This guide outlines the basic, developmental, and extension skills that should be covered in practical arts courses (for grades 7 and 8) presented within the framework of agricultural, business, home economics, and industrial arts/technology education programs. The first section lists practical arts skills related to the following areas of agricultural education: agricultural careers; country living; techniques of handling horses; procedures involved in managing beef cattle, dairy cattle, swine, sheep and goats, and poultry; techniques for caring for small animals, bees, and earthworms; methods of growing field crops and small grain; horticulture; forest management, the Future Farmers of America; mechanical drawing; methods of working with cold metal and wood; small power tools; electricity; and painting techniques. The section on business education covers keyboarding, computers and business applications, business machines and reprographics, and business communications. Practical arts skills in the section on home economics relate to child care, clothing and textiles, foods and nutrition, the Future Homemakers of America, resource management, and personal management and relationships. The final section, which deals with industrial arts/technology education, lists skills in the areas of communications systems, drafting, graphic arts, photography, construction materials, preconstruction planning, building structures, manufacturing materials, manufacturing processes, production techniques, transportation, energy, power, and power systems. (MN)