Textbook Companion Review Website
Please make sure to click the “follow blog” button located to the right of this post, in order to sign up for this blog.
Please see “Course Documents” tab for syllabus and other important information.
Schedules, assignments, pacing guides, vocabulary terms, lectures, and supplemental readings will be posted under the unit tabs!
AP HUMAN GEOGRAPHY OVERVIEW
2012-2013
Michelle.Albahae@browardschools.com
Course Overview:
AP Human Geography is a college level course taught in two high school semesters. The curriculum for the two-semester course is broken down into seven units of study outlined by the AP Human Geography Course description published by the College Board. The seven units of study include geography’s nature and perspectives, population, culture, political geography, agriculture, industrial and economic development, and urban geography. Human Geography is the study of the patterns and processes of human activity on the earth’s surface. Students will employ spatial concepts and landscape analysis to examine human social organization and its environmental consequences.
Students will be expected to demonstrate their commitment to Advanced Placement level standards by being prepared with necessary materials when they arrive for class on time each day. They will be intelligently discussing information derived from assigned reading material and contribute positively to a scholarly atmosphere. Strong writing skills and advanced cognitive aptitude are required to succeed on the college level, and it is for this reason that these skills will be emphasized throughout this course.
Course Objectives
- Use and think about spatial data sets to analyze patterns on the earth’s surface reflect and influence physical human processes.
- Understand and interpret the implications of associations among phenomena in different places around the world.
- Recognize and interpret the relationships among patterns and processes of change at different scales.
- Define regions and evaluate the regionalization process, especially as it impacts our world today.
- Characterize and analyze changing interconnections among places, and to understand the ways in which events and processes operating in one place can influence those in other places.
- Master the essential college skills of analytical reading, essay writing, and directed research.
Curriculum Sequence:
Unit I: Geography; It’s Nature and Perspectives
Unit II: Population Patterns and Processes
Unit III: Cultural Patterns and Processes
Unit IV: Political Organization of Space
Unit V: Agriculture and Rural Land Use
Unit VI: Industrialization and Economic Development
Unit VII: Cities and Urban Land Use
Materials for the class
Textbook: (college level)
Primary Textbook: Rubenstein: The Cultural Landscape 10th Edition
Secondary Textbook: Deblij 7th Edition: Culture Society and Space
Study Guides
Students have been strongly encouraged to purchase additional reading material to assist them in gaining a full understanding of the concepts of the course. Barron’s study guide as well as Kaplan will be extremely beneficial! Again, they are not required, but are HIGHLY suggested. They are available at various retail stores and online bookstores. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE TO PURCHASE ONE!
Additional Course Materials
– Highlighters, Pens, Pencils, Colored Pencils, Markers
– USB Drive
– Binder(s), Paper, Folders, dividers (more on this later)
Students are responsible for checking the website daily!
Students are expected to have access to the internet for the duration of this course. There will be very important information posted to the blog such as lectures, worksheets, outlines and homework assignments. If no internet is available at the student’s home, other arrangements should be made ahead of time in order for the student not to fall behind. Internet is available on campus at Monarch High School, as well as at public libraries and various other places.
Students will need to register on the blog in order to be able to complete assignments and comments. Please make sure that you have an email address that is appropriate for school!
Basic information about the course:
Class Expectations
- Show up on time every day with proper materials and ready to learn.
- Treat every person and everything in the room with respect.
- Participate in the learning environment without creating distractions as you are expected to comprehend all material covered in class.
- Remember that you are essentially taking a college course, therefore you will be responsible for reading and understanding material outside of the classroom as well.
- Ask for assistance when needed!
Current Event Materials and Presentations:
One of the best ways to demonstrate comprehension and application of the various topics discussed in this course is to apply them to current events around the world. Students are expected to read the newspaper (or a digital copy), watch news broadcasts and discuss world news on a daily basis!
Each student will be presenting a current event topic at the beginning of class on to their scheduled date. A class schedule will be given out to the students prior to their assigned presentation date. Sometimes, a topic will be specified for the students to focus their current event presentation on, other times they are free to choose their own topic. The presentations will be done for the first 10-15 minutes of class. There are usually 2-4 students assigned to present each day.
Suggested websites for current events
News Websites:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ (BBC World News)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1001 (National Public Radio)
http://www.reuters.com/ (Reuters)
http://wn.com/ (World News)
http://www.nytimes.com (New York Times)
http://www.sun-sentinel.com (Sun-Sentinel Local News Paper)
http://www.cnn.com/studentnews (CNN Student News)
http://www.economist.com (The Economist)
Details about current events can be found under the “DOCUMENTS” tab at the top of the page.
Student Assessments
Assignments vary in length and difficulty on a daily basis. For each of the seven units, the students will be assigned a unit project. These projects will take on many different forms. They might be individual research projects, group presentations using power point and/or videos, website discussions, or field excursions. A test is also given at the end of each unit that consists of a multiple-choice section as well as a Free Response Question.Approximately every two weeks students will have a map quiz over a culture region of the world to ensure general knowledge and spatial layout of the earth.
Assessments include, but are not limited to, the following:
– Unit Tests (100-200 points)- Vocabulary Unit Assignment – Classwork (varies)
– Chapter Tests – Vocabulary Quizzes – Projects (varies)
– Map Tests (varies) – Current Events (20 points) – Homework (varies)
All point values will be announced prior to the assignment being given and completed.
Please note the fact that an assignment is completed does not guarantee full credit. The amount of credit earned will reflect the quality and effort put forth by the student.
Homework Policy:Homework is due at the beginning of class. Do not plan to finish it during the first few minutes of class. Do not copy homework and turn it in with your name on it (this is cheating, and no credit will be given).
Students WILL have some type of assignment for this class each day, including weekends and non-school days. It may be working on their notebook, assigned reading, reviewing for a test, or a more formal assignment. As a general rule, college classes demand 2 to 3 hours of work outside class for each hour spent in the classroom. You should expect that your work is going to take about 1 hour each day.
– If there is no formal homework assignment given, it is expected that students will be reviewing vocabulary and other important information EACH NIGHT!
Student Responsibilities, Expectations and Assignment Descriptions
Due to the Advanced Placement label on the class, and the opportunity to earn college credit at the end of the year, students will be expected to approach this class as a college-level course putting in college-level effort.
1) Students are expected to read the assigned text every night. If no actual homework assignment is given, students will be expected to be reviewing vocabulary terms and reviewing the text.
**ALSO** Understand that the lectures in this course are NOT a replacement for readings from the assigned textbook, but should be used to supplement to further enhance the text!!! Some test questions will come directly from the textbook, and may not be covered in lectures!!
Required Assignment: Note-taking.
For each chapter that is assigned, students will be required to take their own notes (to be kept in a notebook). These will be checked periodically and may be used on reading quizzes. Students are encouraged to compare their notes to the lectures/discussions in class.
2) Unit Vocabulary and reading outline (or sub-unit). Students will be responsible for completing the vocabulary in the specified format and turning it in on the day of the Unit (or sub-unit) Test. This Assignment is to be hand-written only! Any typed vocabulary assignments will be given a zero! If the definition you give is not related to the course material (as in…you used dictionary.com and found a definition that has nothing to do with the concept we are studying, you will not receive credit).
| Word | Definition | Picture/Diagram/Visual Representation of word |
**note** you are not graded on your artwork or drawing ability, but your visual MUST reflect the definition/concept
3) Map quizzes of culture regions around the world will be given approximately every 2 weeks. These are announced ahead of time. Outline Maps will be given out by the teacher or can be downloaded by the student from the website. Practice map quizzes can be found at http://www.ilike2learn.com
– Regions that will be quizzed are: North American and Canada, Latin America, Europe, North Africa and Southwest Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Oceania (including Australia and New Zealand).
4) Practice FRQs will be assigned on a frequent basis in order to prepare for unit tests and the AP exam.
HINT: In order to be successful in writing a high-quality FRQ response, you MUST keep up with the vocabulary and terminology used throughout this course!
FRQs: This course utilizes the FRQ, Free Response Question, to serve as short ‘essays’ that assess your understanding of human geography content. Generally, we will have an FRQ at the end of each unit and will continually practice our FRQ skills as they a large portion of the AP exam.
There will be 3 Free Response Questions on the AP exam. The 3 questions will be worth 50% of your total test score and will be combined with the 75 question multiple choice section, also worth 50%.
5) Participation by students is necessary in this class. In fact, the format of a college-level class thrives on class discussions! Students will be encouraged and expected to fully engage in and add meaningful commentary to class discussions.
6) Visit the website regularly and check the UNIT tabs for extra readings and guides to understanding the information presented in class.
7) Comments and discussions on website topics may not be graded on a day-to-day basis, but must be done BY MIDNIGHT ON THE DUE DATE to be considered “on time”.
8) Students are expected to refer to the calendar/pacing guide given to them before each unit (or sub-unit) regarding chapters covered, approximate time spent, corresponding chapters, and major assignments.
AGAIN, WELCOME TO AP HUMAN GEOGRAPHY!
“GEOGRAPHY IS EVERYTHING, & EVERYTHING IS GEOGRAPHY”
AP Human Geography 2012-2013 