AP HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
2011-2012
Ms. Oechslin
Lower Moreland High School
soechslin@lmtsd.org
Academic Expectations
Class meets daily and each student is expected to be in class every day. All students are
expected to take an active role in learning about the world around them and to succeed in
doing so. All students are expected to ask questions, participate in discussions, actively
listen to their fellow students and teacher, and attend to all activities taking place in class.
In addition, all students are expected to complete all assignments on time, complete
homework, take thorough notes, study for assessments, and be prepared with required
academic materials. Academic honesty is expected from all students at all times.
Academic honesty includes both honestly answering questions in class and on
assignments and only signing one's own name to one's own work. Students found
copying, cheating, or plagiarizing will be subject to the consequences detailed in the
student handbook.
Behavior Expectations
In this class all students will be expected to treat their classmates and teacher(s) with
respect, and to accept other students regardless of race, gender, religion, nationality,
sexual orientation, or political affiliation. Students are also expected to behave
appropriately at all times, including:
• Showing respect to fellow students and teachers
• Listening when it is time to listen
• Staying in your seat unless activities require otherwise
• Raising your hand to ask or answer questions
• Using appropriate language for school
• Respecting others' property and personal space
• Keeping your area clean and respecting school/teacher property
• Following all school rules for conduct
• Refraining from using electronic devices in the classroom
Policies
Absences - When a student is absent, it is the student's responsibility to get all missed
assignments, turn in work due during the absence, or make up any quizzes, tests, or other
assessments. If a student misses an assessment they will be required to make it up when
they return to school (if a student is absent on the day of and prior to when the assessment
was given they will have the number of days they were absent to make up the
assessment). The student can consult the teacher at an appropriate time (not during class),
check with a classmate, or use the class website to find out what he or she missed.
Attendance - Students are expected to be in class every day. Students should be in the
classroom and seated when the bell rings. Three late arrivals will result in administrative
disciplinary action.
Assignments - All work is to be turned in when an assignment is due. Credit will not be
given for work turned in late, unless a student was absent or experiences extenuating
circumstances. In such a case of extenuating circumstances, a student must consult the
teacher either asking for an extension and/or explaining the reason the assignment was
not turned in on time. It is best to let the teacher know ahead of time if you will not be
able to turn in an assignment on time.
Grading
Students will be graded on most assignments done in class and all homework
assignments, quizzes, tests, and projects. Midterm examinations are given however the
final examination will be given prior to the AP Exam and counts as a regular test grade.
Needed Items
All students will need a three-ring binder to organize their class materials (including the
Human Geography in Action text) and for taking notes. Students will also need to have a
writing implement handy at all times during class (including at least two #2 pencils).
Students are also required to bring an empty shoebox into school to store their vocabulary
flash cards. Many days students will need to bring their textbooks to class.
Contact
Ms. Oechslin can be reached by e-mail at: soechslin@lmtsd.org.
Tips for Success
• Do all assigned readings
• Follow world events
• Participate in class
• Ask thoughtful questions
• Be prepared for class
• Keep an open mind
• Make connections
• Give your best effort
• Think deeply about content
Syllabus
Course Objectives:
• To introduce students to the systematic study of patterns and processes that have
shaped human understanding, use, and alteration of Earth’s surface.
• To learn to use the methods and tools of geographers to represent and understand
geographic phenomena.
• To learn to use geographic concepts and terms to interpret and analyze geographic
phenomena.
• To develop geographic thinking skills that will be applied to daily life and current
events considered in this course.
Summer Assignment
Students will complete a three part summer assignment that includes reading and
responding to articles, profiling and following one country, and creating geography term
flash cards for the first three units of study.
Supplemental Materials
Relin, David Oliver and Greg Mortenson. Three Cups of Tea. New York: Penguin Books,
2007.
Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board. A Tale of Two Cities. 2009
U.S. Census Bureau www.census.gov
Digital Atlas of the U.S. http://130.166.124.2/USpage1.html
National Atlas http://www.nationalatlas.gov/
WileyPLUS (online companion to Human Geography in Action text)
Anjana, Ahuja. "How words shape what we see." Times, The (United Kingdom) February
13, 2006.
Texts:
Kuby, Michael, John Harner, and Patricia Gober. Human Geography in Action. 4th ed.
New York: John Wiley, 2006
Rubenstein, James M. The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography.
9th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2008.
Activities and Assessments
This course will combine a variety of activities including scored class discussions,
unscored class discussions, computer and book activities from the Human Geography in
Action textbook, student presentations, direct geographic observation, map and GIS
activities, field trips, and group activities. Students will be assessed through online weekly
reading quizzes, computer and book activities from the Human Geography in Action
textbook, essays, projects, and unit tests.
Units of Study:
I. Introduction to Human Geography
II. Population and Demographics
III. Migration
IV. Cultural Patterns and Processes
V. Geography of Language
VI. Geography of Religion
VII. Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Sexuality and Geography
VIII. Political Geography
IX. Industrialization and Economic Development
X. Agriculture
XI. Industry and Services
XII. Urban Studies
XIII. Resources and Environmental Sustainability
XIV. Review for AP Exam
Tentative Schedule
I. Introduction to Human Geography (Three Weeks)
Readings:
• Rubenstein Chapter 1 “Thinking Geographically” pgs. 2-43
• Kuby Chapter 1 “True Maps, False Impressions: Making, Manipulating, and
Interpreting Maps: pgs. 1-14
Key Terms: map, place, region, scale, space, connections, cartography, GIS, remote
sensing, GPS, toponym, site, situation, meridian, parallel, longitude, prime meridian,
latitude, GMT, International Date Line, cultural landscape, regional studies, formal region,
functional region, vernacular region, mental map, culture, cultural ecology, environmental
determinism, possibilism, resources, globalization, transnational corporation, density,
concentration, pattern, space-time compression, distance decay, diffusion, hearth,
relocation diffusion, expansion diffusion, contagious diffusion, stimulus diffusion, uneven
development, human geography, map projection, simplification, maps scale, aggregation,
reference maps, thematic maps, isoline maps, choropleth map, proportional symbol map,
dot maps, spatial data, primary data, secondary data.
Assignments:
1. Activity 1: Scale (Kuby pgs. 15-20)
2. Activity 2: Thematic Maps (Kuby pgs. 21-31) *Requires computer and internet access,
and will use WileyPlus subscription to access online maps.
3. Map Analysis Essay: Students will find a map printed in a newspaper, magazine, or
online source and will analyze the map according to type, scale, projection (if applicable),
symbols, purpose, aggregation, and data classification. Students will write a five
paragraph essay explaining the choices made by the cartographer, evaluating the
usefulness of the map by explaining the advantages and disadvantages, and will include a
printout or photocopy of the map.
4. Flash cards: students should have made flash cards for this unit during the summer.
Make good use of them to study the terms!
II. Population and Demographics (Two Weeks)
Readings:
• Rubenstein Chapter 2 “Population” pgs. 44-75
• Kuby Chapter 5 “One Billion and Counting: The Hidden Momentum of Population
Growth in India” pgs. 114-129
Key Terms: demography, overpopulation, ecumene, arithmetic density, physiological
density, agricultural density, crude birth rate (CBR), crude death rate (CDR), natural
increase rate (NIR), doubling time, total fertility rate (TFR), infant mortality rate (IMR), life
expectancy, demographic transition, agricultural revolution, industrial revolution,
medical revolution, zero population growth (ZPG), population pyramid, dependency
ration, epidemiologic transition, epidemiology, pandemic, crude rate of natural increase,
demographic transition model, equilibrium, cohorts, age-specific birth rates, replacement
fertility, demographic momentum.
Assignments:
1. Activity 1: Matching Demographic Descriptions with Population Pyramids (Kuby page
131) *Requires computer and internet access, and will use WileyPlus subscription to
access online population pyramids.
2. Activity 2: Demographic Momentum (Kuby pgs. 133-137) *Requires computer and
internet access, and will use WileyPlus subscription to access dynamic online population
pyramids, population graphs, and demographic transition graphs.
3. Activity 3: Interpreting Population Change (Kuby page 139)
4. Note cards: students will produce note cards to learn the key terms for the unit.
III. Migration (Two Weeks)
Readings:
• Rubenstein Chapter 3 “Migration” pgs. 78-102
• Kuby Chapter 4 “Newton’s First Law of Migration: The Gravity Model” pgs. 88-102
Key Terms: brain drain, chain migration, circulation, counterurbanization, emigration,
floodplain, forced migration, guest workers, immigration, internal migration,
international migration, interregional migration, intervening obstacle, intraregional
migration, migration, migration transition, mobility, net migration, pull factor, push
factor, quotas, refugees, undocumented immigrants, voluntary migration, distance decay,
extreme value, gravity model, migration counterstream, migration selectivity, migration
stream, outlier, remittances, residuals, scatter diagram, spatial interaction.
Assignments:
1. Activity 1: Predicting Migration with the Gravity Model (Kuby pgs. 103-106) *Requires
computer and internet access, and will use WileyPlus subscription to access population
and distance data for U.S. states.
2. Activity 2: Scatter Diagram (Kuby pgs. 107-108) *Requires computer and internet access,
and will use WileyPlus subscription to access scatter diagrams.
3. Activity 3: Residual Map (Kuby pgs. 109-110) *Requires computer and internet access,
and will use WileyPlus subscription to access choropleth maps.
4. Activity 4: Evaluation (Kuby page 111) Students will evaluate their predictions, scatter
plots, and residual maps from the previous activities.
5. Note cards: students will produce note cards to learn the key terms for the unit.
IV. Cultural Patterns and Processes (Two Weeks)
Readings:
• Rubenstein Chapter 4 “Folk and Popular Culture” pgs. 104-131
• Kuby Chapter 2 “Layers of Tradition” pgs. 34-48
Key Terms: custom, folk culture, habit, popular culture, taboo, terroir, core, cultural
landscape, culture, culture region, culture trait, domain ecological trilogy, formal region,
functional region, perceptual region, region, regional identity, sphere, symbol, syncretism.
Assignments:
1. Activity 1: Mapping Culture Regions (Kuby pgs. 49-52) *Requires computer and
internet access, and will use WileyPlus subscription to access GIS and maps of Middle
East.
2. Activity 2: Cultural Traits of your Culture Subregion (Kuby pgs. 53-56) *Requires
computer and internet access, and will use WileyPlus subscription to access North
American vernacular regions.
3. Activity 3: Regional Imager (Kuby pgs. 57-59) *Requires a trip to a local store that sells
post cards, and the purchase of five post cards.
4. Note cards: students will produce note cards to learn the key terms for the unit.
V. Geography of Language (One Week)
Readings:
• Rubenstein Chapter 5 “Language” pgs. 134-167
• “How words shape what we see” by Ahuja Anjana (Handout)
Key Terms: British Received Pronunciation (BRP), creole, creolized language, dialect,
Ebonics, extinct language, Franglais, ideograms, isogloss, isolated language, language,
language branch, language family, language group, lingua franca, literary tradition,
official language, pidgin language, Spanglish, standard language, Vulgar Latin.
Assignments:
1. Students will read “How words shape what we see” and have a scored class discussion
based the article and the Rubenstein reading.
2. Note cards: students will produce note cards to learn the key terms for the unit.
VI. Geography of Religion (One Week)
Readings:
• Rubenstein Chapter 6 “Religion” pgs. 168-204
Key Terms: animism, autonomous religion, branch, caste, cosmogony, denomination,
diocese, ethnicreligion, fundamentalism, ghetto, hierarchical religion, missionary,
monotheism, pagan, pilgrimage, polytheism, sect, solstice, universalizing religion.
Assignments:
1. Students will choose a world religion and will present to the class on the hearth and
distribution of that religion across earth’s surface. Students will also focus on how the
religion diffused to other regions.
2. Note cards: students will produce note cards to learn the key terms for the unit.
VII. Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Sexuality and Geography (Two Weeks)
Readings:
• Rubenstein Chapter 7 “Ethnicity” pgs. 206-237
• De Blij Chapter 5 “Identity: Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Sexuality” (handout)
• Kuby Chapter 12 “Do Orange and Green Clash? Residential Segregation in Northern
Ireland pgs. 345
Key Terms: apartheid, balkanization, balkanized, blockbusting, centripetal force, ethnic
cleansing, ethnicity, multi-ethnic state, multinational state, nationalism, nationality,
nation-state, race, racism, racist, self-determination, sharecropper, triangular slave trade,
gender, identity, identifying against, race, racism, residential segregation, succession,
sense of place, space, place, gendered, queer theory, dowry deaths, barrioization.
Assignments:
1. Activity 1: Mapping Religious Affiliation (Kuby pgs. 355-357) *Requires computer and
internet access, and will use WileyPlus subscription to access choropleth maps.
2. Activity 2: Index of Segregation (Kuby pgs. 359-365) *All materials and data are
included in the textbook.
3. Note cards: students will produce note cards to learn the key terms for the unit.
VIII. Political Geography (Three Weeks)
Readings:
• Rubenstein Chapter 8 “Political Geography” pgs. 238-270
• Kuby Chapter 13 “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: Nations, States, and Nation-States” pgs.
368-378
Key Terms: balance of power, boundary, city-state, colonialism, colony, compact state,
elongated state, federal state, fragmented state, frontier, gerrymandering, imperialism,
landlocked state, microstate, perforated state, prorupted state, sovereignty, state, unitary
state, diaspora, ethnonationalism, homeland, irredentism, patriotism, province, raison
d’etre, refugee, regional autonomy, secession, separatism, shatterbelt.
Assignments:
1. Activity 1: The Rise of Nationalism and the Fall of Yugoslavia (Kuby pgs. 379-405) *All
required materials are in the textbook.
2. Activity 2: Iraqaphobia (Kuby pgs. 407-458) *All required materials are in the textbook.
3. Political Conflict Presentations: Students will individually research a current political
conflict (border dispute, independence movement, sovereignty dispute, or civil conflict)
and present to the class on the conflict.
4. Note cards: students will produce note cards to learn the key terms for the unit.
IX. Industrialization and Economic Development (Three Weeks)
Readings:
• Rubenstein Chapter 9 “Development” pgs. 272-304
• Rubenstein Chapter 11 “Industry” pgs. 342-370
Kuby Chapter 6 “Help Wanted: The Changing Geography of Jobs” pgs. 142-158
• Kuby Chapter 7 “Rags and Riches: The Dimensions of Development” pgs. 184-204
Key Terms: developed country, developing country, development, fair trade, foreign
direct investment, gender empowerment measure (GEM), gender-related development
index (GDI), gross domestic product(GDP), human development index (HDI), less
developed country (LDC), literacy rate, more developed country (MDC), primary sector,
productivity, relatively developed country, secondary sector, structural adjustment
program, tertiary sector, transnational corporation, value added, break-of-bulk point,
bulk-gaining industry, bulk-reducing industry, cottage industry, Fordist, industrial
revolution, labor-intensive industry, maquiladora, new international division of labor,
outsourcing, Post-Fordist, right-to-work laws, site factors, situation factors, textile.
Assignments:
1. Students will have finished independently reading Three Cups of Tea, and will write a
three to five pages essay discussing the barriers to economic development in Pakistan and
Afghanistan. Students will focus on issues portrayed in the book such as gender
inequality, infrastructure, civil war, environmental barriers, and governmental policies in
influencing economic development. Students will also consider the challenges that have
arisen in Pakistan and Afghanistan as a result of the lack of economic opportunities.
2. Note cards: students will produce note cards to learn the key terms for the unit.
X. Agriculture (Two Weeks)
Readings:
• Rubenstein Chapter 10 “Agriculture” pgs. 306-341
• Kuby Chapter 8 “Food for Thought: The Globalization of Agriculture” pgs. 221-231
Key Terms: agribusiness, agriculture, cereal grain, chaff, combine, commercial
agriculture, crop, crop rotation, desertification, double cropping, grain, Green Revolution,
horticulture, hull, intensive subsistence agriculture, milkshed, paddy, pastoral nomadism,
pasture, plantation, prime agricultural land, ranching, reaper, ridge tillage, sawah, seed
agriculture, shifting cultivation, slash-and-burn agriculture, spring wheat, subsistence
agriculture, sustainable agriculture, swidden, thresh, transhumance, truck farming,
vegetative planting, wet rice, winnow, winter wheat, capital, capital-intensive agriculture,
comparative advantage, extensive agriculture, first agricultural revolution, free trade,
friction of distance, globalization, global-local continuum, hunting and gathering, laborintensive agriculture, irrigation, land cover, land use, livestock, mixed farming,
monoculture, nomadism, remote sensing, second agricultural revolution, sedentary
agriculture, shifting cultivation, third agricultural revolution, time-space convergence,
yield.
Assignments:
1. Activity 1: Agricultural Landscapes and Production Methods (Kuby pgs. 235-240)
*Requires computer and internet access, and will use WileyPlus subscription to access
photographs of agricultural landscapes and thematic maps.
2. Activity 2: Global Sources for Your Local Supermarket (Kuby pgs. 241-243) *Requires a
trip to a local supermarket to examine where foods are imported from.
3. Activity 3: Remote Sensing and Agricultural Land Use Change (Kuby pgs. 245-252)
*Requires computer and internet access, and will use WileyPlus subscription to access
satellite images of land use in Latin America.
4. Note cards: students will produce note cards to learn the key terms for the unit.
XI. Industry and Services (Two Weeks)
Readings:
• Rubenstein Chapter 11 “Industry” pgs. 342-370 and Chapter 12 “Services” pgs. 372-402
Key Terms: break-of-bulk point, bulk-gaining industry, bulk-reducing industry, cottage
industry, Fordist, Industrial Revolution, labor-intensive industry, Maquiladora, new
international division of labor, outsourcing, Post-Fordist, right-to-work laws, site factors,
situation factors, textile, basic industries, business services, central business district (CBD),
central place, central place theory, city-state, clustered rural settlement, consumer services,
dispersed rural settlement, economic base, enclosure movement, gravity model, market
area (or hinterland), nonbasic industries, primate city, primate city rule, public services,
range (of service), rank-size rule, service, settlement, threshold.
XII. Urban Studies (Two Weeks)
Readings:
• Rubenstein Chapter 13 “Urban Patterns” pgs. 404-437
• Kuby Chapter 10 “Reading the Urban Landscape: Census Data and Field Observation
pgs. 287-300
• Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board. A Tale of Two Cities. 2009 (Handout)
Key Terms: annexation, census tract, concentric zone model, council of government,
density gradient, edge city, filtering, gentrification, greenbelt, metropolitan statistical area
(MSA), micropolitan statistical are, multiple nuclei model, peripheral model, public
housing, redlining, rush hour, sector model, smart growth, sprawl, squatter settlement,
underclass, urbanization, urbanized area, urban renewal, zoning ordinance.
Assignments:
1. Activity 1: Census Tract Data (Kuby pgs. 301-306) *Requires computer and internet
access to download census data from
www.census.gov/geo/www/maps/msa_maps2003/msa2003_previews_htm/cbsa_csa_us_
wall_0603_rev.html
2. Activity 2: Field Survey (Kuby pgs. 307-310) *Requires trip to chosen census tract from
Activity 1
3. Note cards: students will produce note cards to learn the key terms for the unit.
XIII. Resources and Environmental Sustainability (Two Weeks)
Readings:
• Rubenstein Chapter 14 “Resource Issues” pgs. 438-472
• Kuby Chapter 14 “Preserving the Planet: Human Impact on Environmental Systems”
pgs. 461-482
Key Terms: acid deposition, acid precipitation, active solar energy systems, air pollution,
animate power, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), biodiversity, biomass fuel, breeder
reactor, chlorofluorocarbon (CFC), conservation, ferrous, fission, fossil fuel, fusion,
geothermal energy, greenhouse effect, hydroelectric power,
inanimate power, nonferrous, nonrenewable energy, ozone, passive solar energy system,
photochemical smog, photovoltaic cell, pollution, potential reserve, preservation, proven
reserve, radioactive waste, recycling, renewable energy, resource, sanitary landfill,
sustainable development.
Assignments:
1. Activity 1: Environmental Impacts (IPAT) by Development Category: A Global
Warming Case Study (Kuby pgs. 483-488) *All required materials are in the textbook.
2. Activity 2: Human-Environment Systems Analysis (Kuby pgs. 489-490) *Requires
computer and internet access, and will use WileyPlus subscription to access case study
articles.
3. Activity 3: Conflicting Viewpoints on Environmental Problems (Kuby pgs. 491-500)
Students will be divided into interest/stakeholder groups do discuss the various sides of
an environmental issue chosen by students.
4. Note cards: students will produce note cards to learn the key terms for the unit.
XIV. Review for AP Exam
We will review the content covered in the course and practice free response questions
from released AP Human Geography Exams.