AP Human Geography
2014-2015
Course Syllabus
Mr. Fleming – Instructor - Room 338
About the Instructor: Missouri Highly Qualified Status
MSE Administration 1994
BSE Biology / Social Studies 1992
National Board Certified Teacher 2008
Advanced Placement Instructor 1998-
International Baccalaureate Instructor 2000-10 National Council of Social Studies
National Council for Geographic Education Missouri Geographical Alliance
AP Geography: Brief Synopsis
 No course prerequisites required - present 9th grade
enrollment or higher.
 Yearlong course with required AP Exam for 5.0 credit.
Geography’s name dates back 2,200 years to the Greek scientist Eratosthenes, who combined the
words geo, “the earth,” and graphein, “to write about;” to describe a field devoted to the study of
the physical structure of the Earth’s surface and the human activities upon it. Greek, and later
Roman, geographers measured Earth, developed a grid of latitude and longitude, described
patterns of climate, landforms, vegetation, people, and culture. Geography was also practiced by
the ancient Chinese and later by Muslim scholars, who sought to explore and describe the world
in physical and human terms.
The founders of modern geography, Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) and Carl Ritter (11791859), used the flood of new observations about the world generated by the Age of Exploration to
produce massive syntheses describing interconnections among phenomena grouped together in
rich diversity on the surface of Earth. Modern Geography is the study of the world and everything
on it, past and present.
AP Human Geography is the study of where humans and their activities and institutions such as
ethnic groups, cities, and industries are located and why they are there. Human geographers
also study the interactions of humans with their environment and draw on some basic elements
of physical geography. (Excerpt used with permission of College Board)
AP Course Purpose
The purpose of AP Human Geography is to introduce students to the systematic study of
patterns and processes that have shaped the human understanding, use, and alteration of
Earth’s surface. Students will employ spatial concepts and landscape analysis to examine
human social organization and its environmental consequences. They also learn about the
methods and tools geographers use in their science and practice.
Upon course completion, students will be able to:
 Use and think about maps and spatial dates.
 Understand and interpret the implications of association among
phenomena in places.
 Recognize and interpret at different scales the relationships among
patterns and processes.
 Define regions and evaluate the regionalization process.
 Characterize and analyze changing interconnections among places.
Couse Planner: (36 week Course Overview)
I. Geography: Its Nature and Perspectives (5-10% of AP Exam) Weeks 1-5
Topic
Week
Readings/Activities
Assessment
A. Geography as a field
of study
One
Quiz
Unit Vocabulary
Writing Prompt: 5
Themes
Perspective Poster
Rubric
b. Evolution of key
geographical concepts
and models
Two
Wood: Ch. 1 p8-12
de Blij: Chapter 1p1-15
Activity: 5 Themes of
Geography Poster
Geography’s 2
Perspectives
(spatial/Ecological)
Wood: Ch. 1 p12-16
de Blij: Ch. 1 p15-19
ESPN / HIE practice
writing
18 National standards
c. Key Concepts
(Location, Space, Place,
Scale, Pattern,
Regionalization and
globalization)
The 5 Amplifiers
Three
Wood: Ch. 1 p16-23
de Blij: Ch. 1 p23-30
Video: Power of Place
Graphic Novel: The
Cartographer
Push/Pull Round Robin
Issues of Scale
Quiz
Vocabulary
Writing Prompt
d. Key Geographical
Skills
Focus: Mental Mapping
and Scale
Four
Graphic Novel: Zombie
Geography
Understanding and
making REGIONS
Project: Zombie Escape
Plan – Region Map
Making
e. New Geographic
Technology
Five
de Blij: Ch. 1 p30-33
Project: Interpreting
Spatial Data
Field Trip: Fort Leonard
Wood: Drone Practice
Geo- Cache Activity
Unit 1 Test: Multiple
Choice (50%)
Two Essay (50%)
f. Sources of
Geographical Ideas &
Data
Quiz
Writing Prompt
Exit Slip
II. Population (13-17%) Weeks 6-10
Topic
a. Geographical
analysis of
population
Focus:
Demographic
Transition model
Week
Six-Seven
Readings/Activities
Wood: Ch. 2 pp
de Blij: Ch. 2 p
Ancillary Reading:
Greying of Asia
Video: World In
Balance
Assessment
Writing Prompt
Quiz: Population
Pyramids
Exit Slip
Unit Vocabulary
b. Population
growth/decline
over time and
space
Focus: Migration
Eight
Wood: Ch. 2 pp
de Blij: Ch. 2 pp
Video: Birth
Dearth
Think-Pair-Share
Quiz
Writing Prompt
c. Population
Movement
Nine-Ten
Wood: Ch. 2 pp
de Blij: Ch.2 pp
Census Activity
Socratic Seminar:
Topic: Residential
Mobility
Socratic Seminar
Rubric
Census Project
Unit 2 Test:
Multiple Choice
(50%)
Two Essay (50%)
III. Cultural Patterns and Processes (13-17%) Weeks 11-15
Topic
a. Concepts of
Culture
Focus: Patterns
and Processes
Week
Eleven
Readings/Activities
Wood: Ch. 3 pp
de Blij: Ch. 3 pp
Virus of the Mind
Ch. 1-3,8
Assessment
Quiz
Unit Vocabulary
Writing Prompt
Memes
b. Cultural
Differences
Focus: Collective v
Individual
Twelve
Quiz
Writing Prompt:
Genetic
Differences
c. Environmental
impact on cultural
attitudes and
practices
d. Cultural
landscapes and
sense of place
Focus: Cultural
Change &
Globalization on
Traditional
Societies
Thirteen
Wood: Ch. 3 pp
de Blij: Ch. 3 pp
Survival of the
Sickest Ch. 4-6
Video; Cultures:
Tapestry of Life
Wood: Ch. 3 pp
de Blij: Ch. 3 pp
Project: World
Religions
Wood: Ch.3 pp
de Blij: Ch.3 pp
Activity: Burial
Practices
Video: National
Geographic Taboo
Fourteen-Fifteen
Quiz
Project Posters
Fun with
Toponyms
Socratic Seminar
Rubric
Quiz
Unit 3 Test:
Multiple Choice
(50%)
Two Essay (50%)
IV. Political Organization of Space (13-17%) Weeks 16-21
Topic
a. Territorial
Dimensions of
politics
Focus: Centripetal
/ Centrifugal
Forces
Week
Reading/Activities
Sixteen-Seventeen Wood: Ch. 4pp
de Blij: Ch. 4 pp
Think-Pair-Share
Reading: Rise of
Nationalism & the
Fall of Yugoslavia
Assessment
Writing Prompt
Quiz
Exit Slip
Unit Vocabulary
b. Evolution of
contemporary
political pattern
Focus:
Characteristics of
States
Eighteen-Nineteen Wood: Ch. 4pp
de Blij: Ch. 4 pp
Reading: Gaza:
One War-Two
Realities
Take-A-Stand:
Israel/Palestine
Twenty-TwentyWood: Ch. 4 pp
one
de Blij: Ch. 4 pp
Project: Boundary
Mapping
Quiz: Political
Organizations
Writing Prompt
c. Challenges to
inherited politicalterritorial
arrangements
Focus: Types of
Boundaries
Socratic Seminar
Rubric
Map Rubric
Quiz
Unit 4 Test:
Multiple Choice
(50%)
Two Essay (50%)
V. Agricultural & Rural Land Use (13-17%) Weeks 22-25
Topic
a. Development
and Diffusion of
agriculture
Week
Twenty-Two
b. Major
Twenty-Three
Agricultural
production regions
c. Rural land use
and settlement
patterns
Focus: Von
Thunen’s Model
Twenty-Four
d. D. Modern
Commercial
Agriculture
Twenty-Five
Readings/Activities
Wood: Ch. 4pp
de Blij: Ch. 4 pp
Think-Pair-Share
Video: Power of
Place: “Small
Farms, Big Cities
Wood: Ch. 4pp
de Blij: Ch. 4 pp
County
Commissioner:
Pulaski Country
Land Use
Wood: Ch. 4pp
de Blij: Ch. 4 pp
Project: Farming
Methods
Assessment
Writing Prompt
Quiz
Exit Slip
Unit Vocabulary
Wood: Ch. 4pp
de Blij: Ch. 4 pp
Monsanto Field
Trip: St. Louis Zoo
GMO’s and
Modern Farming
Socratic Seminar
Rubric
Unit 5 Test:
Multiple Choice
(50%)
Two Essay (50%)
Quiz
Exit Slip
Quiz
Poster Rubric
VI. Industrialization & Economic Development (13-17%) Weeks 26-30
Topic
a. Key Concepts in
industrial
development
Focus: Location
Theory
Situation/Site
Factors
b. Growth and
diffusion of
industrialization
Focus: Weber and
Capitalistic
Development
Models
Week
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
c. Contemporary
Twenty-Nine
patterns and
Thirty
impacts of
industrialization
and development.
Focus: Global
solutions to Global
Problems
Readings/Activities
Wood: Ch. 6 p162168
de Blij: Ch. 4 pp
The World IS Flat
Ch. 9-10
Project: Belt
Mapping
Wood: Ch.6 p 168173
de Blij: Ch. 4 pp
Video: Global
Distribution of
Wealth
Video: The Human
Footprint (My
Global Footprint
Activity)
Core/Periphery
Exercise
Assessment
Writing Prompt
Quiz
Exit Slip
Unit Vocabulary
Project Rubric
Wood: Ch. 6 p173186
de Blij: Ch. 4 pp
Project: iMovie –
Human
Environment
Interaction:
Environmental
Issues as a byproduct of
industrialization.
Socratic Seminar
Rubric:
Sustainability
iMovie Project
Rubric
Unit 6 Test:
Multiple Choice
(50%)
Two Essay (50%)
Quiz
Writing Prompt
Footprint
Sculpture Rubric
VII. Cities and Urban Land Use (13-17%) Weeks 31-34
Topic
a. Definitions of
urbanization
Focus: Purpose
and Function
Week
Thirty-One
Readings/Activities
Wood: Ch. 4pp
de Blij: Ch. 4 pp
Freakenomics
pp218-221
Assessment
Writing Prompt
Quiz
Exit Slip
Unit Vocabulary
b. Origin and
evolution of cities
Focus: Central
Place Theory
c. Functional
character of
contemporary
cities
Focus: Landscape
Analysis
Thirty-Two
Wood: Ch. 4pp
de Blij: Ch. 4 pp
Think-Pair-Share
Quiz
Writing Prompt
Thirty-Three
Wood: Ch. 4pp
de Blij: Ch. 4 pp
Project:
Urbanization
Trends
Quiz
Exit Slip
d. Built
environment and
social space
Thirty-Four
Wood: Ch. 4pp
de Blij: Ch. 4 pp
Socratic Seminar
Rubric
Urban Project
Unit 6 Test:
Multiple Choice
(50%)
Two Essay (50%)
Urban Planning
Project
VIII: Test Review: Weeks 35-36
AP Practice Tests / AP Central
Quizlet.com (Focus – Interpreting Spatial Data and Geographic Models)
Kahoot.it
Momentrix AP Human Geography Exam Secrets Study Guide New York 2013
The Princeton Review, Cracking The AP Human Geography Exam New York 2014
National Geography Bee Online
AP Exam is ½ Multiple Choice (75 Questions) and ½ Free-Response (3 Questions)
Instructor Expectations:
• Students are expected to get a good night sleep and come to class ready to
think and argue. They must be open-minded and creative. They must be
able to participate in a mature manner during class discussions and
activities. They must be able to read for understanding and write in
comprehendible thoughts.
• Students are also expected to maintain high internal motivation and
positive attitudes. Failure to maintain either will result in poor hippocampal
brain function and memory loss, which is unacceptable. The instructor is
not your friend, nor your enemy; he will maintain a Socratic Model of
Teaching which results in as much cognitive dissonance as humanly
possible (you may not like this).
• Discipline is a priority. Students are expected to follow classroom rules at
all time (see handout). Failure to do so, will result with an intervention,
action plan and/or disciplinary referral.
Required Materials:
The following materials are REQUIRED DAILY for Geography. Failure to do so will result in psychological
manipulations and possible disciplinary actions IF routinely forgotten.
•
ONE 3-Ring Binder (with pockets) – see example
•
Loose-leaf Paper
•
Pen or Pencil, Colored Pencils & Highlighters
TEXT and Major Ancillary Readings:
de Blij. H.J. and Alexander B. Murphey. Human Geography: Culture, Society, and
Space. 8th ed. New York
Wood, Ethel, AP Human Geography: A Study Guide, 3rd Ed. New York
Brodie, Richard, Virus of the Mind, The New Science of the Meme 1996, Seattle
Friedman, Thomas L., The World is Flat 2005 New York
Levett, Steven D. and Dubner, Stephen J., Freakonomics 2006 New York
Moalem, Sharon, Survival of the Sickest 2007 New York
Course Work:
Students should expect daily assessed course work. Course work will consist of daily bell
ringers, Daily Vocabulary Work, and note taking. Throughout the period, a barrage of quizzes,
activities (group and individual), graphic organizers, map work and writing exercises may be
conducted. The required BINDER will be divided into 4 sections:
1. Daily Activity Sheets
2. AP Vocabulary (foldable)
3. Maps
4. Cornell Notes
Daily Routine: Students will be behaviorally conditioned into the following routine:
•
Enter the room, pick up materials for the day off the front cart
•
Sit down and quietly begin working on:
1.
2.
3.
4.
•
Monday: Question of the Day
Tuesday: Bell Ringer
Thursday: Word of the Day
Friday: Map101
Discuss opening activity
•
Cornell Notes/ Discuss Daily topic / Group Activities
•
Complete EXIT slip
•
Prepare needed materials for the next class period
Grading: The Waynesville Grading Scale (see official website) will be used.
The “by difficulty” point system is used in this course, with examinations,
assessments and projects being rated as “most difficult”. Points are awarded for
completing assigned tasks.
• I have a policy against the “punitive zero” (see article). No student will
receive a zero unless work is copied, plagiarized or if it is deemed a major
project or test.
• Tests are all in AP Format(with maximum difficultly)
• Grades are updated weekly on POWERSCHOOL. Be sure to activate your
account, since class time is not wasted on discussing current grades.
• Students and parents are encouraged to communicate with the instructor
via:
Email: SFleming@waynesville.k12.mo.us
Sign and return tomorrow
AP Syllabus Acknowledgement
Students are required to read and acknowledge the following before beginning course.

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
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Students are responsible for their own behavior, motivation and attitude. AP Geography
is rigorous and demanding.
Students are responsible for EXTENSIVE, outside of class readings.
Students are responsible for their own grade – including completion of assigned work
and studying for exams.
Students are responsible for communicating progress with parents/guardians.
I, ______________________________________ acknowledge the preceding syllabus
acknowledgement, course requirements and agree to the contents explicitly or implicitly
implied therein,
Parent/Guardian Information and Acknowledgement



Parents are responsible for reinforcing proper student behavior, motivation and
attitude.
Parents must understand that controversial topics such as climate change, genetics,
religion, political systems, along with human sexuality are on the AP exam and discussed
in class. It is the parents’ responsibility to reinforce personal and cultural memes with
their child, not the instructor.
Parents are responsible for monitoring grades via POWERSCHOOL and making sure
student is rested and prepared for school daily.
I, ______________________________________ acknowledge the preceding syllabus
acknowledgement, course requirements and agree to the contents explicitly or implicitly
implied therein.
Parent Email (most frequently checked):
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ @_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Phone: (_ _ _ ) _ _ _ - _ _ _ _
Parent Concerns or comments: