AP Human Geography Syllabus



AP Human Geography

Mr. Pritchard

C203 2014-2015

Welcome to another great year. This class is a yearlong course. Please read the following course outline and expectations. If you have any questions about this syllabus or the class in general please contact me at: spritchard@natomas.k12.ca.us, or call me at 567-5415 at ext.6647

If possible please email me. I try to answer within an hour of any email. The phone often takes much longer and I find that a quick responds can usually clear things up.

I try to check my email at home as well in case a student is stuck or they/you have a question. The faster a problem is addressed the smaller it tends to be.

Please remember this is a college course taught in high school. I am required by the AP board to assign work and grade according to the expectations of any college freshman

I will update my website with each week’s assignment and any additional expectation.

My Classroom has a few simple rules.

1. Please be on time

2. Please be courteous

3. No food/gum/drinks except water

4. Proper attire

5. No electronic devices

6. If the student leaves class for a restroom break my policy is to have the student make up the time after school for 10 minutes. This provides them with all of their class time and cuts down on the number of unnecessary exits.

I follow the school discipline policy/expectations to the letter. I think it is important that students have consistent enforcement of rules so they will know what is expected.

Grading Policy

I go by points not letter grade. I weigh my assignments so that they reflect this scale.

Homework worth 5-10 points each

Quizzes are worth 10-15 points

Films are worth 5-10 points

Current events are worth 5 points

Tests are worth 50 points

Class assignments are worth 5-10 points

90% is an A (an A is outstanding)

80% is a B

70% is a C (a C is average work)

60% is a D

Below 60% is an F...I DO NOT ROUND UP!!! 59.9 is not a passing grade.

They will have homework most every night. There will be a test almost every week and at the end of each Quarter.

AP Human Geography Syllabus

Course Overview

AP Human Geography is a year-long course at our school. There will be 8 interrelated units of study. The purpose of the course is to teach and use geographic models and processes to systematically study and understand spatial patterns. Units of study will include:

1) The Nature of Geography

2) Population and migration

3) Culture – language/religion and ethnicity

4) Political geography

5) Economic geography – Industry and Development

6) Food and Agriculture

7) Services and Settlements

8) Urban geography

Course Objective

• To introduce students to the systematic study of patterns and processes that have shaped human use and alteration of Earth’s surface.

• To introduce and encourage students to think like a geographer employing observation, mapmaking, data gathering, use and reporting skills, and technical writing.

• To use spatial concepts, geographic vocabulary, and landscape interpretation of a variety of locations and situations in local areas as well as global areas to examine human organization of space.

Text and Study Materials

Rubenstein, James M. The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography. 11th ed. San Francisco, CA., Prentice Hall, 2014.

De Blij H.J., Erin H. Fouberg, and Alexander B. Murphy. Human Geography: Culture, Society, and Space. 10th ed. New York: John Wiley, 2012.

The Power of Place: Geography for the 21st Century series. Video.N.p.:Annenberg/CBS Project 1996.

Veregin, Howard, editor. Goode’s World Atlas. 22nd ed. Rand McNally, 2010

Kuby, Michael, John Harner, and Patricia Gober. Human Geography in Action. 6th ed. New York: John Wiley, 2013

Use of additional text books as well as the use of current newspapers, including The Sacramento Bee, Los Angeles Times and online sources to prepare lectures . Use of the periodical The Economist will also provide current, up-to-date commentary as well as audio from National Public Radio.

I will use the following websites to find and make maps that illustrate concepts; the sites also give students the opportunity to explore and learn from the content on each site.

Population Reference Bureau



U.S. Census Bureau



Digital Atlas of the United States



USDA-NASS 2007 Agricultural Atlas of the United States





Teaching Strategies

The course will use a mixture of lecture, instructional video/clips, vocabulary use of key terms and concepts, examination of case studies, practice of geographical skills and practice of free-response questions. Each class period is 56 minutes and throughout a week students will discuss concepts from a reading assignment, receive presentation of new material or case study and practice writing and reviewing scoring guides. Throughout the week, students will use key geographical skills such as examining maps, graphed or textual information and respond using geographic concepts such as scale, region, location and place, and interconnectedness. Many assignments will use a map reading guide and close reading strategies. Each unit will start with a KBAT listing the vocabulary words/concepts to learn during the unit as well as objectives and projects. Students will complete Key Issue Reading Guides for each chapter in the Rubenstein text.

Course Planner

UNIT 1 – 3 weeks

Reading: Rubenstein, Chapter 1: “Thinking Geographically”

Rubenstein, Appendix: A1-A7

De Blij, Chapter 1, pages 8-22

Power of Place #2 – “Twin Cities, Divided Lives”

Unit Objectives and Activities

1. Define geography, human geography; explain the meaning of the spatial perspectives using the 5 themes of geography.

2. Geography as a field of inquiry. Use 4 level map analysis.

3. Evolution of key geographical concepts and models associated with notable geographers.

4. Key concepts underlying the geographical perspective: location, space, place, scale, pattern, regionalization, and globalization.

5. Identify how simplification, categorization, symbolization and induction play a role in mapmaking.

6. Key geographical skills.

1. How to use and think about maps and spatial data.

2. How to understand and interpret the implications of associations among phenomena in places.

3. How to recognize and interpret at different scales the relationships among patterns and processes.

4. How to define regions and evaluate the regionalization process.

5. How to characterize and analyze changing interconnections among places.

7. Geographic technologies, such as GIS, remote sensing, and GPS.

8. Sources of geographical ideas and data: the field, census data, and satellite imagery.

Supplemental Activities:

Geography of Supermarkets

Chloropleth mapping of Starbucks

UNIT 2 – 6 weeks

Reading and Media: Rubenstein, Chapter 2 : “Population and Health”

Rubenstein, Chapter 3: “Migration”

National Geographic, Population thematic maps

Power of Place #18-1, Egypt: Population Overload,” #14-1, Mexico-

Motivate to Migrate,” #19-1, Ivory Coast: The Legacy of Colonialism

Unit Objectives and Activities

1. Geographical analysis of population

1. Density, distribution, and scale

2. Implications of various densities and distributions

3. Patterns of composition: age, sex, race, and ethnicity

4. Population and natural hazards: past, present, and future

2. Population growth and decline over time and space

1. Historical trends and projections for the future (Natomas Data)

2. Theories of population growth, including the Demographic Transition Model

3. Patterns of fertility, morality, and health

4. Regional variations of demographic transitions

5. Effects of population policies

3. Population movement

1. Migration selectivity

2. Major voluntary and involuntary migrations at different scales

3. Theories of migration, including push and pull factors, circulation and migration, forced and voluntary migration.

a. Discuss contributions of Ravenstein to explore human movement and migration

b. Use gravity model to predict migration. Evaluate its usefulness and efficiency.

4. International migration and refugees

5. Socioeconomic consequences of migration

Supplemental Activities

1. Population Pyramids – ageing of Europe activity

2. Immigrant Interview

3. Map major and emerging population concentrations and describe demographic and characteristic of each

UNIT 3 – Culture – 9 weeks

Reading and Media: Rubenstein, Chapter 4: “Popular and Folk Culture”

Rubenstein, Chapter 5: “Languages”

Rubenstein, Chapter 6: “Religion”

Rubenstein, Chapter 7, “Ethnicities”

Kuby, Chapter 12, “Do Orange and Green Clash? Residential

Segregation in Northern Ireland”

Kuby, Chapter 13, “Breaking up is hard to Do: Nations, States and Nation

States”

Power of Place #26-1, Indonesia-Tourism Invasion, #10-1, Quebec: An

Island of French, #17-1, Jerusalem, Sacred Space Under Siege, excerpt, Hotel Rwanda.

Articles from Refugees magazine, published by UNHCR, online at

Unit Objectives and Activities

Chapter 4

1. define culture and cultural geography.

2. Compare and Contrast parts of fold and popular culture:

a) origins

b) methods of diffusion

c) culture regions

3. Examine specific examples of folk culture and regions.

4. Use examples of popular cultural traits to follow their diffusion and impact, e.g. Hip-Hop

5. Find examples by which cultural traits are affected by and affect the natural environment

6. Use examples to explore the role of racism and ethnocentrism in the understanding of cultural landscape.

Chapter 5:

1. Where are languages distributed

a. classify languages and map the distribution of language families worldwide

2. Explain how English is related to other languages

a. origin and historical development

b. use of English as worldwide language of business and as a lingua franca

c. Effect of globalization on local diversity

d. study of dialects: British English versus Americana

3. Preservation of local languages

a. Case studies – Swahili and Celtic Language Branch

Chapter 6

1. Map religious regions of the World and U.S.

2. Study all major religions to identify:

a) point of origin

b) method of diffusion

c) current distribution

d) use of space

3. Distinguish between ethnic and universalizing religions

a) holy days and sits

b)methods of diffusion

4. Study various specific religious conflicts around the world focusing on

a) religion versus government

b) religion versus religion

Chapter 7

1. Identify where ethnicities have distribute themselves

a) ethnicities in the U.S.

2. Analyze why ethnicities have distinctive distributions

a) international migration – Hmong after Vietnam war

b) segregation by ethnicity and race

3. Explain the difference between ethnicity and nationality

a) United Kingdom

b) centripetal and centrifugal forces in the European Union

4. Explore why Ethnicities engage in Ethnic cleansing and genocide

a) define ethnicities and Balkan conflict

Supplemental activities:

– layering of maps to compare geographic spatial patterns of language, ethnicity, and religious regions.

UNIT 4 – Political Geography – 3 weeks

Reading and Media: Rubenstein, Chapter 8: “Political Geography”

de Blij, Chapter 9, “Field Note: Independence Is Better Than Servitude”

Power of Place #3-1, Strasbourg: Symbol of United Europe #3-2, Slovakia: New Sovereignty, Supranationalism and the European Union

Unit Objectives and Activities

1. The difference between a nation and a state

a) describe problems with multinational sates and stateless nations

2. Defining/Drawing boundaries

a) natural/physical boundaries

b) cultural boundaries

3. Effects of shapes and sizes of states

4. Colonization and effects

5. State political organizations

a) centripetal and centrifugal forces

b) state cooperation: European Union

6. Terrorism

Supplemental Activities:

Vocabulary mapping of the world: Using chapter vocabulary, locate and label different types of “states.”

Unit 5- Economic Geography: Industrialization and Economic Development – 5 weeks

Reading and Media:

Rubenstein, Ch 9, 11

Kuby, Chapter 7, “Rags and Riches: The Dimensions of Development”

The Power of Place - Program 18-2, “Oman: Looking Beyond Oil

The Power of Place – Developing Countries.

Video: Hans Rosling's 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes

Frontline, – “Is Wal-Mart Good for America?”

Unit Objectives and Activities

1. Use the Human Development Index as well as other economic indicators to

classify countries as less developed or relatively developed.

2. Compare and contrast different theories and models of economic development

and the relationship between less developed and relatively developed countries.

3. Summarize the two paths to development and analyze the obstacles to

development

4. Determine why development varies by gender by using the UN’s measure of

gender inequality and changes since the 1990’s

5. Examine the sources and demand for fossil fuels, development of nuclear energy

and the impact of countries reliance on OPEC.

6. Determine why are energy resources are important for development

Supplemental Activities: Models of Cities: mapping zones in developing and developed cities.

Unit 6 – 2 weeks

Reading and Media: Rubenstein, Ch 10: “Food and Agriculture”

Kuby, Chapter 8: “Food for Thought: Globalization of Agriculture”

– “Guns, Germs and Steel” – video

Food, Inc.: excepts from video

; Pennies a Day

Unit Objective and Activities:

1. Examine where agriculture originated

a. spatial analysis of agricultural hearths

b. agricultural distribution; correlation with climate zone

c. domestication of animals

2. Why Do people consume different foods

a. spatial distribution of diet; developed versus developing countries

b. globalization of diet

3. Examination of distribution of agricultural activities

a. agriculture in developed regions

- CAFO’s

b. agriculture in developing regions

- cash crops and fair trade crops

4. Understanding increasing of yields of agricultural revolutions

a. Von Thunen Theory of agricultural distribution

b. Biotechnology/GMO’s – spatial distribution of GMO versus non-GMO farms

Supplemental activities: Using Von Thunen’s model to map the distribution of farmers from a

local farmers market

Unit 7 – Services and Settlements – 1 week

Reading and Media: Rubenstein, Chapter 12; “Services and Settlements”

De Blij, Chapter 12; pages 426-432

: Wal-Mart’s influence on Bentonville, Arkansas and rural

America

Kuby, Chapter9, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game: Market Areas and the

Urban Hierarchy

Unit Objectives and Activties

1. Examination of services

2. Spatial distribution of consumer services

a. Central Place Theory”

b. market area analysis

3. Spatial distribution of business services

a. economic base of settlements

b. explain hierarchy of services and settlements

4. Describe the difference between clusters and dispersed rural settlements

Supplemental Activities: none

Unit 8 – Urbanization – 2 weeks

Reading and Media Rubenstein, Chapter 13: “Urban Patterns”

Power of Place #24, “Cityscapes, Suburban Sprawl,” “Chicago: Farming

on the Edge”

Kuby, Chapter 10: “Urban Landscape: Census Data and Field

Observation,” excerpt

Unit Objective and Activities

1. Examine CBD landuse

a. contrast European and North America

2. Compare and Contrast elements of urban models

a. concentric zone

b. sector

c. multiple-nuclei

d. galactic city/edge cities

3. Explain why urban areas are expanding

a. rank-size rule and primate cities

b. describing the move of retain and industry to the suburbs

c. compare and contrast spatial characteristics of cities in

- Latin America, Europe and India

4. Examine changing urban physical and social geography

a. explain the growth of suburbs in terms of social, transportation, and economic changes

b. economic inequality

Supplemental Activities: Amazing Race: using multiple transportation type to move around an urban center

Student Evaluation:

Quizzes are given on reading assignments. Chapter outline/key issue guides are counted as homework.

Chapter assessments are in the form of multiple choice exams and free-response questions.

Semester exam will be comprehensive for the chapters covered in the first semester; the final exam in the spring will be comprehensive to the entire school year to model what the AP exam will be like.

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