118 Horticulture Today
Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
4. Math. A football fi eld measures nearly one acre without the end zones. As a turfgrass
consultant, you must determine how much sod must be purchased for this space. An
acre measures 43,560 ft2. The average size of one piece of sod is 16″ × 24″. (41 cm × 61 cm)
How many pieces of sod will you need to purchase if you want to buy 10% extra for
error? What is the current price for sod? How much would the sod cost at the current
price?
5. Language Arts. Search the Internet, horticulture trade magazines, or a local newspaper
for three job postings related to the horticulture industry. Choose the position in which
you are most interested. Create a résumé with your information for this job posting. Do
you have all the qualifi cations? Make notes of the additional education and experience
needed to fulfi ll the qualifi cations and how you would go about becoming qualifi ed for
the position.
6. Language Arts. Use one of the Corner Quotes in this chapter to act as a springboard for
a position paper on the importance of horticulture. Create an essay map and graphically
lay out a paper. Search the Internet to fi nd the website for ReadWriteThink. Explore this
website for tools to help you organize your paper on the horticulture industry.
Communicating about Horticulture
1. Reading and Speaking. With a partner, make fl ash cards of the Words to Know listed at
the beginning of the chapter. On the front of the card, write the term. On the back, write
the phonetic spelling as found in a dictionary. Practice reading the terms aloud, clarifying
pronunciations where needed.
2. Reading and Writing. Contact one of the horticulture associations via e-mail. Ask for
information about a particular topic (related to the organization) in which you are
interested. When you receive the information, read it and determine if it answers your
questions. If it does, write an e-mail thanking the person and telling what you learned
from the information. If you think the information did not answer your questions,
write another e-mail requesting additional information. Make sure your queries are
clearly stated. Be certain to thank the person for his or her time and attention to your
questions.
3. Speaking. Debate the topic of food preservatives and synthetic chemicals. Divide into
two groups. Each group should gather information in support of either the pro argument
(preservatives are necessary for the _____ industry) or the con argument (the chemicals
used in preservatives are toxic and can be dangerous for the environment and the
workers that handle them/food). Use defi nitions and descriptions from this chapter, as
well as other resources, to support your side of the debate and to clarify word meanings
as necessary. Do additional research to fi nd expert opinions, costs associated with
horticultural chemicals, and other relevant information.