Course Overview
by Kevin Turner
AP HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
COURSE OUTLINE
The AP Human Geography curriculum is organized around eight principal areas of study. Each
component of the course constitutes 13-17% of the AP exam, with the exceptions of the Basic
Skills and Futures Issues, which comprise 5-10% each. Coverage of each of these core subjects
is essential to successful completion of the AP exam in May.
I.
Overview of Basic Geographic Skills
II.
Population Geography
III.
Cultural Geography
IV.
Political Geography
V.
Agriculture and Rural Land Use
VI.
Industrialization and Economic Development
VII. Urbanization, Deindustrialization and Globalization
VIII. Futures Issues
OVERVIEW OF BASIC GEOGRAPHIC SKILLS
Text Readings: De Blij Chs. 1-3 / Kuby Ch. 1
Florida DOE/SSS Benchmarks: SSB1.4.1, SSB1.4.2, SSB1.4.5
I. Overview of Basic Geographic Skills (Two to Three Weeks)
A. Inquiry in the field of Geography
1. Questions Geographers Ask
a. Where? Why there?
B. Five Themes of Geography
1. Location
a. Absolute and Relative Location
2. Place
a. Physical and Human Characteristics
3. Human Environment Interaction
4. Movement
a. Movement of People, Products and Ideas
5. Regions
a. Formal, Functional and Perceptual
C. Essential Concepts and Skills
1. Spatial Perspective
a. Applying Learning to Geographic Case Studies
2. Sense of Scale
a. Recognition of the Inverse Relationship Between Size and Scale
b. Implications of Scale on Spatial Examples
3. Key Terms in Physical Geography
4. Map Skills and Mental Maps
a. Distortion, Direction and Distance
5. Technology in the Field of Geography
a. GPS/GIS, Applications to Study
D. Sources of Geographic Knowledge
1. Text and Other Printed Data
2. Field Observations
POPULATION GEOGRAPHY
Text Readings: De Blij Chs. 4-7, 30 / Kuby Chs. 3, 4, 5
Florida DOE/SSS Benchmarks: SSB1.4.1, SSB1.4.2, SSB1.4.3, SSB2.4.2, SSB2.4.5
II. Population Geography (Three to Four Weeks)
A. Demography, the Historical Study of People
B. Reliability, Bias
1. Collection of Data, Census Processes
C. Density and Distribution of Population
1. Mapping Demographic Data
a. Chloropleth, Dot Distribution, Graduated Symbol, Isoline etc.
2. Arithmetic vs. Physiological Density
a. Carrying Capacity
b. Malthusian and Cornucopian Arguments of Overpopulation
3. Global Population Growth Over Time
a. J Curve
D. Population Structures
1. Age-Sex Distributions (Population Pyramids)
2. Dependency Ratios
3. Life Expectancy
E. Natural Increase
1. Statistics and Calculations
a. CBR, CDR, Rate of Natural Increase, Doubling Time, etc.
2. The Demographic Transition
a. European Model Compared to the Developing World
F. Population Policies
1. Expansive, Restrictive, Eugenic
G. Geography, Nutrition, Health and Medicine
1. Spatial Patterns of Nutrition
2. Accessibility to Medical Care
3. Spatial Patterns of the Spread of Disease
4. IMR, CMR, MMR etc.
H. Voluntary Migration
1. Push and Pull Factors
a. Immigration and Emigration
2. Barriers to Migration
3. Ravenstein’s Laws
4. Spatial Patterns of Movement
a. Historical Migrations
b. External and Internal Movements
I. Involuntary Migration
A. Jewish Diaspora, Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, Modern Refugees
CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY
Text Readings: De Blij Chs. 8-13, 31-32 / Kuby Chs. 2, 12
Florida DOE/SSS Benchmarks: SSB1.4.3, SSB1.4.4, SSB2.4.1, SSB2.4.2
III. Cultural Geography (Three to Four Weeks)
A. Key Concepts of Culture
1. Cultural Hierarchy
2. Diffusion
3. Acculturation, Transculturation, Assimilation
B. Reading the Cultural Landscape
C. Language
1. Origins and Patterns of Diffusion
a. Study of Linguistics
b. Agriculture and Conquest Theories
2. Language Hierarchy
3. Toponymy
D. Religion
1. Origins and Patterns of Diffusion
2. Universal Religions
a. Christianity, Buddhism, Islam
3. Ethnic Religions
a. Judaism, Hinduism
4. Chinese Philosophies, Syncretic Religions
5. Rise of Secularism and Fundamentalism
6. Inter- and Intra- Religious Conflict
E. Race, Ethnicity and Gender Issues
1. Genetics and Geography
2. Ethnonationalism
3. Social Geography
a. Role of Women in Developed and Developing Societies
POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY
Text Readings: De Blij Chs. 14-17 / Kuby Ch. 13
Florida DOE/SSS Benchmarks: SSB1.4.1, SSB1.4.2, SSB1.4.3, SSB2.4.3, SSB2.4.6
IV. Political Geography (Three to Four Weeks)
A. The Political Organization of Space
B. Concepts of Nation, State and Nation-State
1. Historical Analysis
a. the Rise of the Modern State
i. unitary and federal frameworks
b. the European Model
c. Stateless Nations
C. Territorial Morphology
1. Size, Shape, Relative Location, Enclaves, Exclaves, Landlocked States
2. Frontiers, Boundaries and Boundary Disputes
D. Projection of State Power
1. Geopolitical Theories
2. Colonialism, Imperialism, and Neocolonialism
E. Internal Organization of States
1. Core Areas
2. Centripetal and Centrifugal Forces
F. Supranationalism
1. Historical Analysis
2. the United Nations
a. UNCLOS
3. Regional Multinational Organizations
a. Political, Economic, Military, and Cultural Bodies
4. the New World Order
G. Forces of Devolution
1. Ethnonationalism and Economics
2. Spatial Factors
AGRICULTURE AND RURAL LAND USE
Text Readings: De Blij Chs. 18-20 / Kuby Ch. 8
Florida DOE/SSS Benchmarks: SSB1.4.1, SSB1.4.2, SSB1.4.3, SSB2.4.1,
SSB2.4.3, SSB2.4.4, SSB2.4.5, SSB2.4.6
V. Agriculture and Rural Land Use (Two to Three Weeks)
A. Classifying Economic Activities
1. Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, Quaternary and Quinary
B. Prehistoric Hunting and Gathering
C. The First Agricultural Revolution (Neolithic Revolution)
1. Plant and Animal Domestication
2. Development and Diffusion of Agricultural Techniques
3. Subsistence Farming
a. Shifting Cultivation
D. The Second Agricultural Revolution (Industrial Revolution)
1. Spatial Pattern of Agriculture
a. von Thunen’s Rings
b. Boserup’s Theory
2. Major Agricultural Production Regions
E. The Third Agricultural Revolution (Green Revolution)
1. Characteristics and Spatial Diffusion
a. Technologies Associated with Green Revolution
b. Genetically Modified Foods
2. Commercialization of Agriculture
3. Pros and Cons
a. Increased Crop Yields
b. Environmental and Health Concerns
F. Housing and Settlement Patterns
1. Housing Types and Materials
2. Land Use and Division
INDUSTRIALIZATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Text Readings: De Blij Chs. 24-26 / Kuby Chs. 6, 7
Florida DOE/SSS Benchmarks: SSB1.4.1, SSB1.4.2, SSB1.4.3, SSB1.4.4
SSB2.4.1, SSB2.4.4, SSB2.4.6, SSB2.4.7
VI. Industrialization and Economic Development (Two to Three Weeks)
A. An Historical Analysis of the Industrial Revolution
1. Growth and Diffusion of Industry
2. Dependency of Industry Upon Sources of Energy
B. Factors of Industrial Location
1. Weber’s Model
C. Major Industrial Regions
1. W. Europe, N. America, E. Europe and E. Asia
D. Secondary Industrial Regions
1. Four Tigers
2. Maquiladoras
E. Concepts of Development
1. Core-Periphery Model, Rostow’s Modernization Model, Dependency Theory
2. Global Disparities in Development
F. Spatial Organization of the Global Economy
URBANIZATION, DEINDUSTRIALIZATION AND GLOBALIZATION
Text Readings: De Blij Chs. 21-23, 27-29 / Kuby Chs. 9-11
Florida DOE/SSS Benchmarks: SSB1.4.1, SSB1.4.2, SSB1.4.3, SSB1.4.4
SSB2.4.1, SSB2.4.2, SSB2.4.4, SSB2.4.6
VII. Urbanization, Deindustrialization and Globalization (Three to Four Weeks)
A. Historical Perspectives of Civilization and Urbanization
1. Pre-Industrial World
a. Sumerians, Egyptians, Harappans, Chinese
b. Greeks, Romans, Maya, Aztec, Inca
2. Post-Industrial World
a. Europe and European Realms
b. Developing Areas
B. Locational Attributes of Urban Hierarchy and Urban Functions
1. Site and Situation
2. Hinterland, Reach and Threshold, Primate Cities, Megacities and Megalopolises
C. Models of Urban Structure in America
1. Concentric Zone, Sector, Multiple Nuclei, Urban Realms
2. Central Business Districts (CBDs) and Edge Cities
D. Social Aspects of Urbanization
E. Patterns of Urbanization
1. Rank-Size Rule
2. Central Place Theory, Christaller’s Model
F. Global Urbanization
1. Opportunities and Challenges
2. Models of Global Cities
G. Deindustrialization and the Rise of the Service Sector
1. The New International Division of Labor
2. New Influences on Location, Specialized Economic Zones
3. Tourism: the Irritant Industry
H. Cultural Change in an Era of Globalization
1. Folk and Popular Culture
FUTURES ISSUES
Text Readings: De Blij Chs. 33-35 / Kuby Ch. 14
Florida DOE/SSS Benchmarks: SSB1.4.1, SSB1.4.2, SSB1.4.3, SSB2.4.4,
SSB2.4.7
VIII. Futures Issues (One to Two Weeks)
A. Geologic Analysis of the Earth’s History and Humanity
B. Environmental Science
1. Land, Sea, Atmosphere
2. Biodiversity
C. Scarcity, the Effect of Humans Upon the Environment
1. Policy Responses
2. Futures Issues
KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL AP HUMAN GEOGPRAPHY PROGRAM
Human Geography is a perfect course with which to introduce students to the AP program
in general and the many Social Studies AP courses in particular. As a broad subject, it lays such
a strong foundation for the other disciplines and prepares students for the rigorous work ahead.
Teachers who are committed to designing innovative ways to present content, evaluating
significant amounts of written work and challenging students to incorporate spatial awareness
into their everyday lives will find this course to be both interesting and fun.
The pacing of the Human Geography program is difficult. As a survey course, many
diverse topics are included but they are all interrelated. Teachers should attempt to complete
instruction of new material by Spring Break if at all possible or at least a month prior to the exam
date in order to allow for substantial review. Utilization of the released exam(s) is advisable to
determine areas requiring further discussion. Examinations are best organized around the major
components of the course, though a few are so bulky as to necessitate two assessments.
Readings based quizzes are strongly recommended! Since the scoring of the exam is divided
equally among multiple choice and written free response sections, students should be subjected
to both types of assessments throughout the year.
Various support materials are available to assist the teacher in presenting the course to
their students, which are limited solely by the teacher’s discretion. I have listed some of my
favorites below. Consider obtaining Human Geography texts from other publishers to use as a
source for quiz and test questions or for creating your lecture notes. Study guides, websites,
newspapers, magazines, and video productions all help the students develop an appreciation for
how the academic discipline of geography is relevant to their everyday lives. Use current events
to highlight key terms and concepts. Encourage students to view the world through a spatial
perspective. Human Geography is all around them. Show them!
The Power of Place video series from Annenberg/CPB (ISBN# 1-57680-682-0) has 30
minute segments on all major course components and is available at www.learner.org
Wynn Kapit’s Geography Coloring Book is great for map quizzes that strengthen the
students’ mental maps
Use www.census.gov for projects on population and demographics
PBS produced a Frontline video on genetic modification of food called Harvest of Fear,
which is a great starting point for the unit on agriculture