This Advanced Placement AP Human Geography course is equivalent to a first-semester, college-level introductory human geography or cultural ecology course. The rigor of this course is consistent with colleges and universities and will prepare students for the Advanced Placement exam in May. Upon successful completion of the exam, students may receive college credit and will be well-prepared for advanced human geography coursework. Additional details on this course from College Board can be found here: AP Human Geography.
In this course, students will explore three big ideas:
(1) Global patterns and spatial organization.
(2) Human impacts and interactions among other people, their environments, and their actions.
(3) Spatial processes and societal change.
Students will develop skills in approaching problems geographically, using maps and geospatial technologies, thinking critically about texts and graphic images, interpreting cultural landscapes, and applying geographic concepts such as scale, region, diffusion, interdependence, and spatial interaction.
The content in this course is presented thematically rather than regionally and is organized around the discipline’s main subfields: economic geography, cultural geography, political geography, and urban geography. The goal of the course is for students to become more geoliterate, more engaged in contemporary global issues, and more informed about multicultural perspectives.
Students will be expected to enroll in My AP Classroom through their VHS Learning AP course and will be guided to complete review work in My AP Classroom throughout the year. My AP Classroom resources include AP Daily Videos and unit-based Personal Progress Checks, which include AP-style multiple-choice and free-response questions.
Students enrolled in VHS Learning Advanced Placement courses with a passing grade are expected to take the AP Exam. Students register for AP exams through their local school or testing site as “Exam Only” students. AP exam scores will be reported to VHS Learning through My AP Classroom; exam results will not affect the student's VHS Learning grade or future enrollment in VHS Learning courses.
About the Self-Paced Course Model
Self-Paced courses are comprehensive and designed for students who need or desire more flexibility in their academic schedule. VHS Learning teachers will regularly interact with students in asynchronous discussions, will host weekly office hours, and will invite students to monthly 1-on-1 progress meetings. Teachers will support students, answer questions, and provide feedback on work. Students will work independently on course activities; the course does not include class discussion assignments or other collaborative work.
Students may start this course on any Wednesday from September through the first Monday in December. Students must maintain enrollment for a minimum of 20 weeks and have until mid-June to complete all assignments in the course. It is expected that students will work for approximately 330 hours to complete this course, though the amount of time may vary depending on a student’s work habits and comfort with the material.
Course Essential Questions
- How are the spatial patterns and organization of human society arranged according to political, historical, cultural, and economic factors?
- How do complex relationships of cause and effect develop among people, their environments, and historical and contemporary actions?
- How does the spatial perspective demonstrate ways phenomena are related to one another in particular places?
Course Learning Objectives
- Examine geographic theories, approaches, concepts, processes, or models in theoretical and applied contexts.
- Visualize geographic patterns, relationships, and outcomes in applied contexts.
- Interpret quantitative geographic data represented in maps, tables, charts, graphs, satellite images, and infographics.
- Analyze and interpret qualitative geographic information in maps, images, and landscapes.
- Apply geographic theories, approaches, concepts, processes, and models across geographic scales to explain spatial relationships.