AP Human Geography
Syllabus 2015-16
Leslie.Jessen@vansd.org
Office hours: Mondays 8:15-9:00; Fridays 4:15-5:00 Prep Period: 5th Period.
“The first day or so, we all pointed to our countries. The third or fourth day we were pointing to our
continents. By the fifth day, we were aware of only one Earth.”
-Sultan Bin Salan al-Saud, astronaut
Course Overview:

AP Human Geography is a year long course designed to provide an introduction to “geography as a social science by
emphasizing the relevance of geographic concepts to human problems. “ (Rubenstein, xii) As an advanced placement
course, the work we undertake will meet or exceed work in a college level Human Geography course.

The goals of the course are to develop
o
an understanding of spatial concepts and landscape analysis in examining human organization of space
o
an understanding of spatial relationships at different scales ranging from the local to the global
o
an ability to interpret maps, data sets, and geographic models using atlases, graphs, charts, tables, photographs,
and the Internet

o
questions for investigation that utilize geographic thinking
o
an ability to read critically and express the skills listed above in writing
The course is structured to align with the course outline developed by the College Board for AP Human Geography
Essential Questions:
How do Geographers think?
How do people earn a living in different parts of the world?
Where in the World do people live, and why?
How do we use and share the earth’s resources?
How do different cultures become established around the
How have humans impacted earth’s environment?
globe?
Assignments:
As well as having work time in class, you can expect to have homework or outside work on a regular basis. To that end you will:

Receive assignment sheets for each unit. These will include the schedule of readings along with a reading guide,
vocabulary, and special projects and activities focusing on the unit topic.

Create and use an interactive notebook which will become a study tool throughout the course. The notebook will
include all class handouts, activities, vocabulary, key concepts and questions for each unit.

Continue to collect and summarize current events for the country you selected for your summer assignment. Five articles
for each semester, from reputable news sources. These summaries will give a chance to see what you are learning utilized
in a “real world” manner, and will allow you to put your growing vocabulary to work as you elegantly and eloquently pen
your findings.
You will be expected to willingly participate in all three styles of instruction utilized in our class: individual work, group or partner
work, and whole class work.
Assessments and grading:
You will participate in a variety of assessments including reading quizzes, tests, essays, projects, and daily participation
Taking the AP Human Geography exam in May is strongly encouraged, and will represent your final exam.
Your grades will be based on three categories: Reading quizzes (40%), practice tests (20%) and daily work/special
projects/participation (40%). Late work will be accepted for half credit before the next Term grading period, no credit after.

A (4) = Distinguished (above the standard)

C (2) = Developing (below standard)

B (3) = Proficient (meets standard)

D (1) = Beginning (well below standard)
Course Materials
Main Textbook
Rubenstein, James M. The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography . 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.:
Prentice Hall, 2011.
Supplemental Readings and Resources Used in the Course:
de Blij, H. J., and Alexander B. Murphy. Human Geography: Culture, Society, and Space. 7th ed. New York: John Wiley,
2003.
Fellman, Jerome, Arthur Getis, and Judith Getis. Human Geography: Landscape of Human Activities. 6th ed. Boston:
WCB/McGraw-Hill, 1998
Friedman, Thomas L. Longitudes and Attitudes: The World in the Age of Terrorism . New York: Anchor, 2003.
-----. The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005.
Hanson, Susan, ed., Ten Geographic Ideas that Changed the World. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2001
Hudson, John C. Goode’s World Atlas. 20th ed. N.p.: Rand McNally, 1999.
Jordan-Bychkov, Terry G., and Mona Domosh. The Human Mosaic: a Thematic Introduction to Cultural Geography . 8
ed. New York: Longman, 1999.
Knox, Paul L., and Sallie A. Marston. Places and Regions in Global Context: Human Geography 3rd ed. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2004.
Kuby, Michael, John Harner, and Patricia Gober. Human Geography in Action. 3rd ed. New York: John Wiley, 2004.
Macalester University- AP Human Geography Site: http://mage.macalester.edu/apgeogdemo/
Menzel, Peter. Material World: A Global Family Portrait. San Francisco: Sierra Club, 1994
-------, and Faith D’Aluisio. Hungry Planet: What the World Eats . Napa: Material World Press, 2005
Population Growth. Washington, DC: Zero Population Growth, 1999.
Population Reference Bureau Population and Migration Teaching Modules. www.prb.org
th
Course Outline by Unit
Fall /Winter Semester
Unit 1: Geography: It’s Nature and Perspectives
Question:
-
What is the nature of geography and the role of human geography?
What are the fundamental geographic observations and their underlying concepts?
What are regional concepts and the generalized characteristics of regions?
How do maps and other visual tools show spatial relationships and data?
Reading/Sources:
Rubenstein, Chapter 1, “Thinking Geographically”;
Kuby, Chapter 1; “Sense of Place” by Edward Relph
Key Concepts to learn:
 5 Themes in Human Geography
Key Skills to acquire

Location

Using maps

Place

Interpreting different scales in

Region
relationships among patterns and

Movement
processes

Human/Environmental Interaction

 Space
Defining and evaluating regionalization
processes
 Scale

 Pattern
Characterizing and analyzing changing
interconnections among places
 Globalization
Focus Activities:

Orienting to the course/Summer Assignment Hand-in (75 points)

Kuby, Chapter 1: “True Maps, False Impressions: Making, manipulating, and interpreting maps”

Level 4 analysis: “Posing and Answering Geographic Questions”: (Field Work)

Regional Map Test (75 points)

Written response to “Sense of Place” by Edward Relph
Unit 2: Population and Migration Questions:
Where in the world do people live and why?
Where has the world’s population increased? What does this mean for the future?
Why is population diffusing at different rates in different places?
What is migration? Why do people migrate?
How does the geography of health influence population dynamics?
How do governments affect population change? Migration?
Reading/Sources:
Rubenstein: Chapters 2-3, Population” and “Migration”
Kuby: Chapters 4, 5, and 7; de Blij: Chapters 2-3
Key Concepts to learn:
 Geographical analysis of population
 Density, distribution, and scale
 Population growth and decline over time and space
 Demographic Transition Model
 Demographic data i.e. fertility, mortality, and health
 Spatial Patterns: global, regional, local
 Population movement; Migration selectivity
 Theories of migration i.e. push/pull factors, human capital, and life course
 Major voluntary and involuntary migrations
Focus Activities:

Research Project – “Investigating Population”;

Kuby, Chapter5: “One Billion and Counting: the Hidden Momentum of Population Growth in India”

video: World in the Balance: The People Paradox

Kuby, Chapter 4: “Newton’s First Law of Migration: The Gravity Model”

Aging in the United States - www.prb.org/Educators/LessonPlans.aspx

Development of population pyramids, utilizing provided data - www.prb.org/Educators/LessonPlans.aspx

Socratic Seminar
Unit 3: Cultural Patterns and Processes –
Questions:
Culture:
How do we define culture and what is the nature of culture-environmental interaction?
Where and how did cultures originate and diffuse?
Language: What are languages? What role does language play in culture?
What role does language play in making ‘place’?
Religion:
What is religion? Where did the major religions of the world originate?
How is religion seen in the cultural landscape? What role does religion play in political conflicts?
Ethnicity: What is identity and how is identity constructed?
How does geography reflect and shape power relationships among groups of people?
Reading/Sources:
Rubenstein Chapter 4, “Folk and Popular Culture” Chapter 5, “Language”, Chapter 6, “Religion”,
and Chapter 7, “Ethnicity”. And de Blij,: Chapters 4-7
Key concepts to learn:
Areas of Study:
 Traits

Religion
 Diffusion

Ethnicity
 Acculturation

Gender
 Globalization

Popular and folk culture
 Regions

Cultural landscape
 Language

Cultural identity
Focus Activities:

Kuby Chapter 2: “Layers of Tradition: Culture Regions at Different Scales”

Kuby, Chapter 3: Tracking the AIDs Epidemic: Diffusion Through Space and Time”

Kuby, Chapter 12: Do Orange and Green Clash? Residential Segregation in Northern Ireland


Articles from UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR):www.unhcr.org
Socratic Seminar
Unit 4: Political Organization of Space
Questions:
Why and how have ethnicities been transformed into nationalities?
Why do ethnicities clash? What is ethnic cleansing?
Where are states located, and why do their boundaries cause problems?
When and why do states cooperate with each other?
Reading/Sources:
Rubenstein, Chapter 7,”Ethnicity” and Chapter 8, “Political Geography”
Kuby, Chapters 12 and 13; Fellman, Chapter12
Key concepts to learn:
 Territorial dimensions of politics
 Patterns that focus on spatial relationships between patterns of ethnicity, economy, and the environment
 Evolution of contemporary and political patterns
 Definitions for Nation and State
 Colonialism and imperialism
 Changes and challenges to political/territorial arrangements
 Changes in the nature of sovereignty
 Centripetal and centrifugal forces
 Devolution/supernationalism
Focus Activities:

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”

Fellman, Chapter 12, “The Political Ordering of Space:


Film Analysis and Activities: Hotel Rwanda and Frontline: Ghosts of Rwanda
Socratic Seminar
Winter/Spring Semester
Unit 5: Agriculture and Rural Land Use
Questions:
What is agriculture, and where did id originate?
How did agriculture change with industrialization?
What imprint does agriculture make on the cultural landscape?
What is the global pattern of agriculture and agribusiness?
Why do farmers face economic difficulties?
Reading/Sources:
Rubenstein, Chapter 10, “Agriculture”, Kuby, Chapter, 11
Menzel, Hungry Planet: What the World Eats. Napa: Material World Press, 2005
Key Concepts to learn:
 Agricultural development and diffusion
nd
rd
 Agricultural Revolutions: Neolithic, 2 , 3 Agricultural Revolutions, and Green Revolution
 Major agricultural production regions
 Systems and Bio-climatic zones
 Rural land use and settlement patterns (linear villages; cluster villages; dispersed settlements)
 Van Thünen’s Model of agricultural land use (small scale/large scale)
 Modern commercial agriculture (including Biotechnology, genetically modified plants and animals)
 Spatial organization and diffusion of modern agriculture
Focus Activities:

Kuby, Chapter 8: “Food for Thought: The Globalization of Agriculture”

People in Places Reader, “Genetically Modified Foods in Sub-Saharan Africa,”

Rubenstein, Chapter 12: Key Issue One: “Where did services originate?” and Key Issue Two: “Where are
contemporary services located?

Food Project: Menzel, Hungry Planet: What the World Eats .

Socratic Seminar
Unit 6: Industrialization and Economic Development
Questions:
How do we define and measure development, and why does it vary among nations?
What are the principal elements of locational theory, and how do different classical theories employ them?
How do political and economic institutions influence uneven development within states?
What are the barriers and the costs of economic development?
Where did the Industrial Revolution begin, and how did it diffuse?
How do Location Theories explain industrial location?
Reading/Sources:
Rubenstein, Chapters 9, “Development”, Chapter 11, “Industry”, and Chapter 14, “Resource Issues”
de Blij, Chapter, 10, Kuby, Chapter 6 and 7, Friedman, Chapters 1 and 2
Key Concepts to learn:
 Industrialization: Growth and diffusion
 Contemporary patterns and impacts of industrialization and development
 Economic Sectors: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary
 Spatial organization of world economy
 (MDC) More Developed Countries and (LDC) Less Developed Countries
 Human Development Index
 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross National Product (GNP)
 Core-Periphery Model/Wallerstein’s World Systems Theory
 Deindustrialization and economic restructuring
 Quality of life
Focus Activities:

Kuby, Chapter 6: “Help Wanted: The Changing Geography of Jobs”

Kuby, Chapter 7:“From Rags to Riches: The Dimensions of Development”

Written Response to Freidman, Chapters 1 and 2: The World is Flat (Updated and Expanded): A Brief
History of the Twenty-First Century:

Socratic Seminar
Unit 7: Cities and Urban Land Use
Questions:
What common features define the origin, nature and location of cities?
How are cities structured economically and how are systems of cities organized?
How are cities structured internally and how do people distribute themselves within them?
Are there world regional and cultural differences in the land use and population patterns of major cities?
What distinct challenges do Inner Cities and Suburbs face? Why?
Reading/Sources:
Rubenstein, Chapter 12: “Services”, Chapter13: “Urban Patterns”
Fellman, Chapter 11, Kuby, Chapters 9 and 10
Key Concepts to learn:
 Development, patterns, and character of cities
 Global cities and Megacities
 Suburbanization and edge cities
 Models of urban systems (Rank-size rule, Central Place Theory, Gravity Model)
 Models of internal city structure (Concentric zone Model, Sector Model, Multiple Nuclei model)
 Changes: demographics and social structures
 Uneven development, ghettoization and gentrification
 Built environment and social space
 Political organization of urban areas
 Patterns of race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status
Focus Activities:

Fellman,Chapter 11: Urban Systems and Urban Structures.”

Kuby, Chapter 9: “Take Me Out to the Ball Game: Market Areas and the Urban Heirarchy”

Kuby Chapter 10: “Reading the Urban Landscape through Census Data and Field Observation”

Field study: “Trip to the City”

Socratic Seminar
Review period for AP Human Geography Exam (2 ½ to 3 weeks prior to the exam)
Reflect: Watch Slumdog Millionaire and discuss themes of geography apparent in the film after the exam
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