Plant and Soil Science, B.S.

Agriculture
615-494-8996
Nathan Phillips, program coordinator
Nate.Phillips@mtsu.edu

The program leading to a major in Plant and Soil Science is designed for students interested in agronomy, horticulture, and/or soil sciences.

Academic Map

Following is a printable, suggested four-year schedule of courses:

Plant and Soil Science, B.S., Academic Map

Degree Requirements

True Blue Core (TBC)	41 hours
Major Requirements	43 hours
Science and Mathematics Cognate	15-16 hours
Supporting Courses	8 hours*
Electives	12-20 hours
TOTAL	120 hours

*This program requires courses that can also fulfill requirements of the True Blue Core curriculum. If program requirements are also used to fulfill True Blue Core requirements, the number of elective hours will increase.

True Blue Core (41 hours)

True Blue Core (TBC) requirements (shown in curricular listings below) include courses in the Foundational Skills areas of Written Communication (WC), Information Literacy (Info Lit), Non-Written Communication (NWC), and Quantitative Literacy (Quant Lit). Knowledge Domains include Human Society and Social Relationships (HSSR), Scientific Literacy (Sci Lit), Creativity and Cultural Expression (CCE), and History and Civic Learning (HCL), which include Discovery and Explorations categories. Students must choose at least one course from each Discovery category.

The following courses required by the major meet True Blue Core requirements:

CHEM 1010 /CHEM 1011 OR CHEM 1110 /CHEM 1111 (Sci Lit)
BIOL 1110 /BIOL 1111 (Sci Lit)
Quantitative Literacy (MATH 1710 recommended)

Major Requirements (43 hours)

Plant and Soil Science Core (19 hours)

AGRI 1000 - Orientation in Agriculture 1 credit hour
AGBS 1210 - Principles of Agribusiness 3 credit hours
ANSC 1410 - Introduction to Animal Science 3 credit hours
PLSO 1610 - Elements of Plant Science 3 credit hours
PLSO 3340 - Fundamentals of Soil Science 3 credit hours
PLSO 4690 - Crop Ecophysiology 3 credit hours
PLSO 4300 - Plant Protection 3 credit hours OR
PLSO 4670 - Plant Propagation 3 credit hours

Electives (24 hours)

Plant and Soil Science electives 21 credit hours
AGBS or ANSC elective 3 credit hours

Science and Mathematics Cognate (15-16 hours)

BIOL 1120 - General Biology II 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 1121 - General Biology II Lab 0 credit hours
BIOL 3250 - Genetics 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 3251 - Genetics Lab 0 credit hours
CHEM 1020 - Introductory General Chemistry II 4 credit hours AND
CHEM 1021 - Intro to General Chemistry II Lab 0 credit hours
OR
CHEM 1120 - General Chemistry II 4 credit hours AND
CHEM 1121 - General Chemistry II Lab 0 credit hours
6 hours of Quantitative Literacy choosing one from the True Blue Core (Quant Lit) and choosing one from MATH 1530 , MATH 1710 , MATH 1720 , MATH 1730 , MATH 1910 , or AGRI 4710

Supporting Courses (8 hours)

BIOL 1110 - General Biology I 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 1111 - General Biology I Lab 0 credit hours (may be counted in the True Blue Core)
CHEM 1010 - Introductory General Chemistry I 4 credit hours AND
CHEM 1011 - Intro to General Chemistry I Lab 0 credit hours (may be counted in the True Blue Core)
OR
CHEM 1110 - General Chemistry I 4 credit hours AND
CHEM 1111 - General Chemistry I Lab 0 credit hours (may be counted in the True Blue Core)

Electives (12-20 hours)

Curriculum: Plant and Soil Science

Freshman

AGRI 1000 - Orientation in Agriculture 1 credit hour
ANSC 1410 - Introduction to Animal Science 3 credit hours
PLSO 1610 - Elements of Plant Science 3 credit hours
Written Communication 3 credit hours
Information Literacy 3 credit hours
Creativity and Cultural Expression 3 credit hours
Mathematics 3 to 4 credit hours (MATH 1710 recommended)
Human Society and Social Relationships 3 credit hours
BIOL 1110 - General Biology I 4 credit hours (Sci Lit) AND
BIOL 1111 - General Biology I Lab 0 credit hours (Sci Lit)
BIOL 1120 - General Biology II 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 1121 - General Biology II Lab 0 credit hours

Subtotal: 30-31 Hours

Sophomore

AGBS 1210 - Principles of Agribusiness 3 credit hours
PLSO 3340 - Fundamentals of Soil Science 3 credit hours
Non-Written Communication 3 credit hours
Creativity and Cultural Expression 3 credit hours
Elective 3 credit hours
History and Civic Learning 6 credit hours
Creativity and Cultural Expression Literature 3 credit hours
CHEM 1010 - Introductory General Chemistry I 4 credit hours (Sci Lit) AND
CHEM 1011 - Intro to General Chemistry I Lab 0 credit hours (Sci Lit)
CHEM 1020 - Introductory General Chemistry II 4 credit hours AND
CHEM 1021 - Intro to General Chemistry II Lab 0 credit hours
OR
CHEM 1120 - General Chemistry II 4 credit hours AND
CHEM 1121 - General Chemistry II Lab 0 credit hours

Subtotal: 32 Hours

Junior

PLSO 4690 - Crop Ecophysiology 3 credit hours
Agribusiness or Animal Science elective 3 credit hours
Plant and Soil Science upper-division electives 12 credit hours
Electives 6 credit hours
BIOL 3250 - Genetics 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 3251 - Genetics Lab 0 credit hours
MATH 1530 - Applied Statistics 3 credit hours OR
MATH 1710 - College Algebra 3 credit hours OR
MATH 1720 - Plane Trigonometry 3 credit hours OR
MATH 1730 - Pre-Calculus 4 credit hours OR
MATH 1910 - Calculus I 4 credit hours OR
AGRI 4710 - Agricultural Statistics and Data Analysis 3 credit hours

Subtotal: 31-32 Hours

Senior

PLSO 4300 - Plant Protection 3 credit hours OR
PLSO 4670 - Plant Propagation 3 credit hours
Human Society and Social Relationships 3 credit hours
Plant and Soil Science upper-division electives 9 credit hours
Upper-division electives 6 credit hours
Electives 5-6 credit hours