AP Human Geography Curriculum Map - Fall Semester

Unit 1: Geography: Its Nature and Perspectives Time Frame: 3 weeks

Essential Questions: What is geography?

How do geographers describe where people and places are? Why is each point on Earth unique? Why is each point on Earth different?

What are the skills and tools necessary to “thinking like a geographer?”

AP College Board Course Outline Content/Process: Activities/Assessments: A. Geography as a field of inquiry B. Major geographical concepts underlying the geographical perspective: location, space, place, scale, pattern, nature and society, regionalization, globalization, and gender issues C. Key geographical skills 1. How to use and think about maps and data 2. How to understand and interpret the implications of associations among phenomena in places 3. How to recognize and interpret at different scales the relationships among patterns and processes 4. How to define regions and evaluate the regionalization process 5. How to characterize and analyze changing interconnections among places D. Use of geospatial technologies, such as GIS, remote sensing, global positioning systems (GPS), and online maps E. Sources of geographical information and ideas F. Identification of major world regions

Introduction to Human Geography Introduction Regions and the major world

regions

Five Themes of Geography Globalization Spatial Thinking Scale Sense of Place How to read a map

Types of Map Scale Map Projections Thematic Maps Site vs. Situation Types of regions: formal, functional and

vernacular

Types of diffusion: relocation vs. expansion

o Read Rubenstein text - Chapter 1 “Thinking Geographically”

o Human Geography Bingo o Regions Quizzes o Reading Quizzes o Apply the Five Themes to Your

Neighborhood o Latitude and Longitude worksheet o How to do Cornell Notes o Analyze a variety of maps to determine

their scale o Apply site and situation to local area o Video: Geospatial Revolution series –

Episode 4 o Apply types of region to local area o Power of Place (PoP) - Episode 2

“Boundaries and Borderlands” o Graphic Organizer for diffusion types o Current event article on diffusion o Country Profile on assigned country o Unit exam

Unit 2: Population and Migration Time Frame: 4 weeks

Essential Questions: What is demography? Where do people live and why? Why do populations rise and fall in different countries? How does government affect population change? Why do people migrate? Where do people migrate?

How does government affect migration?

AP College Board Course Outline Content/Process: Activities/Assessments: A. Geographical analysis of population 1. Density, distribution, and scale 2. Implications of various densities and distributions 3. Composition: age, sex, income, education, and ethnicity 4. Patterns of fertility, mortality, and health B. Population growth and decline over time and space 1. Historical trends and future projections 2. Theories of population growth and decline, including the Demographic Transition Model 3. Regional variations of DTM 4. Effects of national population policies 5. Environmental impacts of population change 6. Population and natural hazards: impacts on policy, economy, and society C. Migration 1. Types of migration 2. Major historical migrations 3. Push and pull factors, and migration in relation to employment and quality of life 4. Refugees, asylum seekers, and internally displaced persons 5. Consequences of migration

World Population Growth and its effects Distribution of the world’s population The J and S Curves Demographic Transition Model Anti-natalist and pro-natalist polices Population Pyramids – how to read and

interpret their data and future implications of them

How to write an FRQ - a Free Response Question

World Population Data Sheet from Population Reference Bureau

How to read and understand population statistics

Types of Migration Raverstein’s Laws of Migration Current issues in migration How to ESPN (Economics, Social, Political

and eNvironmental factors) reading strategy

Refugees vs. Internally Displaced Person

o Read Rubenstein test - Chapter 2 “Population” and Chapter 3 “Migration”

o Regions Quizzes o Reading Quizzes o Population Vocabulary o Create a web evaluating effects of high

population growth o Country Profile – demography situation

of country o National Geography video series on

“what does 7 billion mean? o Video clips: Ted TALKs o Video: World in Balance: Population

Paradox o FRQ: Malthus’ Population Theory o FRQ: Global Migration Patterns o Apply ESPN to a current migration

issues o Refugee Case Study o Country Demography Project on

assigned country o Population FRQ o Unit Exam

Unit 3: Culture Patterns and Processes Time Frame: 4-6 weeks

Essential Questions: What is culture? Where do folk and popular cultures originate and diffuse? What is language and what role do languages play in culture? Where are the major language families distributed? How do languages diffuse? What is religion and what role does religion play in culture? Where did the major religions of the world originate and how do religions diffuse? What is ethnicity and how is ethnic identity constructed?

Why and how do cultures clash?

What are the impacts of globalization on folk cultures, languages, and ethnicities?

AP College Board Course Outline Content/Process: Activities/Assessments: A. Concepts of culture 1. Culture traits 2. Diffusion patterns 3. Acculturation, assimilation, and multiculturalism 4. Cultural region, vernacular regions, and culture hearths 5. Globalization and the effects of technology on cultures B. Cultural differences and regional patterns 1. Language and communications 2. Religion and sacred space 3. Ethnicity and nationalism 4. Cultural differences in attitudes toward gender 5. Popular and folk culture 6. Cultural conflicts, and law and policy to protect culture C. Cultural landscapes and cultural identity 1. Symbolic landscapes and sense of place 2. The formation of identity and place making 3. Differences in cultural attitudes and practices toward the environment 4. Indigenous peoples

What is culture? Cultural landscape Components of Culture Cultural Diffusion Folk and Pop Culture Differences Globalization of Culture

What is language? How to read a language tree Language families and location Diffusion of language Lingua Franca Major religions – types, locations,

major beliefs, and diffusion processes

Religious Conflicts – Middle East Religions impacts on the cultural

landscape

Ethnicity Ethnocentrism Ethnic conflict – Berlin Conference,

Rwanda, Kurds, Yugoslavia Ethnic Cleansing

What makes up one’s cultural identity?

o Rubenstein Chapter 4 “Folk and Popular Culture,” Chapter 5, “Language,” Chapter 6 “Religion,” and Chapter 7 “Ethnicity”

o Regions Quizzes

o Reading Quizzes

o Video clips: TED talks

o Power of Place episode 25.2 “Ethnic Fragmentation in Canada” and episode 24.1 “Boston: Ethnic Mosaic”

o Video clips: Rabbit Proof Fence (preserving local culture), Whale Rider (local religion), Video clips: Hotel Rwanda and Sometimes in April (ethic difference and conflict)

o Structured Academic Controversy: English only language initiative in the US

o Article analysis on Ethnic Cleansing o Case study: Palestinian and Israeli

Conflicts o Culture Book on assigned country o Unit Exam

Unit 4: Political Organization of Space Time Frame: 3 weeks

Essential Questions: How is space politically organized? How are boundaries established and why do boundary disputes occur? What is the difference between a nation, a nation-state, and a stateless nation?

What is geopolitics and how can the study of it help society to better understand the world?

AP College Board Course Outline Content/Process: Activities/Assessments: A. Territorial dimensions of politics 1. The concepts of political power and territoriality 2. The nature, meaning, and function of boundaries 3. Influences of boundaries on identity, interaction, and exchange 4. Federal and unitary states, confederations, centralized government, and forms of governance 5. Spatial relationships between political systems and patterns of ethnicity, economy, and gender 6. Political ecology: impacts of law and policy on the environment and environmental justice B. Evolution of the contemporary political pattern 1. The nation-state concept 2. Colonialism and imperialism 3. Democratization 4. Fall of communism and legacy of the Cold War 5. Patterns of local, regional, and metropolitan governance C. Changes and challenges to political-territorial arrangements 1. Changing nature of sovereignty 2. Fragmentation, unification, and cooperation 3. Supranationalism and international alliances 4. Devolution of countries: centripetal and centrifugal forces 5. Electoral geography: redistricting and gerrymandering 6. Armed conflicts, war, and terrorism

What is political geography?

What is a state?

Nationalism

Nation-State

Stateless-Nation

Development of the State

Colonization/Imperialism

Shapes of States

Types of Boundaries

Boundary Disputes

Types of Government Systems

De-evolution

Supranationalism

United Nations

What is geopolitics?

Theories of Geopolitics

Political Conflicts

Terrorism

o Rubenstein Chapter 8 “Political Geography” o Regions Quizzes o Reading Quizzes o Kuby chapter 13 “Breaking Up is Hard to

Do: Nations, States, and Nation-States.” Activity 1 “The Rise of Nationalism and the Fall of Yugoslavia”

o Case Study: The Former Soviet Union o PoP episode 17.1 “Jerusalem: Capital of

Two States,” episode 4 “East Looks West” and episode 3 “Supranationalism and Devolution”

o Writing Assignment: Should Turkey be admitted into the EU?

o Article Analysis: The Pros and Cons of the United Nations

o Determine the shape of your assigned country

o Map the Political Hotspots of the World o Research current disputes occurring and

classify the type of dispute it is o FRQ: Geopolitical Conflicts o Assigned Country Project: Map the Political

Geography of the Country and Geopolitical Conflicts

o Video clips: TED talks o Video: “History of Terrorism” o Case Study: Examples of Terrorism o Political Geography FRQ o Unit Exam

AP Human Geography Curriculum Map - Spring Semester

Unit 5: Economic Development and Industrialization Time Frame: 4-5 weeks

Essential Questions: How is economic development defined and measured?

Why does economic development vary among countries? Where are MDCs and LDCs distributed? What are the costs and obstacles to development? How did industrialization diffuse?

How has the character and geography of industrial production changed?

AP College Board Course Outline Content/Process: Activities/Assessments: A. Growth and diffusion of industrialization 1. The changing roles of energy and technology 2. Industrial Revolution 3. Models of economic development: Rostow’s Stages of Economic Growth and Wallerstein’s World Systems Theory 4. Geographic critiques of models of industrial location: bid rent, Weber’s comparative costs of transportation and industrial location in relation to resources, location of retailing and service industries, and local economic development within competitive global systems of corporations and finance B. Social and economic measures of development 1. Gross domestic product and GDP per capita 2. Human Development Index 3. Gender Inequality Index 4. Income disparity and the Gini coefficient 5. Changes in fertility and mortality 6. Access to health care, education, utilities, and sanitation C. Contemporary patterns and impacts of industrialization and development 1. Spatial organization of the world economy

Characteristics that show level of economic development

Economic Development Categories Labor sectors Human Development Index Theories of Development Models of Development Gender Economic Equality/Inequality

Microcredit What is industrialization? Industrialization and the Demographic

Transition Model Diffusion of the Industrial Revolution

Industrial areas of the world Site vs. Situation Factors Theories and Models of Industrialization Deindustrialization Outsourcing What is the humanized environment? Resources and environment issues because

of industrialization

Biodiversity Sustainable Development theory

Conserve vs. Preserve

o Rubenstein Chapter 9 “Development,” Chapter 11 “Industry,” Chapter 14 “Resources Issues”

o Reading Quizzes o Regions Quizzes o Create economic development map o Video clips: “Joy of Stats” o Video clips: TED Talks o PoP episode 10 “A Challenge for Two

Old Cities,” episode 18 “Oil and Water,” & episode 20 “Development Countries”

o Article Analysis of “Geography of Poverty”

o Video: Pennies a Day: Microcredit and Muhammad Yunas in Bangladesh

o Determine the economic status of the county given certain characteristics

o Assigned Country Project on Economic Development

o Economic Development FRQ o Video: “Frontline – Is Walmart Good For

America?” o Industries FRQ o Create choropleth map - energy use o Case Study: Three Gorges Dam

2. Variations in levels of development (uneven development) 3. Deindustrialization, economic restructuring, and the rise of service and high technology economies 4. Globalization, manufacturing in newly industrialized countries (NICs), and the international division of labor 5. Natural resource depletion, pollution, and climate change 6. Sustainable development 7. Government development initiatives: local, regional, and national policies 8. Women in development and gender equity in the workforce

o Unit Exam

Unit 6: Cities and Urban Land Use Time Frame: 4 weeks

Essential Questions: When and why did people start living in cities?

Where are cities located and why? How are cities organized and how do they function?

What challenges are cities facing?

AP College Board Course Outline Content/Process: Activities/Assessments: A. Development and character of cities 1. Origin of cities; site and situation characteristics 2. Forces driving urbanization 3. Borchert’s epochs of urban transportation development 4. World cities and megacities 5. Suburbanization processes B. Models of urban hierarchies: reasons for the distribution and size of cities 1. Gravity model 2. Christaller’s central place theory 3. Rank-size rule 4 . Primate cities C. Models of internal city structure and urban development: strengths and limitations of models 1. Burgess concentric zone model 2. Hoyt sector model 3. Harris and Ullman multiple nuclei model 4. Galactic city model 5. Models of cities in Latin America, North Africa and the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia, and South Asia D. Built environment and social space 1. Types of residential buildings 2. Transportation and utility infrastructure 3. Political organization of urban areas 4. Urban planning and design (e .g ., gated

Urbanization

What is a service?

Different types and level of services

Labor sectors

History of urban settlement

development

Central Place Theory

Theories of Settlements (size and

categories)

Basic vs. Non-Basic Sectors

Populated Cities – past vs. present

Migration patterns relating to cities

Spatial Arrangement of cities

World Cities

Megapolis

Urban Patterns

Central Business District

Models of Urban Structure

Revival of the CDB

Issues in Urban Areas

Squatter Settlements

Transportation Model

Suburbanization

o Rubenstein Chapter 12 “Services” and Chapter 13 “Urban Patterns”

o Rubenstein Activity 7: Cities and Urban Land Use: Concentric Zone Model, Sector Model, and the Multiple Nuclei Model Trends of Urbanization: An Analysis”

o Region Quizzes o Reading Quizzes o Trace the development of early urban

settlements o Diagram Central Place Theory o Create a Ten Most Populated Cities Map o PoP episode 5.1 “The Transforming

Industrial Heartland; Randstad: Preserving the Green Heart,” episode 9.1 “Changes of the Chang Jiang; Sijia: Small Town, Big Change,” and episode 16.1 “Global Interaction; Singapore: Gateway to Southeast Asia.”

o Video clip: Slum dog Millionaire (problems with urbanization)

o Video clip: “Dhaka – Mega city” (movement from rural to urban city)

o Website Activity: theplaceswelive.com o Analyze the layout of different cities: Asian

colonial city, Islamic city, European city, and Latin America city

o Urbanization FRQ o Top Ten List of the CBD

communities, New Urbanism, and smart-growth policies) 5. Census data on urban ethnicity, gender, migration, and socioeconomic status 6. Characteristics and types of edge cities: boomburgs, greenfields, uptowns E. Contemporary urban issues 1. Housing and insurance discrimination, and access to food stores 2. Changing demographic, employment, and social structures 3. Uneven development, zones of abandonment, disamenity, and gentrification 4. Suburban sprawl and urban sustainability problems: land and energy use, cost of expanding public education services, home financing and debt crises 5. Urban environmental issues: transportation, sanitation, air and water quality, remediation of brownfields, and farmland protection

o Land Use Models Comparison Chart o Rank the Urban Problems o Article Analysis: Pros and Cons of

Suburbanization o Unit Exam

Unit 7: Agricultural Geography and Rural Land Use Time Frame: 3 weeks

Essential Questions: What is agriculture and where did agriculture originate?

How did agriculture change with industrialization?

How is agriculture currently organized geographically? What are the current issues surrounding Agriculture?

AP College Board Course Outline Content/Process: Activities/Assessments: A. Development and Diffusion of Agriculture 1. Neolithic Agricultural Revolution 2. Second Agricultural Revolution 3. Green Revolution 4. Large-scale commercial agriculture and agribusiness B. Major agricultural production regions 1. Agricultural systems associated with major bioclimatic zones 2. Variations within major zones and effects of markets 3. Interdependence among regions of food production and consumption C. Rural land use and settlement patterns 1. Models of agricultural land use, including von Thunen’s model 2. Settlement patterns associated with major agriculture types: subsistence, cash cropping, plantation, mixed farming, monoculture, pastoralism, ranching, forestry, fishing and aquaculture 3. Land use/land cover change: irrigation, desertification, deforestation, wetland destruction, conservation efforts to protect or restore natural land cover, and global impacts 4. Roles of women in agricultural production and farming communities D. Issues in contemporary commercial agriculture 1. Biotechnology, including genetically modified organisms (GMO) 2. Spatial organization of industrial agriculture, including the transition in land use to large-scale commercial farming and factors affecting the location of processing facilities 3. Environmental issues: soil degradation, overgrazing, river and aquifer depletion, animal wastes, and extensive fertilizer and pesticide use

What is agriculture?

Hunter-Gatherer

Societies

First Agricultural

Revolution

Other Agricultural

Revolutions

Climate Regions

Types of Crops

Agricultural Regions

Models of Agriculture

Industrialization of

Agriculture

Types of Agriculture

Green Revolution

Commodity Chain

Genetically Modified

Organisms

Organic Farming

Agricultural Issues

o Rubenstein Chapter 10 “Agriculture”

o Rubenstein Activity 5: Agriculture and

Rural Land Use: Types of Farming

around the World: A Map Analysis”

o Region Quizzes

o Reading Quizzes

o Video Clips: TED talks

o PoP episode 6.2 “Challenges in the

Hinterlands; Iceland: Edge of the

Habitable World,” and episode 16.2

“Urban and Rural Contrasts; Dikhatpura:

Help Through Irrigation”

o Video clip: Guns, Germs and Steel

Episode 1“Rise of Domestic Agriculture”

o Article Analysis: “The Worst Mistake in

Human History’

o Video clip: NPR “Hungry Planet – What

People Eat”

o Video clip: “Food, Inc.”

o Photo analysis of “The Food We Eat”

website - family diets around the world”

o Fieldwork Assignment: Analysis of the

layout of a local supermarket

o Agriculture FRQ

o Unit Exam

4. Organic farming, crop rotation, value-added specialty foods, regional appellations, fair trade, and eat-local-food movements 5. Global food distribution, malnutrition, and famine