The Supervised Agriculture Experience

What is SAE?

• Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) Programs consist of planned practical activities conducted outside of class time in which students develop and apply agricultural knowledge and skills.

What is SAE?

• The actual, hands-on application of concepts and principles learned in the agricultural education classroom.
• Students are supervised by agriculture teacher

What is SAE?

• A planned practical agricultural activity which supports skill and competency development, career success and application of specific agricultural and academic skills a student has learned through classroom instruction in agricultural education.

Why Do We Require You To Do An SAE?

• Develop skills that can be used in getting a job
• Provides the opportunity to make money
• Develops skills that can be used in starting your own business
• Helps develop management skills

• Learn record keeping skills
• Improves analytical and decision making skills
• Teaches responsibility
• Provides the opportunity to explore possible careers

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Why Do We Require You To Do An SAE?

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Why Do We Require You To Do An SAE?

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• Develops knowledge and skills that could be helpful in college, as a hobby or for recreation.
• Provides the opportunity to win awards: FFA proficiency awards are based on the SAE program. In addition to winning awards, money can be awarded at regional, state and national levels.

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Why is SAE So Important?

• SAE is built on the philosophy of pragmatism - the worth of an idea (or what is true) is proven when it is tested, experienced, in a real word setting.

SAE: Doing to Learn

• Do
• Experience
• Reflect
• Discover
• Conclude
• Acquire

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“All genuine education comes about through experience.”

Students learn best when they are “motivated” to learn. SAE gives the student that motivation.

What is the legal basis for SAE?

• The Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 (a federal law) required all students to have "directed or supervised practice in agriculture, either on a farm provided for by the school or other farm, for at least six months per year."

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Types of SAE

• Entrepreneurship
• Placement
• Research
• Experimental
• Non-Experimental
• Exploratory
• Improvement
• Supplemental

Entrepreneurship

• The student plans, implements, operates and assumes financial risks in an agricultural business. In Entrepreneurship programs, the student owns the materials and other required inputs and

keeps financial records

to determine return

on investments.

Entrepreneurship examples:

• Growing an acre of corn
• Operating a Christmas tree farm
• Raising a litter of pigs
• Running a pay-to-fish operation
• Growing bedding plants in the school greenhouse
• Owning and operating a lawn care service
• A group of students growing a crop of poinsettias

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Placement

• Placement programs involve the placement of students on farms and ranches, in agricultural businesses, in school laboratories or in community facilities to provide a "learning by doing" environment. This is done outside of normal classroom �hours and may be paid or non-paid.

Placement Examples

• Placement in a florist shop
• Working after school at a farm supply store.
• Working on Saturdays at a riding stable
• Working in the school greenhouse after school and on weekends and holidays
• Placement on a general livestock farm

Research

• An extensive activity where the student plans and conducts a major agricultural experiment using the scientific process. The purpose of the experiment is to provide students "hands-on" experience in:
• 1. Verifying, learning or demonstrating �scientific principles in agriculture.
• 2. Discovering new knowledge.
• 3. Using the scientific process.

Research Examples

• Comparing the effect of various planting media on plant growth
• Determining the impact of different levels of protein on fish growth
• Comparing three rooting hormones on root development
• Determining if phases of the moon have an effect on plant growth

Examples, continued

• Analyzing the effectiveness of different display methods on plant sales in a garden center
• Demonstrating the impact of different levels of soil acidity on plant growth
• Determining the strength of welds using different welding methods

Research...

• There are two major types of Research Projects –
• Experimental
• Non-Experimental
• The previous slides described experimental. The two slides that follow describe non-experimental research.

Non-Experimental Research

• Students choose an agricultural problem that is not amenable to experimentation and design a plan to investigate and analyze the problem. The students gather and evaluate data from a variety of �sources and then produce �some type of finished �product.

Non-Experimental Examples:

• A marketing plan for an agricultural commodity
• A series of newspaper articles about the environment
• A land use plan for a farm
• A landscape design for a community facility
• An advertising campaign for an agribusiness

Exploratory

• Exploratory SAE activities are designed primarily to help students become literate in agriculture and/or become aware of possible careers in agriculture. Exploratory SAE activities are appropriate

for beginning agricultural

students but is not �restricted to beginning

students.

Exploratory Examples:

• Observing and/or assisting a florist
• Growing plants in a milk jug "greenhouse"
• Assisting on a horse farm for a day
• Interviewing an agricultural loan

officer in a bank

• Preparing a scrapbook on the work of a veterinarian
• Attending an agricultural career day

Improvement - minor component

• Improvement activities include a series of learning activities that improves the value or appearance of the place of employment, home, school or community; the efficiency of an enterprise or business,

or the living conditions of

the family. An improvement

activity involves a series of steps �and generally requires a number �of days for completion.

Improvement Examples:

• Landscaping the home
• Building a fence
• Remodeling and painting a room
• Overhauling a piece of equipment
• Building or reorganizing a farm shop
• Renovating and restocking a pond
• Computerizing the records of an agricultural business

Improvement Examples:

• Landscaping the home
• Draw the landscape plan
• Develop a list of plants needed
• Purchase the plants
• Install the landscape design
• Dig holes
• Place plants
• Fertilize, mulch, water

Improvement Examples:

• Renovating and restocking a pond
• Determine what to stock in the pond
• Order the fish
• Drain the pond or seine it to�get existing fish out
• Stock with new fish
• Fertilize if needed

Improvement Examples:

• Computerizing the records of an agricultural business
• Determine what type of record keeping system is needed
• Set up database �or spreadsheet
• Enter data

Supplementary - Minor

• A supplementary activity is one where the student performs one specific agricultural skill outside of normal class time. This skill is not related to the major SAE but is normally taught in an agricultural program, involves experiential learning and does contribute to the development �of agricultural skills and knowledge on �the part of the student. The activity �is accomplished in less than a day �and does not require a series of steps.

Supplementary Examples:

• Pruning a fruit tree
• Changing oil in a sod cutter
• Balling & burlaping a tree

• Helping a neighbor castrate pigs
• Cutting firewood with a chain saw
• Staking tomatoes

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Planning and Conducting SAE

OK, so I agree SAE is a good thing. Now how do I do it?

SAE is 10% of your Grade

• Every Ag student is required to have an SAE project that is accurately recorded in an FFA recordbook
• This SAE project will be presented in MAY at our SAE Fair
• You must invest at least 50 hours into your SAE project
• This counts as 10% of your grade
• What are you gonna do!?!