AP Human Geography
Course overview and purpose:
The AP Human Geography course is one half (1/2) AP credit. The purpose of the course is to introduce students to the systematic study of patterns and processes that have shaped human understanding, use, and alteration of Earth’s surface. Students employ spatial concepts and landscape analysis to analyze human social organization and its environmental consequences. They also learn about the methods and tools geographers use in their science and practice.
Goals:
The topics, (population and migration, cultural patterns and processes, political organization of space, agriculture and rural land use, industrialization and development, and cities and urban land use), studied in an AP Human Geography course should be judged in light of the following five college-level goals that build on the National Geography Standards developed in 1994. On successful completion of the course, the student should be able to:
*Use and think about maps and spatial data sets.
*Understand and interpret the implications of associations 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.
Course outline:
Unit I. Geography: Its Nature and Perspectives (5-10%)
A. Geography as a field of inquiry
B. Evolution of key geographical concepts and models associated with notable geographers
C. Key concepts underlying the geographical perspective: space, place, and scale
D. Key geographical skills (see the five goals above)
E. Sources of geographical ideas and data: the field, census data, etc.
Unit II. Population (13-17%)
A. Geographical analysis of population
1. Density, distribution, and scale
2. Consequences of different densities and distributions
3. Patterns of composition: age, sex, race, and ethnicity
4. Population and natural hazards: past present, and future
B. Population growth, and decline over time and space
1. Historical trends and projections for the future
2. Patterns of fertility, mortality, and health
3. Regional variations of demographic transitions
4. Effects of pro- and anti-natalist policies
C. Population movement
1. Major voluntary and involuntary migrations at different scales
2. Short-term, local movements, and activity space
Unit III. Cultural Patterns and Processes (13-17%)
A. Concepts of culture
1. Traits and complexes
2. Diffusion
3. Acculturation
4. Cultural regions and realms
B. Cultural differences
1. Language
2. Religion
3. Ethnicity
4. Gender
5. Popular and folk culture
C. Environmental impact of cultural attitudes and practices
D. Cultural landscapes and cultural identity
1. Values and preferences
3. Symbolic landscapes and sense of place
Unit IV. Political Organization of Space (13-17%)
A. Territorial dimensions of politics
1. The concept of territoriality
2. The nature and meaning of boundaries
3. Influences of boundaries on identity, interaction, and exchange
B. Evolution of contemporary political pattern
1. Territorial assumptions underlying the nation-state ideal
2. Colonialism and imperialism
3. Internal political boundaries and arrangements
D. Challenges to inherited political-territorial arrangements
1. Changing nature of sovereignty
2. Fragmentation, unification, alliance
3. Spatial relationships between political patterns of ethnicity, economy, and environment
Unit V. Agricultural and Rural Land Use (13-17%)
A. Development and diffusion of agriculture
1. Neolithic Agricultural revolution
2. Second Agricultural Revolution
B. Major agricultural production regions
1. Agricultural systems associated with major bio-climatic zones
2. Variations within major zones and effects of markets
3. Linkages and flows among regions of food production and consumption
C. Rural land use and settlement patterns
1. Models of land use and localization of economic activities
2. Settlement patterns associated major agricultural types
D. Modern commercial agriculture: the Third Agricultural Revolution
1. The Green Revolution and the beginning of the biotechnological revolution
2. Characteristics of the third revolution: blending of primary, secondary, and tertiary activities, intensification of mechanization, and development of biotechnology
3. Spatial organization if industrial agriculture
4. Diffusion of industrial agriculture
5. Future food supplies and environmental impacts of agriculture- hopes and fears
Unit VI. Industrialization and Development (13-17%)
A. Key concepts in industrialization and development
B. Growth and diffusion of industrialization
1. The changing roles of energy and technology
2. Industrial Revolution
3. Diffusion of economic cores and peripheries
4. Geographic critiques of models of industrial location, economic development, and world systems
C. Contemporary patterns and impacts of industrialization and development
1. Spatial organization of the world economy
2. Variations in levels of development
3. Deindustrialization
4. Pollution, health, and quality of life
5. Industrialization, environmental change, and sustainability
6. Economic development initiatives: government policies
Unit VII. Cities and Urbanization (13-17%)
A. Definitions of urbanism
B. Origin and evolution of cities
1. Historical patterns of urbanization
2. Cultural context and urban form
3. Urban growth and rural-urban migration
4. Global cities and megacities
5. Models of urban systems
6. Comparative models of internal city structure
C. Functional character of contemporary cities
1. Changing employment mix
2. Changing demographic and social structures
D. Built environment and social space
1.Transportation and infrastructure
2. Political organization of urban areas
3. Urban planning and design
4. Patterns of race, ethnicity, gender, and class
5. Uneven development, ghettoization, and gentrification
6. Impacts of suburbanization and edge cities
Course overview and purpose:
The AP Human Geography course is one half (1/2) AP credit. The purpose of the course is to introduce students to the systematic study of patterns and processes that have shaped human understanding, use, and alteration of Earth’s surface. Students employ spatial concepts and landscape analysis to analyze human social organization and its environmental consequences. They also learn about the methods and tools geographers use in their science and practice.
Goals:
The topics, (population and migration, cultural patterns and processes, political organization of space, agriculture and rural land use, industrialization and development, and cities and urban land use), studied in an AP Human Geography course should be judged in light of the following five college-level goals that build on the National Geography Standards developed in 1994. On successful completion of the course, the student should be able to:
*Use and think about maps and spatial data sets.
*Understand and interpret the implications of associations 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.
Course outline:
Unit I. Geography: Its Nature and Perspectives (5-10%)
A. Geography as a field of inquiry
B. Evolution of key geographical concepts and models associated with notable geographers
C. Key concepts underlying the geographical perspective: space, place, and scale
D. Key geographical skills (see the five goals above)
E. Sources of geographical ideas and data: the field, census data, etc.
Unit II. Population (13-17%)
A. Geographical analysis of population
1. Density, distribution, and scale
2. Consequences of different densities and distributions
3. Patterns of composition: age, sex, race, and ethnicity
4. Population and natural hazards: past present, and future
B. Population growth, and decline over time and space
1. Historical trends and projections for the future
2. Patterns of fertility, mortality, and health
3. Regional variations of demographic transitions
4. Effects of pro- and anti-natalist policies
C. Population movement
1. Major voluntary and involuntary migrations at different scales
2. Short-term, local movements, and activity space
Unit III. Cultural Patterns and Processes (13-17%)
A. Concepts of culture
1. Traits and complexes
2. Diffusion
3. Acculturation
4. Cultural regions and realms
B. Cultural differences
1. Language
2. Religion
3. Ethnicity
4. Gender
5. Popular and folk culture
C. Environmental impact of cultural attitudes and practices
D. Cultural landscapes and cultural identity
1. Values and preferences
3. Symbolic landscapes and sense of place
Unit IV. Political Organization of Space (13-17%)
A. Territorial dimensions of politics
1. The concept of territoriality
2. The nature and meaning of boundaries
3. Influences of boundaries on identity, interaction, and exchange
B. Evolution of contemporary political pattern
1. Territorial assumptions underlying the nation-state ideal
2. Colonialism and imperialism
3. Internal political boundaries and arrangements
D. Challenges to inherited political-territorial arrangements
1. Changing nature of sovereignty
2. Fragmentation, unification, alliance
3. Spatial relationships between political patterns of ethnicity, economy, and environment
Unit V. Agricultural and Rural Land Use (13-17%)
A. Development and diffusion of agriculture
1. Neolithic Agricultural revolution
2. Second Agricultural Revolution
B. Major agricultural production regions
1. Agricultural systems associated with major bio-climatic zones
2. Variations within major zones and effects of markets
3. Linkages and flows among regions of food production and consumption
C. Rural land use and settlement patterns
1. Models of land use and localization of economic activities
2. Settlement patterns associated major agricultural types
D. Modern commercial agriculture: the Third Agricultural Revolution
1. The Green Revolution and the beginning of the biotechnological revolution
2. Characteristics of the third revolution: blending of primary, secondary, and tertiary activities, intensification of mechanization, and development of biotechnology
3. Spatial organization if industrial agriculture
4. Diffusion of industrial agriculture
5. Future food supplies and environmental impacts of agriculture- hopes and fears
Unit VI. Industrialization and Development (13-17%)
A. Key concepts in industrialization and development
B. Growth and diffusion of industrialization
1. The changing roles of energy and technology
2. Industrial Revolution
3. Diffusion of economic cores and peripheries
4. Geographic critiques of models of industrial location, economic development, and world systems
C. Contemporary patterns and impacts of industrialization and development
1. Spatial organization of the world economy
2. Variations in levels of development
3. Deindustrialization
4. Pollution, health, and quality of life
5. Industrialization, environmental change, and sustainability
6. Economic development initiatives: government policies
Unit VII. Cities and Urbanization (13-17%)
A. Definitions of urbanism
B. Origin and evolution of cities
1. Historical patterns of urbanization
2. Cultural context and urban form
3. Urban growth and rural-urban migration
4. Global cities and megacities
5. Models of urban systems
6. Comparative models of internal city structure
C. Functional character of contemporary cities
1. Changing employment mix
2. Changing demographic and social structures
D. Built environment and social space
1.Transportation and infrastructure
2. Political organization of urban areas
3. Urban planning and design
4. Patterns of race, ethnicity, gender, and class
5. Uneven development, ghettoization, and gentrification
6. Impacts of suburbanization and edge cities