep your pets happy, healthy, and safe with actual classroom animals. You will learn how to perform lifesaving procedures such as CPR and artificial respiration, make diagnoses, and analyze diets and nutrition. You will learn how to bandage an abrasion, stitch a wound, and address any major medical emergency. You will understand what it takes to effectively care for dogs and cats in any situation. This is an ideal class for anyone who loves caring for animals or who wants to pursue a career in a medical field. This class involves opportunities to work with live dogs and cats as well as various other species, and often involves organ dissection.
Credit: .5 (One Semester) Grade Level: 10-12
Prerequisite: Agriscience or Honors Biology.