Dauphin County
Technical School

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Landscaping & Greenhouse Production

Landscaping & Greenhouse Production focuses on improving the appearance of the outdoors as well as producing and caring for plants. Plant biology and botany are included in the curriculum in addition to pesticide education, horticulture business, and plant identification. Students have the opportunity to work in our 3,000 square foot greenhouse propagating plants through a variety of methods. Aquaponics, hydroponics, and aeroponics are also part of the program. Landscape & hardscape design, installation, and maintenance will be a focus. If you have a passion for growing and caring for plants and ultimately our planet, the Landscape & Greenhouse Production program at Dauphin County Technical School is the place for you!

Mr. Arnold
POssible Careers
  • Agronomist
  • Aquaculturist
  • Stonemasons
  • Micropropagation
  • Turf Management
  • Horticulturist
  • Naturalist
  • Garden Center/Nursery
  • Plant Pathologist
  • Landscaping Business Owner
  • Forester
  • Botanist
  • Plant Physiologist
  • Biochemist
Potential Certifications
  • Pennsylvania Certified Horticulturist (PCH)
  • Pennsylvania Pesticide Applicator Certification
  • Employability: Interviewing Skill
  • OSHA-10
Articulated Credits
Post Secondary & Continued Education
    • Landscape Architecture
    • Greenhouse Management
    • Environmental Science
    • Landscape Design Build
    • Turf Management
    • Landscape/Plant Production Technology
    • Forest Technology
    • Local/State Postsecondary Schools (i.e. DelVal University, Pennsylvania School of Technology, Penn State, etc.)

SOAR Articulations:

  • Pennsylvania College of Technology (10 credits)
  • Westmoreland County Community College (3 credits)

Skill Alignment & CIP Code

CIP Code 01.0601 - Competency Records

Program Safety & Physical Considerations

  • A focus on safety around hand tools & other equipment found in the industry
  • Ability to read & follow written and verbal directions
  • Ability to lift 50 pounds
  • Good eye/hand coordination
  • Stamina to stand for long periods of time and ability to be mobile
  • Ability to work in all weather conditions

Essential APTITUDES for This Lab – Recommended Levels

  • Form perception
  • Motor coordination
  • Spatial
  • Critical thinking
  • Troubleshooting
  • Active learning, listening, & speaking
  • Math skills
  • Writing skills
  • Ability to work independently & in teams
  • Judgement & decision making
  • Leadership skills
  • Strong work ethic
  • Good intuition
  • Customer service skills

Reading

  • Explain the main ideas or draw accurate conclusions after reading text
  • Follow a complex multi–step procedure independently
  • Comprehend written text and apply it to understand tables, charts, and other visuals
  • Learn and apply content–specific symbols correctly
  • Apply content–specific vocabulary correctly
  • Identify and explain how different ideas connect throughout text
  • Read and understand diagnostic and blueprint information to solve a problem
  • Compare & contrast information in a text
  • Summarize information from different written resources
  • By the end of grades 9–10 & 11–12 read & comprehend technical texts independently & proficiently
  • Textbook: Introductory Horticulture, Ninth Edition, Average grade reading level: 14.33
  • Textbook: Landscaping Principles and Practices, 7th Edition, Average grade reading level: 15.46

Writing

  • Write with a sharp, distinct focus identifying topic, task, and audience.
  • Produce clear & coherent writing
  • Evaluate and critique opposing viewpoints using evidence from the text
  • Develop and strengthen writing by brainstorming, revising, editing & rewriting
  • Write with awareness to audience using program–specific vocabulary
  • Write routinely over short/long time frames for a range of tasks, purposes & audiences
  • Clearly convey with precision step–by–step work completed
  • Write fast–paced, accurate work reports
  • Use technology to produce, publish or share writing

Math Levels

Numbers and Operations:

    • Grade 6 – Fluency in operations with whole numbers and decimals
    • Grade 6 – Fraction computations
    • Grade 6 – Whole number exponents
    • Grade 7 – Percent and ratio problems
    • Grade 8 – Estimate the value of irrational numbers.
    • Algebra 1 – Problem solving with real world units, including conversions

Measurement:

    • NG – Units: English Precision: Nearest 1/16 inch
    • Grade 6 – Unit conversion within and between measuring systems
    • Grade 7 – Area, volume surface area of objects composed of triangles, quadrilaterals, polygons, and right prisms
    • Grade 7 – Area and circumference of a circle
    • Grade 8 – Volume of cone, cylinder, sphere
    • Geometry – Apply volume formulas – including pyramid

Algebraic Concepts:

    • Grade 8 – Slope

Geometric Concepts:

    • Grade 7 – Angle measure problems (supplementary, complementary, adjacent, angles of a triangle, parallel lines cut by transversal)
    • Grade 7 – Scale drawings of geometric figures
    • Grade 8 – Pythagorean Theorem
    • Geometry – Theorems about lines, angles, triangles, and parallelograms
    • Geometry – Scale models and drawings

Data and Probability:

  • Algebra 1 – Interpret data on various displays – use to make predictions

Theory Time

  • About 1 hour/day

Homework

  • About 1.5 hours/week

Lab Time

  • About 4.5 hours/day

Tests

  • Math: estimation & measurement
  • Plant Identification tests about every 2 weeks
  • Quarterly unit tests
  • NOCTI (mandatory for all CTE programs)

POS Academics and Electives Recommended

  • English, Math, Blueprint Reading, & Entrepreneurship are a part of the DCTS program

Study & Other Skills

  • Good attendance
  • Responsible
  • Shows initiative
  • Self–advocacy

Technology Skills/Knowledge

  • Use and navigate school–issued laptop
  • Web navigation
  • Email management
  • Navigate learning management system and instructional technology tools
  • Video conferencing