(a) Implementation.
- (1) The provisions of this section shall be implemented by school districts beginning with the 2025-2026 school year.
- (2) School districts shall implement the employability skills student expectations listed in §127.15(d)(1) of this chapter (relating to Career and Technical Education Employability Skills, Adopted 2025) as an integral part of this course.
- (b) General requirements. This course is recommended for students in Grades 10-12. Recommended prerequisites: Principles of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources. Students shall be awarded one credit for successful completion of this course.
(c) Introduction.
- (1) Career and technical education instruction provides content aligned with challenging academic standards and relevant technical knowledge and skills for students to further their education and succeed in current or emerging professions.
- (2) The Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources career cluster focuses on the essential elements of life, food, water, land, and air. This career cluster includes occupations ranging from farmer, rancher, and veterinarian to geologist, land conservationist, and florist.
- (3) Geographic Information Systems for Agriculture is a course designed to provide students with the academic and technical knowledge and skills that are required to pursue a career as a precision agriculture specialist, a crop specialist, an independent crop consultant, a nutrient management specialist, a physical scientist, a precision agronomist, a precision farming coordinator, a research agricultural engineer, or a soil fertility specialist. Students will learn to use computers to develop or analyze maps of remote sensing to compare physical topography with data on soils, fertilizer, pests, or weather.
- (4) Students are encouraged to participate in extended learning experiences such as career and technical student organizations and other organizations that foster leadership and career development in the profession such as student chapters of related professional associations.
- (5) Statements that contain "including" reference content that must be mastered, while those containing the phrase "such as" are intended as possible illustrative examples.
(d) Knowledge and skills.
(1) The student develops a supervised agriculture experience program. The student is expected to:
- (A) plan, propose, conduct, document, and evaluate a supervised agriculture experience as an experiential learning activity;
- (B) use appropriate record-keeping skills in a supervised agricultural experience;
- (C) participate in youth agricultural leadership opportunities;
- (D) review and participate in a local program of activities; and
- (E) create or update documentation of relevant agricultural experience such as community service, professional, or classroom experiences.
(2) The student explains the current applications of geographic information system (GIS) in agriculture, food, and natural resources and identifies the future need for GIS in precision agriculture. The student is expected to:
- (A) research and compare current and emerging careers related to GIS in agriculture and natural resource fields;
- (B) identify and analyze applications of GIS technologies in agriculture, food, and natural resources;
- (C) explain GIS data as it pertains to agriculture; and
- (D) describe the types of licensing, certification, and credentialing requirements related to GIS occupations.
(3) The student analyzes geographic information and spatial data types in agriculture, food and natural resources. The student is expected to:
- (A) identify the uses of GIS in agriculture;
- (B) identify the GIS terminology used in agriculture applications, such as spatial analysis, remote sensing, georeferencing, geostatistics, and geocoding;
- (C) identify GIS models and representations in precision agriculture;
- (D) explain GIS representations of geographic phenomena in soil types, topography, and farming management;
- (E) organize and describe spatial data in yield monitoring for crop planning; and
- (F) analyze GIS data sources and ethics in agriculture.
(4) The student uses agriculture, food, and natural resources GIS tools. The student is expected to:
- (A) identify hardware and software for agriculture data management and processing;
- (B) explain spatial data capture and preparation, spatial data storage and maintenance, spatial query and analysis, and spatial data presentation for agriculture; and
- (C) describe remote sensing tools and technologies used in precision farming, including unmanned aerial support (UAS), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), and global positioning satellite (GPS).
(5) The student integrates spatial referencing and global positioning techniques in agriculture, food, and natural resources. The student is expected to:
- (A) explain spatial referencing systems and projections for capturing and displaying agricultural data; and
- (B) identify uses for satellite-based positioning to increase agriculture proficiency.
(6) The student evaluates applications for spatial data entry and preparation for agricultural analysis. The student is expected to:
- (A) analyze agricultural GIS spatial data; and
- (B) explain and analyze data accuracy and precision related to using GIS in agriculture.
(7) The student performs agricultural spatial data analysis. The student is expected to:
- (A) analyze GIS maps of agricultural fields to determine variables that would impact maximum crop yields;
- (B) compare vector and raster-based data for agricultural analysis; and
- (C) explain types of GIS analysis used in natural resource management.
(8) The student creates spatial data visualizations and cartographic models. The student is expected to:
- (A) identify types of GIS maps used in agriculture;
- (B) develop GIS maps for various types of agricultural data;
- (C) identify and explain the purpose of cartographic symbols used in precision farming; and
- (D) analyze visual data and explain how the data is used in agricultural decision making.
Source Note:The provisions of this §127.59 adopted to be effective August 1, 2025, 50 TexReg 3752.